Neustar is proposing to develop the currently reserved .us second-level domain name “S.US” into a popular and secure “URL shortener” service. URL shorteners enable individuals to copy and paste a long URL from their web browser, submit it to a web-based interface, and receive back a “shortened URL” hyperlink that will forward to the original long URL when clicked.   Neustar will collaborate with a leading URL shortening service provider to create a new service aimed at raising the awareness of the .US TLD space.

The primary benefit of using a shortened URL is that it requires far fewer characters – an important consideration when communicating via the growing universe of social media interfaces that limit the number of characters in each message or interaction, or where fees are applied based on the length of messages in mobile phone text/data plans. As a result, the utility and popularity of URL shorteners have expanded dramatically with the recent growth of Twitter, Facebook, and other short message services like SMS texting.

We are proposing to use the domain name “S.US” as the primary URL shortener (S.US will be marketed as “Super Short”).

• The primary goal of this proposed program is to raise awareness and usage of the .us TLD by introducing a new service specifically targeting U.S.- based web sites to use the .US TLD versus .im (Isle of Man) or .ly (Libya).
• Launch a white label and mobile versions of the service that large US based companies can customize internally similar to the CBS and Mozilla examples.  This would require a registered .US domain name.
• Provide a differentiator when offering .US programs to the registrar channel
•  Promote the service via influential bloggers and partner programs

Neustar will likely engage a leading service provider to introduce a .US version of their service called S.US. The .US version would offer a special URL shortening tool that secure .US websites could add to their home page. This would allow for an even shorter domain links that could be used in Twitter, Blogs, Emails, IM and SMS.

We welcome all comments and input on this proposal.