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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;
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| b. |
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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| 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.
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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").
| 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
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(i)
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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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(ii)
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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. |
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)
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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 |
(ii)
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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 |
(iii)
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you have registered the domain name primarily for the
purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or |
(iv)
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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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| 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)
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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 |
(ii)
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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 |
(iii)
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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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| 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. |
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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. |
| 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. |
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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 Aplus.Net 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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