Covenants of Performance Measurement No interference. Registry Operator shall not interfere with measurement Probes, including any form of preferential treatment of the requests for the monitored services. Registry Operator shall respond to the measurement tests described in this Specification as it would to any other request from an Internet user (for DNS and RDDS) or registrar (for EPP). ICANN testing registrar. Registry Operator agrees that ICANN will have a testing registrar used for purposes of measuring the SLRs described above. Registry Operator agrees to not provide any differentiated treatment for the testing registrar other than no billing of the transactions. ICANN shall not use the registrar for registering domain names (or other registry objects) for itself or others, except for the purposes of verifying contractual compliance with the conditions described in this Agreement. PUBLIC INTEREST COMMITMENTS Registry Operator will use only ICANN accredited registrars that are party to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement approved by the ICANN Board of Directors on 27 June 2013 in registering domain names. A list of such registrars shall be maintained by ICANN on ICANN’s website. (Intentionally omitted. Registry Operator has not included commitments, statements of intent or business plans provided for in its application to ICANN for the TLD.) Registry Operator agrees to perform the following specific public interest commitments, which commitments shall be enforceable by ICANN and through the Public Interest Commitment Dispute Resolution Process established by ICANN (posted at xxxx://xxx.xxxxx.xxx/en/resources/registries/picdrp), which may be revised in immaterial respects by ICANN from time to time (the “PICDRP”). Registry Operator shall comply with the PICDRP. Registry Operator agrees to implement and adhere to any remedies ICANN imposes (which may include any reasonable remedy, including for the avoidance of doubt, the termination of the Registry Agreement pursuant to Section 4.3(e) of the Agreement) following a determination by any PICDRP panel and to be bound by any such determination. Registry Operator will include a provision in its Registry-Registrar Agreement that requires Registrars to include in their Registration Agreements a provision prohibiting Registered Name Holders from distributing malware, abusively operating botnets, phishing, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement, fraudulent or deceptive practices, counterfeiting or otherwise engaging in activity contrary to applicable law, and providing (consistent with applicable law and any related procedures) consequences for such activities including suspension of the domain name. Registry Operator will periodically conduct a technical analysis to assess whether domains in the TLD are being used to perpetrate security threats, such as pharming, phishing, malware, and botnets. Registry Operator will maintain statistical reports on the number of security threats identified and the actions taken as a result of the periodic security checks. Registry Operator will maintain these reports for the term of the Agreement unless a shorter period is required by law or approved by ICANN, and will provide them to ICANN upon request. Registry Operator will operate the TLD in a transparent manner consistent with general principles of openness and non-discrimination by establishing, publishing and adhering to clear registration policies.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT Certain statements found in this document may constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such “forward-looking statements” reflect management’s current views with respect to certain future events and financial performance and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “intend,” “plan,” “project” and similar expressions which indicate future events and trends may identify “forward-looking statements.” Such statements are based on currently available information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in the “forward-looking statements” and from historical trends. Certain “forward-looking statements” are based upon current assumptions of future events which may not prove to be accurate. Undue reliance should not be placed on “forward-looking statements,” as such statements speak only as of the date of this document. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in any “forward-looking statement” and from historical trends include, but are not limited to: • economic conditions, including consumer spending and plant and equipment investment in Hitachi’s major markets, particularly Japan, Asia, the United States and Europe, as well as levels of demand in the major industrial sectors Hitachi serves, including, without limitation, the information, electronics, automotive, construction and financial sectors; • exchange rate fluctuations of the yen against other currencies in which Hitachi makes significant sales or in which Hitachi’s assets and liabilities are denominated, particularly against the U.S. dollar and the euro; • uncertainty as to Hitachi’s ability to access, or access on favorable terms, liquidity or long-term financing; • uncertainty as to general market price levels for equity securities, declines in which may require Hitachi to write down equity securities that it holds; • the potential for significant losses on Hitachi’s investments in equity method affiliates; • increased commoditization of information technology products and digital media-related products and intensifying price competition for such products, particularly in the Digital Media & Consumer Products segment; • uncertainty as to Hitachi’s ability to continue to develop and market products that incorporate new technologies on a timely and cost-effective basis and to achieve market acceptance for such products; • rapid technological innovation; • the possibility of cost fluctuations during the lifetime of, or cancellation of, long-term contracts for which Hitachi uses the percentage-of-completion method to recognize revenue from sales; • fluctuations in the price of raw materials including, without limitation, petroleum and other materials, such as copper, steel, aluminum, synthetic resins, rare metals and rare-earth minerals, or shortages of materials, parts and components; • fluctuations in product demand and industry capacity; • uncertainty as to Hitachi’s ability to implement measures to reduce the potential negative impact of fluctuations in product demand, exchange rates and/or price of raw materials or shortages of materials, parts and components; • uncertainty as to Hitachi’s ability to achieve the anticipated benefits of its strategy to strengthen its Social Innovation Business; • uncertainty as to the success of restructuring efforts to improve management efficiency by divesting or otherwise exiting underperforming businesses and to strengthen competitiveness; • uncertainty as to the success of cost reduction measures; • general socioeconomic and political conditions and the regulatory and trade environment of countries where Hitachi conducts business, particularly Japan, Asia, the United States and Europe, including, without limitation, direct or indirect restrictions by other nations on imports and differences in commercial and business customs including, without limitation, contract terms and conditions and labor relations; • uncertainty as to the success of alliances upon which Hitachi depends, some of which Hitachi may not control, with other corporations in the design and development of certain key products; • uncertainty as to Hitachi’s access to, or ability to protect, certain intellectual property rights, particularly those related to electronics and data processing technologies; • uncertainty as to the outcome of litigation, regulatory investigations and other legal proceedings of which the Company, its subsidiaries or its equity method affiliates have become or may become parties; • the possibility of incurring expenses resulting from any defects in products or services of Hitachi; • the possibility of disruption of Hitachi’s operations by earthquakes, tsunamis or other natural disasters; • uncertainty as to Hitachi’s ability to maintain the integrity of its information systems, as well as Hitachi’s ability to protect its confidential information or that of its customers; • uncertainty as to the accuracy of key assumptions Hitachi uses to evaluate its significant employee benefit-related costs; and • uncertainty as to Hitachi’s ability to attract and retain skilled personnel. The factors listed above are not all-inclusive and are in addition to other factors contained in other materials published by Hitachi.
