| |
 |
Warning:
By registering a domain name ending in .uk (with some very limited
exceptions), you enter into a contract of registration with us (Nominet
UK) on the following conditions, which includes conditions limiting
our liability and relating to our use of your personal information.
This contract is just for the domain name and separate to any arrangement
you may have with any other organisation for providing internet
services. For an explanation of the meaning of the endings of
.uk names, see the rules on our website at
www.nominet.org.uk
We are a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, generally
performing these services on a cost-recovery basis, and we cannot
investigate what rights you have to register or use the domain
name. So, we think it is reasonable for us to limit our liability
in certain respects so that we may continue to offer our services
in the interests of the whole internet community.
This contract includes the
DRS policy, the DRS
procedure and the
rules. You can get copies of these from our website or from
us. Other policies we refer to do not form part of this contract
and may change at any time.
1 The following words marked in bold will have specific meanings
in this contract.
‘agent' – Someone who may act on your behalf
to deal with us, which will be shown in the WHOIS. Only certain
people qualify, and they are known as ‘tag-holders’.
See our website for a list.
‘cancel’ – Cancelling this contract and
your domain name are the same thing. The contract ends. The
domain name will be deleted, will no longer work as part
of a website or e-mail, and will be released to be registered again
under our rules.
‘consumer' – You are a consumer if you are
an individual not registering, using or planning to use the domain
name as part of a business, trade or profession.
‘correct’ – This means that the information
must be good enough to allow us to contact you quickly at any reasonable
time without having to get information from anywhere else, must
not be deceptive, and (if possible for that type of information)
must clearly identify you. For your name this also means that the
information must be detailed enough that we can tell exactly who
you are (in legal terms, exactly which legal entity we have this
contract with).
‘domain name’ – An internet domain name
ending in .uk and under one of the second level domains (such as
.co.uk, .me.uk or .org.uk) operated by us.
‘DRS policy’, ‘DRS procedure’ –
The policy and procedure of our dispute resolution service.
‘EEA’ – The European Economic Area, which
includes most European countries. Countries outside the EEA may
not have strict laws to protect personal information.
‘name servers’ – Computers that provide
specific translation information in the domain name system.
‘notify’ – Serving notice to you, your
agent, authorised representative, contact (see condition Error!
Reference source not found.) or us (see condition Error!
Reference source not found.)
‘personal data’ – Any information about
an identifiable living person (for example, your name, address or
phone number).
‘PRSS’ – A service provided under strict
contract to some people based in the EEA which allows them to search
WHOIS data differently, but not to use it for marketing purposes.
‘register’ – Our record of domain names
and details about you, your agent (if you have one) and other
information we need.
‘registry’ – The single organisation which
holds all records for domain names with the same ending (we run
‘.uk’) and operates the name servers for that
domain.
‘rules’ – Our rules which explain which
domain names can be registered and which cannot.
‘special status’ – Various special states
your domain name may be in, such as suspended or ‘detagged’.
See our website for details. This will normally mean that you will
remain listed as the person who has registered the domain name
but the domain name itself will not work, and may mean that
other actions with the domain name are blocked.
‘WHOIS’ – A system which provides public
information about domain names. See our website for details
and how to use the WHOIS.
2 Also in this contract, the following words have special meanings
but will not be put in bold.
‘conditions’ – includes all parts of the contract,
not just those that lawyers call conditions.
‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’ – Nominet
UK (company number 3203859). See condition Error! Reference source
not found..
‘you’, ‘your’ - The person who is entering
into this contract with us and who the domain name will be
registered for.
3 We are the registry for the .uk domain and we will carry
out the general duties that we believe (after wide consultation)
a modern, neutral and not-for-profit .uk registry should.
This includes (among other things):
3.1 processing your application to register or renew a domain name
in the light of our rules, and your right (see condition
Error! Reference source not found.) to renew;
3.2 maintaining overall ownership, control and responsibility for
the register;
3.3 if we are listed as your agent or if it would be inappropriate
for you to ask your agent to act (see condition Error!
Reference source not found.) making changes to the register
at your request or providing information about the .uk domain name
system;
3.4 if the domain name is not in a special status,
entering details about the domain name into our name servers;
and
3.5 publishing procedures for you to renew the domain name
and for recording a transfer, surrender or change of agent for the
domain name.
4 You have various responsibilities set out generally in this contract.
You must also:
4.1 give and keep us notified of your correct name,
postal address and any phone, fax or e-mail information and those
of your contacts (if you appoint any, see condition Error! Reference
source not found.). This duty includes responding quickly and
correctly to any request from us to confirm or correct the information
on the register;
4.2 notify us at once about any court proceedings which involve
the domain name; and
4.3 notify us of the details of name servers for the
domain name which you are allowed to use and which respond
promptly and correctly about the domain name at all reasonable
times.
5 For the security of your domain name we have the following
procedures to try to make sure that our instructions come from you
or someone allowed to act on your behalf.
5.1 We do not have to take any action, or make any change to the
register, until we are satisfied that we have received a
valid request from the right person.
5.2 You will help us with our security checks, provide any identification
or documentary evidence we reasonably ask for, and allow us to keep
copies of those documents for our files.
5.3 If you have an identifier (for example, a password, a token,
personal information or a code) to use with us or our systems, you
must keep it secret and safe because we will be allowed to assume
that any action done or asked for using that identifier or a product
of it was done or asked for by you or by someone authorised to act
for you. We will be entitled to enforce procedures for dealing with
lost, cancelled or insecure identifiers.
5.4 Your agent acts on your behalf in registering and maintaining
the registration of the domain name so that, unless the matter
relates to something covered by condition Error! Reference source
not found. below, any communication to or from your agent
is taken as being to or from you. You should always contact your
agent first with any request or question about your domain
name or changes to it, as we will only act if we are satisfied
that your agent cannot or will not. Be aware that your agent
may be entitled to discounts on our fees so it may be cheaper
for you to go through them.
5.5 We may also specify other types of authorised representative
or contact whose instructions we will accept in certain cases, what
types of instructions they can give us, and whether they can take
your place if we need to notify you. If you notify
us that you want someone to represent you, you are giving them power
to act and us power to act on their instructions and (if this applies)
notify them instead of or as well as you.
5.6 We will publish on our website from time to time certain activities
which your agent is not allowed to do on your behalf or where
we want to deal with you directly (or both).
6 We are a not-for-profit organisation so our fees (see our website)
reflect the cost of the work we do. To make sure that every person
who registers a domain name pays their fair share of the costs of
running the central registry, we:
6.1 may make a charge for any of the services we provide under this
contract, as long as (where only we can provide the service) we
believe the fee is set at a not-for-profit cost-recovery level only;
6.2 do not have to start any process, including any change to the
register, until we (not just your agent) have received
(within any time limit) any fee for that action and any other fees
that have not been paid for the domain name or things done
with it – it is your duty to make sure that we are paid and
that there is enough information with the payment to make sure that
we know which domain name it relates to;
6.3 may cancel the domain name without further notice if
any debt relating to the domain name remains unpaid after
the deadline we have set; and
6.4 unless condition Error! Reference source not found. or Error!
Reference source not found. applies, or we have made a significant
mistake, will not provide credit notes or refunds.
7 By entering into this contract you promise that:
7.1 you (or your agent) have the permission of any person
whose personal data is to be held on the register
in line with condition Error! Reference source not found.;
7.2 any identity and contact information you (either yourself or
through your agent) send us must be correct;
7.3 you will send us the information needed under condition Error!
Reference source not found. as soon as possible, through your
agent if possible, and you will keep them up to date;
7.4 by registering or using the domain name in any way, you
will not infringe the intellectual property rights (for example,
trademarks) of anyone else;
7.5 you are entitled to register the domain name; and
7.6 you have not registered the domain name in a way that
fails to meet with any legal duty you have.
8 Unless you are a consumer, you will pay us (including the
current or past members of our Board of Directors) any and all reasonable
costs, claims and expenses (whether direct or indirect) arising
out of any claim that you have broken any of the promises in condition
Error! Reference source not found.
9 Our right to rely on the promises in condition Error! Reference
source not found. and indemnity in condition Error! Reference
source not found. will continue to be available after the domain
name has been registered and will not be affected by the cancellation
or transfer of the domain name.
10 A domain name is not an item of property and has no ‘owner’.
It is an entry on our register database reflected by our
nameservers which we provide as part of this contract. As a
result:
10.1 we will not be bound by, or record on the register,
any mortgage-related obligations;
10.2 we own and keep all copyright and database rights in the register;
and
10.3 you should not rely on the registration or continued registration
of the domain name until we confirm that any application
you make has completed and you confirm that your correct
name is recorded in the register for the domain name.
11 We will make your personal data available in the following
ways, but not release it for any other purpose to any other person.
We may:
11.1 include it on the register;
11.2 include it on the WHOIS (which is also available outside
the EEA) and PRSS. For these purposes we will publish
your name and (unless you are a consumer and choose to opt
out) your address, but not your phone or fax number or e-mail address;
11.3 if they ask in writing, give your personal data to people
with a legitimate reason for asking for it (based on the exemptions
in the Data Protection Act 1998 or similar laws that replace or
follow it), including government or law enforcement agencies;
11.4 give your personal data to your current or proposed
agent (or both); and
11.5 use it as set out in the DRS policy and DRS procedure.
12 You may write to us to ask for a copy of the personal data
we hold about you, or you can look at the WHOIS, or you can
ask your agent. Please note that if, at any point, we discover
that you are not a consumer, we may automatically cancel
your opt-out (see condition Error! Reference source not found.)
without notifying you.
13 By registering a domain name you agree to us using your personal
data as explained in conditions Error! Reference source not
found. and Error! Reference source not found..
14 You agree to be bound by:
14.1 the DRS policy and DRS procedure; and
14.2 if there is a dispute, the version of the DRS policy
and DRS procedure (available on our website) which applies
at the time that proceedings under the dispute resolution service
start, until the dispute is over.
15 We (including in this case our directors, officers, staff of
all types and any expert) will not:
15.1 be liable to you or anyone else for anything done or not done
in connection with any proceedings under the dispute resolution
service, unless the act or lack of action is shown to have been
in bad faith; and
15.2 be asked or forced to reveal information or materials which
we gained as a result of the informal mediation stage of the dispute
resolution service, unless ordered by a court with relevant jurisdiction.
16 We may cancel or put the domain name into a special
status by notifying you if:
16.1 we receive independent proof that you have provided significantly
inaccurate, not correct, unreliable or false contact details
(including names), failed to keep your contact details up to date,
or failed to give us those details at all;
16.2 you have broken any part of condition Error! Reference source
not found. or Error! Reference source not found.;
16.3 the domain name is being used in a way that is likely
to endanger any part of the domain name system or our systems
and internet connections; or
16.4 you have broken any of the conditions (including the rules,
DRS policy and DRS procedure) and (in the case of a matter
which it is possible to put right and which is not covered by condition
Error! Reference source not found., Error! Reference source
not found. to Error! Reference source not found. or Error! Reference
source not found.) you do not put it right within 30 days of
us notifying you.
17 We may (but do not have to) transfer, cancel, alter or amend
the domain name, put it in a special status or prevent
its renewal:
17.1 on your instructions (including the absence of instructions
to renew - see condition Error! Reference source not found.),
or by someone apparently acting for you (see condition Error!
Reference source not found.);
17.2 if we reasonably believe that the contact details on the register
for you are so inaccurate or false that we would not be able to
notify you of the change;
17.3 if we reasonably believe that the changes to update the
register or to correct any error, ambiguity or inaccuracy relating
to the domain name registration (including any error in making
the domain name available for registration or an error in
a previous cancellation of the domain name) would make it
more accurate;
17.4 if you withdraw your permission to having your personal
data displayed on the WHOIS or PRSS (not including
cases where a consumer is using the opt-out);
17.5 to carry out the decision an expert has made under our dispute
resolution service; or
17.6 if we receive a complete and valid court order which
we or you (or both) must obey, or if not making the changes the
court orders would be a contempt of court by us or you.
18 If you are an individual, this contract will end if you die and
the person legally appointed to deal with your assets after you
die does not transfer the domain name (either to themselves
or someone else) within a year of your death (or the end of their
appointment, whichever comes first).
19 If you are not an individual, this contract will end if you complete
a liquidation or disbandment process or otherwise no longer exist,
even if (where possible) you are later restored by an official or
court order or decision.
20 Unless ended earlier under this contract, we will enter
your domain name on the register for two years. If
we receive your renewal request and fee in the standard format by
the deadline we set, and in line with the conditions of this contract
generally, you will have the right to enter into a new contract
with us on the same standard conditions that we are then offering
to people registering new domain names. The specific procedure which
applies to renewals is set out on our website, or you can ask your
agent.
21 We may transfer our rights and responsibilities under this contract
to anyone else.
22 If you want to transfer your domain name to someone else,
you must, as well as any general requirements in this contract:
22.1 use our current published transfer process; and
22.2 make sure that the person taking over the domain name
accepts what remains of this contract in full.
23 If you do not transfer your domain name (as needed by
condition Error! Reference source not found.) there will
be no valid transfer of this contract and domain name, and
no document or agreement attempting or claiming to transfer the
domain name or this contract (or both) will have any effect.
24 If you are a consumer, you may have a right to cancel
this contract under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations
2000 or similar laws amending or replacing it. The right must be
claimed within seven working days of the start of the services (which
include security-check work). If this happens, we will cancel this
domain name and provide you or your agent (depending
on who paid us) a full refund within 30 days. If we pay your
agent, you may still have to get a refund from them.
25 Please note the explanation about liability at the beginning
of this contract. However, nothing in these terms limits or excludes
our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or death or personal
injury caused by our negligence.
26 By registering the domain name, we are not acknowledging
that you have any rights in any words within the domain name,
and we are not authorising you to use the domain name as
part of a business.
27 We will not be liable to you whether under contract law, the
legal rules about duties to other people (known as the law of ‘tort’)
including negligence or otherwise, for:
27.1 any loss of profit, revenue or other type of economic loss
(whether direct or indirect);
27.2 loss of business or contracts;
27.3 loss of expected savings or goodwill; or
27.4 any losses which a court categorises as ‘consequential’,
or ‘indirect’ arising out of or in connection with the
contract, including but not limited to:
27.4.1 any mistake or missing information in the register;
and
27.4.2 loss of registration or use, or both (for whatever reason
and whether temporary or otherwise), of the domain name.
28 The law normally implies terms into contracts, but you and we
agree that, as far as the law allows, they do not apply to this
contract.
29 Our total liability to you, whether under these conditions or
otherwise (including liability for negligence), will be no more
than £5,000.
30 If you are a consumer, conditions Error! Reference
source not found., Error! Reference source not found. and Error!
Reference source not found. do not apply to you. Your statutory
rights are not affected - for information contact your local authority
Trading Standards . Department or your citizens advice bureau.
31 Conditions Error! Reference source not found., Error! Reference
source not found., Error! Reference source not found. and Error!
Reference source not found. to Error! Reference source not found.
will continue to apply after this contract has ended, even if that
happens because we or you end this contract wrongfully.
32 If a court rules that any of these conditions is not valid or
cannot be enforced, the other conditions will continue to be valid
and enforceable.
33 This contract does not give you any legal rights against other
people who have registered .uk domain names or give other people
rights against us for any reason.
34 The internet is constantly changing and developing. As a result
of this, we reserve the right to make reasonable changes to the
terms of this contract (including the DRS policy, DRS procedure
and rules) at any time during the term of the contract.
We will only do so when we have good reason. Unless we are acting
because of a legal requirement or a court order, the change will
only be made after we have consulted publicly. We will publish a
notice in advance (ideally, 30 days in advance) on our website and
provide a link from the main page. The changes will apply from the
date shown in the notice. You should visit our website regularly
to find out about any changes. If you do not agree with any change
to the conditions, you may notify us that you want to end
the contract in at least 30 days’ time. In this case, we will
give you a proportionate refund of the registration for the remaining
period.
35 Our address is Nominet UK, Sandford Gate, Sandy Lane West, Oxford,
OX4 6LB, England (phone +44(0)1865 332211, fax +44(0)1865 332299,
e-mail: nominet@nominet.org.uk). Our offices are open from 9am to
5.30pm (UK local time) Monday to Friday, except for public holidays.
36 Except as set out in condition Error! Reference source not
found., or in the DRS policy and DRS procedure,
any notice to be given under the contract will:
36.1 be considered to have been served if hand-delivered, or sent
by prepaid post, fax or e-mail, to you, your agent or representative
(see condition Error! Reference source not found.) at any
postal or e-mail address or fax number on the appropriate register
entry (if to us, at any of the addresses above); and
36.2 apply from the date it was delivered, or if not delivered the
date it was sent or posted.
37 This contract is a legally binding document. You should read
it carefully and make sure that it contains everything you want
and nothing you are not prepared to agree to. These conditions,
together with the rules, DRS policy and DRS procedure,
are the entire contract between you and us for the domain name,
and replace all previous contracts, understandings and representations
about this domain name, whether spoken or written.
38 We deal with a large number of domain names and we rely
on you or other people to tell us about any changes to your personal
information or status. This means that sometimes we continue to
list a domain name or accept instructions even after this
contract has ended, or should have been ended. Nothing we do, or
do not do, during that period stops the contract from ending, stops
us from ending it, or acts to create a new contract.
39 This contract is made under the law of England and any court
proceedings must be in the English courts. If you are a consumer
in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, we will accept your
local law and courts. Enforcement of a court order may be done in
any law or court system that is relevant.
|
