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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 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;
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.
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.
9. Policy Modifications. This Policy may
be modified at any time with the permission of ICANN. Any
such modifications of this Policy will be posted at
http://www.we-host.com/policy 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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