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(As Approved by ICANN on October 24, 1999)
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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
http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-rules-24oct99.htm, and the selected
administrative-dispute-resolution service provider's supplemental rules.
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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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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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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
http://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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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:
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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 Paragraph 4(a)(ii):
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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 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.
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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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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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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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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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POLICY MODIFICATIONS.
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We reserve the right to modify this Policy at any
time with the permission of ICANN. We will post our revised Policy at
our website 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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