As of December 1, 1999, CORE has introduced
the Uniform
Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)specified
by the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) .
This policy replaces the initial
CORE Dispute Resolution Policy, based on the provisions for a change
in policy contained in that document. The ICANN UDRP,
along with the Rules
for Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy is
compulsory for all ICANN-accredited registrars.
Information
on the Dispute Policy
The Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy is now in
operation. Under the policy, most types of
trademark-based domain-name disputes must be resolved by
agreement, court action, or arbitration before a registrar
will cancel, suspend, or transfer a domain name. Disputes
alleged to arise from abusive registrations of domain names
(for example, cybersquatting) may be addressed by expedited
administrative proceedings that the holder of trademark rights
initiates by filing a complaint with an approved
dispute-resolution service provider.
Further information, documents and details may be
found at http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp.htm
Uniform
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
(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:
Paragraph
8 , our
receipt of written or appropriate electronic instructions
from you or your authorized agent to take such action;
b. our receipt of an order from a court
or arbitral tribunal, in each case of competent
jurisdiction, requiring such action; and/or
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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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
<URL> 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.
Internet Council of Registrars
The Internet Council of Registrars ("CORE")
is a licensed registrar second-level Internet domain names
in the top level COM, ORG and NET domains. CORE registers
these second-level domain names on a "first come, first
served" basis. By registering a domain name, CORE does
not determine the legality of the domain name registration,
or otherwise evaluate whether that registration or use may
infringe upon the rights of a third party.
CASDNS
is an affiliate of
Computer
Analytical Systems, Inc. / CAS-Com
Internet Services, Inc.
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