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
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the statements that you made in your Registration Agreement are complete and
accurate;
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to your knowledge, the registration of the domain name will not infringe upon
or otherwise violate the rights of any third party;
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you are not registering the domain name for an unlawful purpose; and
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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:
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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.
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 (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.
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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: (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.
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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 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.
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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 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.
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Transfers of a Domain Name to a New Holder. You may not transfer your domain
name registration to another holder
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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
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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.
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
/new_dispute.html 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.