(As Approved by ICANN on October 24, 1999
and implemented by Total Online Solutions, Inc., on December 1, 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 http://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 http://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 www.tosdomains.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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