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Uniform Domain
Name Dispute Resolution Policy
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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