The Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has created a document
outlining the relationship between ICANN and a domain
Registrar, as well as the rights and responsibilities that
registrants have with their Registrar when they have a
domain name registered through them. The entire document
can be found
here.
Notes:
1. This policy is now in effect. See
www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-schedule.htm for the
implementation schedule.
2. This policy has been adopted by all
ICANN-accredited registrars. It has also been adopted by
certain managers of country-code top-level domains
(e.g., .nu, .tv, .ws).
3. The policy is between the registrar (or other
registration authority in the case of a country-code
top-level domain) and its customer (the domain-name
holder or registrant). Thus, the
policy uses "we" and "our" to refer to the registrar and
it uses "you" and "your" to refer to the domain-name
holder.
Uniform Domain Name
Dispute Resolution Policy
(As Approved by ICANN on October 24, 1999)
1. 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
www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-rules-24oct99.htm, and the
selected administrative-dispute-resolution service
provider's supplemental rules.
2. 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.
3.
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.
4. 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
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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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
<URL> 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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