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Implementation Documents Approved: October
24, 1999
Note: This policy is now in effect.
- Purpose. This Uniform Domain
Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Policy")
has been adopted by the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"),
is incorporated by reference into your
Registration Agreement, and sets forth
the terms and conditions in connection
with a dispute between you and any party
other than us (the registrar) over the
registration and use of an Internet domain
name registered by you. Proceedings under
Paragraph 4 of this Policy will be conducted
according to the Rules for Uniform Domain
Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Rules
of Procedure"), which are available at
http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-rules-24oct99.htm,
and the selected administrative-dispute-resolution
service provider's supplemental rules.
- Your Representations. By applying
to register a domain name, or by asking
us to maintain or renew a domain name
registration, you hereby represent and
warrant to us that (a) the statements
that you made in your Registration Agreement
are complete and accurate; (b) to your
knowledge, the registration of the domain
name will not infringe upon or otherwise
violate the rights of any third party;
(c) you are not registering the domain
name for an unlawful purpose; and (d)
you will not knowingly use the domain
name in violation of any applicable laws
or regulations. It is your responsibility
to determine whether your domain name
registration infringes or violates someone
else's rights.
- Cancellations, Transfers, and Changes.
We will cancel, transfer or otherwise
make changes to domain name registrations
under the following circumstances:
a. subject to the provisions of Paragraph
8, our receipt of written or appropriate
electronic instructions from you or your
authorized agent to take such action;
b. our receipt of an order from a court
or arbitral tribunal, in each case of
competent jurisdiction, requiring such
action; and/or
c. our receipt of a decision of an Administrative Panel
requiring such action in any administrative
proceeding to which you were a party and
which was conducted under this Policy
or a later version of this Policy adopted
by ICANN. (See Paragraph 4(i) and (k)
below.) We may also cancel, transfer or
otherwise make changes to a domain name
registration in accordance with the terms
of your Registration Agreement or other
legal requirements.
- Mandatory Administrative Proceeding.
This Paragraph sets forth the type of
disputes for which you are required to
submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding.
These proceedings will be conducted before
one of the administrative-dispute-resolution
service providers listed at http://www.icann.org/udrp/approved-providers.htm
(each, a "Provider").
a. Applicable Disputes. You are required
to submit to a mandatory administrative
proceeding in the event that a third party
(a "complainant") asserts to the applicable
Provider, in compliance with the Rules
of Procedure, that
(i) your domain name is identical or confusingly
similar to a trademark or service mark
in which the complainant has rights; and
(ii) you have no rights or legitimate
interests in respect of the domain name;
and
(iii) your domain name has been registered
and is being used in bad faith. In the
administrative proceeding, the complainant
must prove that each of these three elements
are present.
b. Evidence of Registration and Use in
Bad Faith. For the purposes of Paragraph
4(a)(iii), the following circumstances,
in particular but without limitation,
if found by the Panel to be present, shall
be evidence of the registration and use
of a domain name in bad faith:
(i) circumstances indicating that you
have registered or you have acquired the
domain name primarily for the purpose
of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring
the domain name registration to the complainant
who is the owner of the trademark or service
mark or to a competitor of that complainant,
for valuable consideration in excess of
your documented out-of-pocket costs directly
related to the domain name; or
(ii) you have registered the domain name
in order to prevent the owner of the trademark
or service mark from reflecting the mark
in a corresponding domain name, provided
that you have engaged in a pattern of
such conduct; or
(iii) you have registered the domain name
primarily for the purpose of disrupting
the business of a competitor; or
(iv) by using the domain name, you have
intentionally attempted to attract, for
commercial gain, Internet users to your
web site or other on-line location, by
creating a likelihood of confusion with
the complainant's mark as to the source,
sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement
of your web site or location or of a product
or service on your web site or location.
c. How to Demonstrate Your Rights to and
Legitimate Interests in the Domain Name
in Responding to a Complaint. When you
receive a complaint, you should refer
to Paragraph 5 of the Rules of Procedure
in determining how your response should
be prepared. Any of the following circumstances,
in particular but without limitation,
if found by the Panel to be proved based
on its evaluation of all evidence presented,
shall demonstrate your rights or legitimate
interests to the domain name for purposes of
Paragraph 4(a)(ii):
(i) before any notice to you of the dispute,
your use of, or demonstrable preparations
to use, the domain name or a name corresponding
to the domain name in connection with
a bona fide offering of goods or services;
or
(ii) you (as an individual, business,
or other organization) have been commonly
known by the domain name, even if you
have acquired no trademark or service
mark rights; or
(iii) you are making a legitimate noncommercial
or fair use of the domain name, without
intent for commercial gain to misleadingly
divert consumers or to tarnish the trademark
or service mark at issue.
d. Selection of Provider. The complainant
shall select the Provider from among those
approved by ICANN by submitting the complaint
to that Provider. The selected Provider
will administer the proceeding, except
in cases of consolidation as described
in Paragraph 4(f). e. Initiation of Proceeding
and Process and Appointment of Administrative
Panel. The Rules of Procedure state the
process for initiating and conducting
a proceeding and for appointing the panel
that will decide the dispute (the "Administrative
Panel"). f. Consolidation. In the event
of multiple disputes between you and a complainant,
either you or the complainant may petition
to consolidate the disputes before a single
Administrative Panel. This petition shall
be made to the first Administrative Panel
appointed to hear a pending dispute between
the parties. This Administrative Panel
may consolidate before it any or all such disputes
in its sole discretion, provided that
the disputes being consolidated are governed
by this Policy or a later version of this
Policy adopted by ICANN. g. Fees. All
fees charged by a Provider in connection
with any dispute before an Administrative
Panel pursuant to this Policy shall be
paid by the complainant, except in cases
where you elect to expand the Administrative
Panel from one to three panelists as provided
in Paragraph 5(b)(iv) of the Rules of
Procedure, in which case all fees will
be split evenly by you and the complainant.
h. Our Involvement in Administrative Proceedings.
We do not, and will not, participate in
the administration or conduct of any proceeding
before an Administrative Panel. In addition,
we will not be liable as a result of any
decisions rendered by the Administrative
Panel. i. Remedies. The remedies available
to a complainant pursuant to any proceeding
before an Administrative Panel shall be
limited to requiring the cancellation
of your domain name or the transfer of
your domain name registration to the complainant.
j. Notification and Publication. The Provider
shall notify us of any decision made by
an Administrative Panel with respect to
a domain name you have registered with
us. All decisions under this Policy will
be published in full over the Internet,
except when an Administrative Panel determines
in an exceptional case to redact portions
of its decision. k. Availability of Court
Proceedings. The mandatory administrative
proceeding requirements set forth in Paragraph
4 shall not prevent either you or the
complainant from submitting the dispute
to a court of competent jurisdiction for
independent resolution before such mandatory
administrative proceeding is commenced
or after such proceeding is concluded.
If an Administrative Panel decides that
your domain name registration should be
canceled or transferred, we will wait
ten (10) business days (as observed in
the location of our principal office)
after we are informed by the applicable
Provider of the Administrative Panel's
decision before implementing that decision.
We will then implement the decision unless
we have received from you during that
ten (10) business day period official
documentation (such as a copy of a complaint,
file-stamped by the clerk of the court)
that you have commenced a lawsuit against
the complainant in a jurisdiction to which
the complainant has submitted under Paragraph
3(b)(xiii) of the Rules of Procedure.
(In general, that jurisdiction is either
the location of our principal office or
of your address as shown in our Whois
database. See Paragraphs 1 and 3(b)(xiii)
of the Rules of Procedure for details.)
If we receive such documentation within
the ten (10) business day period, we will
not implement the Administrative Panel's
decision, and we will take no further
action, until we receive (i) evidence
satisfactory to us of a resolution between
the parties; (ii) evidence satisfactory
to us that your lawsuit has been dismissed
or withdrawn; or (iii) a copy of an order
from such court dismissing your lawsuit
or ordering that you do not have the right
to continue to use your domain name.
- All Other Disputes and Litigation.
All other disputes between you and any
party other than us regarding your domain
name registration that are not brought
pursuant to the mandatory administrative
proceeding provisions of Paragraph 4 shall
be resolved between you and such other
party through any court, arbitration or
other proceeding that may be available.
- Our Involvement in Disputes.
We will not participate in any way in
any dispute between you and any party
other than us regarding the registration
and use of your domain name. You shall
not name us as a party or otherwise include
us in any such proceeding. In the event
that we are named as a party in any such
proceeding, we reserve the right to raise
any and all defenses deemed appropriate,
and to take any other action necessary
to defend ourselves.
- Maintaining the Status Quo. We
will not cancel, transfer, activate, deactivate,
or otherwise change the status of any
domain name registration under this Policy
except as provided in Paragraph 3 above.
- Transfers During a Dispute. a.
Transfers of a Domain Name to a New Holder.
You may not transfer your domain name
registration to another holder (i) during
a pending administrative proceeding brought
pursuant to Paragraph 4 or for a period
of fifteen (15) business days (as observed
in the location of our principal place
of business) after such proceeding is
concluded; or (ii) during a pending court
proceeding or arbitration commenced regarding
your domain name unless the party to whom
the domain name registration is being
transferred agrees, in writing, to be
bound by the decision of the court or
arbitrator. We reserve the right to cancel
any transfer of a domain name registration
to another holder that is made in violation
of this subparagraph. b. Changing Registrars.
You may not transfer your domain name registration
to another registrar during a pending
administrative proceeding brought pursuant
to Paragraph 4 or for a period of fifteen
(15) business days (as observed in the
location of our principal place of business)
after such proceeding is concluded. You
may transfer administration of your domain
name registration to another registrar
during a pending court action or arbitration,
provided that the domain name you have
registered with us shall continue to be
subject to the proceedings commenced against
you in accordance with the terms of this
Policy. In the event that you transfer
a domain name registration to us during
the pendency of a court action or arbitration,
such dispute shall remain subject to the
domain name dispute policy of the registrar
from which the domain name registration
was transferred.
- Policy Modifications. We reserve
the right to modify this Policy at any
time with the permission of ICANN. We
will post our revised Policy at least
thirty (30) calendar days before it becomes
effective. Unless this Policy has already
been invoked by the submission of a complaint
to a Provider, in which event the version
of the Policy in effect at the time it
was invoked will apply to you until the
dispute is over, all such changes will
be binding upon you with respect to any
domain name registration dispute, whether
the dispute arose before, on or after
the effective date of our change. In the
event that you object to a change in this
Policy, your sole remedy is to cancel
your domain name registration with us,
provided that you will not be entitled
to a refund of any fees you paid to us.
The revised Policy will apply to you until
you cancel your domain name registration.
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