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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 accredited
domain-name registrars for domain names ending in .com,
.net, and .org. 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.
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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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