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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 your domain 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").
2. Your Representations. By applying to sell a domain name, 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 does not infringe upon
or otherwise violate the rights of any third party; (c) you did not
register the domain name for an unlawful purpose; and (d) you did
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. Your
registrar may
cancel, transfer or otherwise make changes to domain name registrations
under the following circumstances:
a. subject to the provisions of Paragraph 8, receipt of written or appropriate
electronic instructions from you or your authorized agent to take such
action;
b. receipt of an order from a court or
arbitral tribunal, in each case of competent jurisdiction, requiring
such action; and/or
c. 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.)
Your registrar 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. 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 to sell 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, your registrar will wait ten (10) business days (as
observed in the
location of our principal office) after they are informed by the
applicable Provider of the Administrative Panel's decision before
implementing that decision. They will then implement the decision
unless they 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 they receive such documentation
within the ten (10) business day period, they will not implement the
Administrative Panel's decision, and they will take no further action,
until they 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. Involvement
in Disputes. We will not participate
in any way in any dispute between you and any party other than us
regarding the use of your domain name. You shall not
name us as a party or otherwise include us in any such proceeding.
7. Maintaining the
Status Quo. Your registrar will
typically 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. Your registrar
reserves 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 your registrar
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 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. We will
post our revised Policy at 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 for sale 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 order.
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