Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Registry Agreements

gTLD Registry Agreements establish the rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations ICANN requires of registry operators to run gTLDs.

TLD Sponsorship Agreement: Attachment 12

ICANN | TLD Sponsorship Agreement: Attachment 12

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TLD Sponsorship Agreement: Attachment 12

Posted: 13 October 2001


Challenges to Registrations in Violation of Charter

I. IN GENERAL

Disputes concerning domain name registrations made in violation of the Sponsored TLD Charter defined in Attachment 1 of the Agreement shall be resolved under the Charter Eligibility Dispute Resolution Policy (the "CEDRP").

II. CHARTER ELIGIBILITY DISPUTE RESOLUTION POLICY

A. General Information

All registrants in the Sponsored TLD are bound by the CEDRP. The CEDRP applies to challenges to registered domain names on the grounds that the registrant does not meet the eligibility requirements set forth in the Sponsored TLD Charter (the "Eligibility Requirements"). Challenges based on other grounds, including claims that a registration violates restrictions established by the Sponsor under its delegated authority, are not subject to the CEDRP.

Any person or entity may bring a challenge to a registered domain name, under the CEDRP.

To invoke the CEDRP, the challenger must submit a complaint to a CEDRP dispute resolution provider approved by ICANN (the "CEDRP Providers") in accordance with the Rules for Charter Eligibility Dispute Resolution Policy (the "CEDRP Rules").

B. Principal Documents

The following documents provide details:

1. Charter Eligibility Dispute Resolution Policy. The CEDRP is followed by all ICANN-Accredited Registrars with respect to the Sponsored TLD. The CEDRP is attached as Exhibit 1 to this Attachment, and is made a part of the registration agreement, enforceable by Sponsor, between the Registered Name Holder and either Sponsor or the applicable registrar (see Subsection 3.7).

2. Rules for Charter Eligibility Dispute Resolution Policy. The CEDRP Rules will be followed by all CEDRP Providers. The CEDRP Rules will be developed by the CEDRP Providers in consultation with the Sponsor and ICANN. Such CEDRP Providers may supplement these rules, as appropriate.

3. List of CEDRP Providers. The then-current list of CEDRP Providers will be identified on ICANN's web site and will be made available to Sponsor to post on its web site.


EXHIBIT 1

Charter Eligibility Dispute Resolution Policy


(the "Policy")

This Policy is to be incorporated in all agreements with registrants concerning domain-name registrations in the Sponsored TLD (the "Registration Agreement"). "You" and "your" refer to the registrant. "Us" "our" and "we" refer to [either Sponsor or the applicable registrar (see Subsection 3.7)].

1. Purpose. This Charter Eligibility Dispute Resolution Policy (the "Policy") is incorporated by reference into your Registration Agreement, and sets forth the terms and conditions in connection with disputes over the registration and use of an Internet domain name, registered by you in the Sponsored TLD. The proceedings under Paragraph 4 of this Policy will be conducted according to the Rules for Charter Eligibility Dispute Resolution Policy (the "CEDRP Rules"), which are available at <URL to be specificed by ICANN>, and the selected administrative dispute resolution service provider's supplemental rules. For the purposes of this Policy, the term "Registered Name" means a domain name registration in the Sponsored TLD.

2. Your Representations. By applying to register a domain name within the Sponsored TLD (a "Registered Name"), or by asking us to maintain or renew a Registered Name, you hereby represent and warrant to us that, to your knowledge, the registration of your Registered Name conforms to the eligibility requirements set forth in the Sponsored TLD Charter (the "Eligibility Requirements").

3. Cancellations. We will cancel Registered Names upon our receipt of a decision of a CEDRP Provider 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. (See Paragraph 5(e) below.) We may also cancel a Registered Name registration in accordance with the terms of your Registration Agreement or other legal requirements.

4. Mandatory Administrative Proceeding. This paragraph sets forth the types of disputes for which you are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding under this Policy. These proceedings will be conducted before a CEDRP Provider that has been approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"). A list of CEDRP Providers is available at <www.icann.org/cedrp/approved-providers.htm>.

(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 CEDRP Provider, in compliance with the CEDRP Rules that your Registered Name does not meet the Eligibility Requirements; in the administrative proceeding, the Complainant must prove this element.

(b) Registered Name Disputes: Evidence of Registration in Violation of the Eligibility Requirements. For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a), if the Panel of the CEDRP Provider finds that your Registered Name does not meet the Eligibility Requirements, then such finding shall be evidence that your Registered Name violated the Eligibility Requirements. If the Panel finds that your Registered Name violated the Eligibility Requirements, the Panel shall exercise the remedy set forth in Section 5(e).

(c) Registered Name Disputes: How to Demonstrate Your Rights to and Legitimate Interests in the Registered Name in Responding to a Complaint. For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a), when you receive a complaint, you should refer to the CEDRP Rules in determining how your response should be prepared.

5. Procedure.

(a) Selection of CEDRP Provider. The Complainant shall select the CEDRP Provider from those on the list of CEDRP Providers available at <www.icann.org/cedrp/approved-providers.htm> by submitting the complaint to that CEDRP Provider. The selected CEDRP Provider will administer the proceeding.

(b) Initiation of Proceeding and Process and Appointment of the Panel. The CEDRP Rules state the process for initiating and conducting a proceeding and for appointing the panel that will decide the dispute (the "Panel").

(c) Fees. All fees charged by a CEDRP Provider in connection with any dispute before a Panel shall be paid in accordance with the CEDRP Rules.

(d) Our Involvement in Administrative Proceedings. We do not, and will not, participate in the administration or conduct of any proceeding before a Panel. In addition, we will not be liable as a result of any decisions rendered by the Panel.

(e) Remedy. The remedy available to a Complainant pursuant to any proceeding before a Panel shall be limited to the cancellation of your Registered Name.

(f) Notification and Publication. The CEDRP Provider shall notify us and ICANN of any decision made by a Panel with respect to a Registered Name. All decisions under this Policy will be published in full over the Internet, except when a Panel determines in an exceptional case to redact portions of its decision.

6. All Other Disputes and Litigation. All other disputes between you and any party other than us regarding your Registered Name 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.

7. Our Involvement in Disputes. We will not participate in any way in any dispute between you and any party other than us or the operator of the Sponsored TLD registry regarding the registration and use of your Registered 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.

8. Maintaining the Status Quo. We will not cancel, transfer, activate, deactivate, or otherwise change the status of any Registered Name under this Policy except as provided in Paragraph 3 above.

9. Changing Registrars During a Dispute. You may not transfer your Registered Name 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.

10. 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 <Registrar URL> 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 CEDRP 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 Registered Name 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 Registered Name, 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 Registered Name.

Prior drafts:

8 September 2001


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