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You are here: Home
Domain
Services
Dispute Resolution Policy
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(As Approved by ICANN on October
24, 1999)
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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 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. |
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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. |
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3. Cancellations,
Transfers, and Changes. We will cancel, transfer or
otherwise make changes to domain name registrations under the following
circumstances:
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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;
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our receipt of an order from
a court or arbitral tribunal, in each case of competent jurisdiction,
requiring such action; and/or
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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.
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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").
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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
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your domain name is identical
or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in
which the complainant has rights; and
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you have no rights or
legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
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your domain name has
been registered and is being used in bad faith.
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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:
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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
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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
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you have registered
the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting
the business of a competitor; or
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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).
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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").
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 on record. 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.
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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8. Transfers
During a Dispute.
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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.
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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.
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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 http://www.designsbydrucker.com/domainServices/domainDispPol.asp
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.
Modified Date: 10/17/2003 |
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