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:
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.
We reserve the right to modify this Policy at any time with the
permission of ICANN. We will post our revised Policy at http://www.millcityweb.net/domainreg/newudrp.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.
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