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Domain Name Dispute Policy
Dispute Policy for
domains ending in .com, .net or .org
Approved by ICANN
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.asp, 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:
- 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;
- Our receipt of an order from a court or arbitral
tribunal, in each case of competent jurisdiction,
requiring such action; and/or
- 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.asp
(each, a "Provider").
- 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.
- 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 online 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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").
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 here 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.
Dispute Policy for domains
ending in .my
Disputes involving MY domain names are handled by MYNIC.
You can read the terms of their dispute policy
here.
Contacting us
If you need to contact us regarding a domain name
dispute please visit our support site:
http://support.mcentury.com
Please note: by signing up for any of our services you
agree to be bound by all MCentury terms and service.
