Terms and Conditions of the Nominet Registry
WARNING: by registering a domain name within the .uk Top Level
Domain (a "Domain Name"), you enter into a contract of registration with
Nominet UK ("We", "Our" or "Us") on the following terms and conditions.
This is a separate contract to any arrangement you may have with any third
party for the provision of internet services.
Nominet is the Registry for all internet Domain Names ending in .uk
and provides a public service for the .uk namespace on behalf of
the Internet community. You can find out more information about Nominet
from our web site at http://www.nominet.org.uk.
Nominet is a not - for - profit company limited by guarantee which is
performing services on a cost recovery basis. This is why we consider
it reasonable 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 our current Rules For The .uk Domain And
Sub-Domains ("Rules") and the Policy and Procedure for our Domain Name
Dispute Resolution Service ("Policy" and "Procedure" as appropriate).
Copies of the Policy, Procedure and Rules are at http://www.nominet.org.uk/ref/drs-policy.html
or can be obtained from us.
You may have registered a Domain Name through a third party (usually,
but not always, your internet service provider). In these terms and conditions,
the term "Agent" means such a third party.
- What we will do
1.1. |
We will process your application to register a Domain Name and
consider whether or not to accept it in accordance with the criteria
laid down in the Rules; |
1.2. |
If your application is accepted, we will inform you or your
Agent. If your application is rejected, we will inform you or
your Agent as soon as reasonably practicable and return to you
or your Agent (as appropriate) any payments received; |
1.3. |
Unless the current Rules of the relevant sub-domain state to
the contrary, we will register Domain Names on a first come, first
served basis. Until we accept your application, there is no guarantee
that the Domain Name you applied for will be entered in the Register
as such. We therefore recommend that you do not take any action
in respect of a Domain Name until you have received confirmation
from us that your application has been accepted. |
1.4. |
After your application has been accepted, we will enter the
Domain Name and other relevant details (namely the data described
in clause 6 below, together with details of your Agent, if any)
in the Domain Name register database for the requested second
level of the .uk top level domain (the "Register"). |
1.5. |
We will use the information in the Register entry for the Domain
Name to enable the resolution of requests for the Domain Name,
by pointing to the authoritative name servers listed in the Register
Entry for the Domain Name. For further information about the technical
requirements for registering a Domain Name, please contact your
Agent. |
1.6. |
After your application has been accepted and we have received
your registration fee, we will issue you with a registration certificate
and a reply form. |
1.7. |
Subject to clause 8 below, we will transfer your Domain Name
and update the Register accordingly on receipt of correctly completed
transfer documentation from you and any relevant transfer fee
applicable at the time of transfer. We will not transfer a Domain
Name whilst it is the subject of legal proceedings or proceedings
under our Dispute Resolution Service. |
1.8. |
Please note that subject to clauses 8.5 and 8.6 we will not
refund any fees after your Domain Name and details have been entered
in the Register. |
1.9. |
Subject to clauses 8.7 and 8.8 below, we will only make changes
to the details contained on the Register (other than the registrant
field), if we receive instructions and approval from you or your
Agent. |
1.10. |
Subject to clauses 8.7 and 8.8, we shall only alter the details
contained in the "registrant" field of the Register if we receive
authorisation directly from you. |
- What you must do
2.1. |
You must ensure that we receive the registration or renewal
fee within one month after the issue of our invoice. For the avoidance
of doubt, if you use an Agent it will be your responsibility to
ensure that the Agent has paid the registration or renewal fee
to us within one month of the issue of our invoice. |
2.2. |
You must sign and return to us the reply form which we will
send to you after registration or renewal as appropriate. |
2.3. |
You must inform us promptly of any change in your registered
details, and those of your Agent if applicable. It will be your
responsibility to maintain and update any details you submit to
us and to ensure that your details are up to date, and accurate.
In particular, it is your responsibility directly or by your Agent
to ensure that we have your full and correct postal address. |
2.4. |
You must promptly inform us of any court proceedings brought
in respect of the Domain Name. |
2.5. |
Any name server listed in the Register entry for the Domain
Name must respond authoritatively to requests for the Domain Name
at all reasonable times. |
- Renewal of your Domain Name Registration
3.1. |
The registration period is two years from the date of entry
into the Register of your Domain Name registration. Provided you
pay us your renewal fee and subject to clause 8 below, you will
have the right to renew the Domain Name registration by entering
into a new Contract with us for further periods of two years. |
3.2. |
Subject to clause 3.3 below, when the Domain Name registration
falls due for renewal, we will contact your Agent (at the Agent's
address appearing in the Register) to request payment of the relevant
renewal fee. |
3.3. |
If no Agent is listed on the Register entry for the Domain Name,
or if the Register entry for the Domain Name indicates that you
wish to be invoiced direct, we will request payment of the relevant
renewal fee direct from you at the registrant address appearing
in the Register. |
3.4. |
If we fail to receive the renewal fee within thirty (30) days
of our making a request for the renewal fee, we will suspend your
registration for at least 6 weeks and if we do not receive payment
within the suspension period we will cancel your registration
without further notice to you. During any period of suspension,
we will not point to any name servers listed in the Register entry
for the Domain Name, and you will be unable to use or transfer
the Domain Name. |
- Exclusions and Limitations of Liability
4.1. |
Nominet does not carry out any investigation as to whether you
are entitled to register or have any rights in the Domain Name.
By registering the Domain Name we are not acknowledging that you
have any rights in the name comprised in the Domain Name, and
we are not authorising you to use the Domain Name in the course
of trade. |
4.2. |
Nothing in these terms and conditions limits or excludes our
liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence
or for fraudulent misrepresentation. |
4.3. |
We shall not be liable to you whether in contract, tort (including
negligence) or otherwise for: |
|
4.3.1. |
any loss of profit, revenue or other type of economic
loss (whether direct or indirect); |
4.3.2. |
loss of business or contracts; |
4.3.3. |
loss of anticipated savings or goodwill; or |
4.3.4. |
any losses which a court holds to be consequential, or
indirect losses; arising out of or in connection with the
Contract, including but not limited to: |
4.3.5. |
any error or omission in entries to the Register; and |
4.3.6. |
loss of registration and/or use (for whatever reason and
whether temporary or otherwise) of the Domain Name. |
|
4.4. |
All conditions and warranties which may be implied by law into
any Contract with you are excluded to the fullest extent permissible
by law. |
4.5. |
Our aggregate liability to you whether under these terms and
conditions or otherwise (including liability for negligence) shall
not exceed £5,000. |
4.6. |
If you are a consumer (ie you are not registering or intending
to use the Domain Name in the course of a business, trade or profession)
(a "Consumer"), the provisions of clauses 4.3 4.4 and 4.5 above
will not apply to you. |
4.7. |
Nothing in these terms and conditions will reduce your statutory
rights relating to faulty or misdescribed goods. For further information
about your statutory rights contact your local authority Trading
Standards Department or Citizens Advice Bureau. |
- Warranties
By entering into this agreement you consent to and warrant the following:
5.1 |
That you (or your Agent) have obtained the consent of any individual
whose personal data is to be held on the Register in accordance
with clause 6; |
5.2 |
That the details and information submitted by you to us are
true and correct, and that any future additions or alterations
to your details and information will be true and correct, and
that you will submit them in a timely manner. Unless you are a
Consumer, you shall pay us (including the current or past members
of Nominet UK's Council of Management) any and all reasonable
costs, claims and expenses (whether direct or indirect) arising
out of any claim resulting from your breach of this warranty;
and |
5.3 |
That by registering or using the Domain Name (in whatever manner)
you will not knowingly infringe the intellectual property rights
of a third party, that you are entitled to register the Domain
Name, and that you have not registered the Domain Name in breach
of trust. Our right to rely upon this warranty will continue to
be available after completion of the registration process and
will not be affected by any surrender, cancellation or transfer
of the Domain Name. Unless you are a Consumer, you shall pay us
(including the current or past members of Nominet UK's Council
of Management) any and all reasonable costs, claims and expenses
(whether direct or indirect) arising out of any claim that your
registration or use of the Domain Name directly or indirectly
infringes the intellectual property rights of a third party. |
- Personal Data
6.1 |
The Register is a public register for the purposes of data protection
legislation. The Register will include your name and postal address,
telephone and fax number and email address together with any other
relevant details. This information (if it refers to individuals)
is 'personal data' for the purposes of data protection legislation.
Personal data submitted by you will be:
- Posted onto the Register;
- Posted onto the WHOIS database by us. The WHOIS database
is provided on our web site at http://www.nominet.org.uk.
Other Agents which provide an online Domain Name registration
service may point to our WHOIS database. We will publish your
name and address but will not publish your telephone or fax
number or email address as part of the WHOIS database; and
- Used as part of the Public Register Subscription Service
("PRSS"), under which we provide a compressed form of the
Register to subscribers. We provide the PRSS only to trusted
third parties, based within the European Economic Area, under
strict contractual terms which prohibit the use of PRSS data
for the purposes of direct marketing. The PRSS enables subscribers
to perform WHOIS queries and reverse look-ups. We will publish
your name and address but not your telephone or fax number
or email address as part of the PRSS;
- We may provide your personal data to governmental or law
enforcement agencies at their written request in connection
with the conducting of any investigation of criminal activities;
and
- We will provide your personal data to third parties only
if required to do so by a court order.
You may write to us to request a copy of the personal data
held by us about you. We may charge a reasonable fee for the
provision of such data. As required by the Data Protection Act
1998, we will adopt appropriate security procedures in relation
to the storage and disclosure of information provided by you
in order to prevent unauthorised access. Our security procedures
mean that we may occasionally request proof of your identity
before we are able to disclose personal information to you.
Other than the uses identified above, we will not disclose your
personal information to others.
You should be aware that personal data posted on the WHOIS
database may be accessible to countries outside the European
Economic Area. By registering a Domain Name you consent to your
personal data being transferred out of the European Economic
Area and to our use of your personal data for the purposes specified
above.
|
- Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service
7.1. |
You will be bound by the Policy and Procedure of our Dispute
Resolution Service which are incorporated into these terms and
conditions and made a part of the Contract by reference. The current
version of the Policy and Procedure can be found at our web site:
http://www.nominet.org.uk/drs.html |
7.2. |
If a dispute arises, you agree to be bound by the Policy and
Procedure which are current at the time that proceedings under
the Dispute Resolution Service are commenced until the dispute
is over. |
7.3. |
Neither we nor our directors, officers, employees or servants
nor any expert shall be liable to a party for anything done or
omitted in connection with any proceedings under the Dispute Resolution
Service unless the act or omission is shown to have been in bad
faith. |
- Termination/Cancellation, Suspension and Amendment of the Register
8.1. |
You or your Agent may surrender registration of the Domain Name
by notice in writing to us at any time prior to our receiving
payment. |
8.2. |
After we have received payment for a Domain Name, only you (and
not your Agent) may surrender the Domain Name. |
8.3. |
After payment has been received but prior to the issue of a
registration certificate you may surrender the registration by
writing to us on headed notepaper which corresponds to the registrant
address field of the Register entry for the Domain Name. |
8.4. |
If a registration certificate has been issued, you may surrender
the Domain Name by correctly completing the surrender of registration
form (on the reverse of the registration certificate). |
8.5. |
If you are a Consumer, then you may cancel the Contract by giving
notice to us by any of the means set out in clause 10.4 below
at any time up to and including 7 working days following the day
on which the Contract is concluded, i.e. the date on which we
give notice to you or your Agent that we have accepted your application
to register a Domain Name. If you register or use the Domain Name
in the course of a business, trade or profession, you will not
have this right to cancel the Contract. |
8.6. |
If you cancel the Contract in accordance with clause 8.5 then
we will provide you or your Agent (as appropriate) with a full
refund of our registration fee within 30 days from the day on
which we receive notice of your cancellation. If we refund your
Agent, you may have to seek direct from your Agent any further
component of the fees which you have paid. |
8.7. |
We may cancel or suspend the registration of a Domain Name by
providing you with notice in writing in the event of the following: |
|
8.7.1. |
if we do not receive your registration or renewal fees
in accordance with clause 2.1 above; |
8.7.2. |
if you are in breach of the terms of this Contract (including
the Rules) and in the case of a breach which is capable
of remedy you fail to remedy this within 30 days of receiving
written notice from us to do so; |
8.7.3. |
if we receive independent verification that you have provided
grossly inaccurate, unreliable or false registrant contact
details, or failed to keep such contact details up to date;
|
8.7.4. |
if you are in breach of the warranties contained in clauses
5.1 and 5.3 of the Contract; or |
8.7.5. |
if the Domain Name is being administered in a way likely
to endanger the operation of the Domain Name System. |
|
8.8. |
We may transfer, suspend, cancel or amend the Domain Name registration
in the following circumstances: |
|
8.8.1. |
upon receiving written instructions from you to take such
action together with any relevant fee; |
8.8.2. |
upon receiving a copy of a perfected order of a court
of competent jurisdiction requiring such action, or where
the retention of a Domain Name by you would be inconsistent
with the terms of a perfected court order received by us
or any other legal requirements; |
8.8.3. |
if such changes are necessary in order to correct an error
relating to the Domain Name registration; or |
8.8.4. |
following a Decision requiring such action or an agreement
reached between the parties and approved by us relating
to proceedings under the Dispute Resolution Service. |
|
8.9. |
If a name server listed for the Domain Name registration does
not respond authoritatively to requests for the Domain Name, we
may remove the name server from the Register entry for the Domain
Name. |
- Change of Agent
9.1. |
If you wish to change your Agent, you should first approach
your current Agent to arrange this. If your approach is unsuccessful,
we may at your request record a change of Agent directly onto
the Register entry for your Domain Name registration. On receipt
of your request, we will approach your Agent (unless exceptional
circumstances apply). We will only comply with your request if: |
9.2. |
we are satisfied that you have first approached your Agent,
and that the approach has been unsuccessful; and |
9.3. |
we are not informed by your Agent that there is an express term
in your contract with your Agent which can prevent us from recording
such a change. |
- General
10.1. |
If any clause of these terms and conditions is held to be unenforceable
in whole or in part the other terms and the rest of the provisions
shall continue to be valid and enforceable. |
10.2. |
We may transfer our rights and obligations under the Contract
to any third party. You may transfer the Contract, only on the
transfer of the Domain Name, in accordance with clauses 1.7 and
subject to clause 8 above. |
10.3. |
The internet is an emerging and evolving medium and the regulatory
and administrative framework under which we operate is constantly
developing. For these reasons we reserve the right to make reasonable
modifications to the terms and conditions of this Contract (including
the Policy, Procedure and Rules) at any time during the term.
We will only do so when we have good reason. No change will have
the effect of requiring an increase in fees from you in advance
of the next renewal of the Domain Name. Except where we are acting
in pursuance of a statutory requirement or a court order, changes
will be implemented across the board in all of our Domain Name
contracts following a process of open public consultation. Each
such change will be published in advance (where practicable, 30
days in advance) on our web site: http://www.nominet.org.uk/
and will become binding and effective upon the date specified
therein. You should review our web site regularly in order to
be aware of all such changes. If you do not agree with any change
or proposed change to these terms and conditions you are entitled
to terminate the Contract by providing us with thirty (30) days
notice in writing, in which case you will receive a pro-rata refund
of your registration fee in respect of any unexpired portion of
the term. |
10.4. |
If you wish to contact us our postal address is Nominet UK,
Sandford Gate, Sandy Lane West, Oxford, OX4 6LB, England and our
telephone number is +44(0) 1865 332211. Our offices are open from
9.00a.m. to 5.30pm (UK local time) Monday to Friday, except for
public holidays. Except as set out in the Policy and Procedure
any notice to be given under the Contract shall only be deemed
to be served if delivered by hand or sent by pre-paid post, by
fax or e-mail, to the party to whom it is given at its last known
postal or e-mail address or fax number. Except as otherwise set
out in the Policy and Procedure the notice will be effective:
if delivered, on delivery; if sent by fax or email, on the date
of sending; and if by post, on the date of posting. For the avoidance
of doubt, any notice sent to you will be deemed served if sent
to the address appearing in your Registrant's address field. |
10.5. |
This contract is a binding document. Consumers should read it
carefully and ensure that it contains everything you want and
nothing you are not prepared to agree to. These terms and conditions,
together with the Rules Policy and Procedure, constitute the entire
agreement between you and us for the registration of the Domain
Name, and supersedes all prior agreements, understandings and
representations whether oral or written. |
10.6. |
These terms and conditions shall be governed by the relevant
United Kingdom law, and by agreeing to be bound by them you agree
to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the relevant courts
of the United Kingdom. |
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