1. Administer the usTLD in the public interest, in compliance with our contractual obligations and applicable law and regulation;
  2. Publish all policies, procedures, and requirements applicable to usTLD Registrars, Delegated Managers, and usTLD Registrants (collectively, “usTLD Users”);
  3. Develop policies and procedures for the usTLD in consultation with usTLD stakeholders through the usTLD Stakeholder Council, with the goal of ensuring that usTLD policy continuously meets the needs of existing usTLD Registrants, supports a more robust, certain, and reliable DNS, enhances the user experience and utility of the usTLD space, promotes innovation while protecting intellectual property rights, and supports ongoing discussion of and response to evolving and emerging DNS issues;
  4. Apply standards, policies, procedures or practices neutrally and fairly, without singling out any usTLD Registrar, Delegated Manager, or usTLD Registrant for disparate treatment over other such users unless justified by substantial and reasonable cause;
  5. Ensure that usTLD Users have equal access to administration services provided by Neustar;
  6. Ensure that no data, including personal information about a usTLD Registrant or proprietary information from any usTLD Registrar or Delegated Manager is disclosed to affiliates, subsidiaries, or other related entities, or to other usTLD Users, except as disclosed in advance or reasonably necessary for the management and operations of the usTLD;
  7. Not register names in the usTLD for its own use except through a usTLD Registrar unless such names are reasonably necessary for the management, operations, promotion, and other purposes of the usTLD;
  8. Not disclose confidential information about its Registry Services, including proprietary information about searches or resolution requests by consumers for unregistered domain names to employees of any usTLD User (including any Neustar parent, subsidiary, affiliate, subcontractor or other related entity engaged in the provision of registry services with respect to the usTLD) with the intent of putting them at an advantage in obtaining usTLD administration services from Neustar, except as strictly necessary for the management and operations of the usTLD; and
  9. Require any parent, subsidiary, affiliate, subcontractor or other Neustar related entity engaged in the provision of registry services with respect to the usTLD to maintain separate books of accounts with respect to such services.

Neustar will conduct internal neutrality reviews on a regular basis. In addition, Neustar and the DOC may mutually agree on an independent party to conduct a neutrality review of Neustar, ensuring that Neustar and its owners comply with all the provisions of this Code of Conduct. The neutrality review may be conducted as often as once per year. Neustar will provide the analyst with reasonable access to information and records appropriate to complete the review. The results of the review will be provided to DOC and shall be deemed to be confidential and proprietary information of Neustar and its owners.