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Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
Policy Adopted: August 26, 1999
Implementation Documents Approved: 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.cartama.net/domreg.htm 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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