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DOMAIN NAME 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 http://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 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. b. In the administrative proceeding,
the complainant must prove that each of these three elements are
present. c. 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. d. 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. e. 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). f.
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"). g. 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. h. 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. i.
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. j.
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. k. 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. l.
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. 5.
POLICY MODIFICATIONS. a.
We
reserve the right to modify this Policy at any time with the permission of
ICANN. We will post our revised Policy at our website 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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