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.
By registering a domain name, you agree to the publication of your
name and address as part of the public WHOIS database service. If you are
a Consumer, and you do not wish your address to be published, please see
our web site at http://resellers.tucows.com/ for
more information on the Consumer opt out.
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://resellers.tucows.com/.
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 here 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 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;
1.1. 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;
1.2. 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.
1.3. 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").
1.4. 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.
1.5. 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.
1.6. 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.
1.7. 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.
1.8. 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.
1.9. 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;
Unless you are a Consumer and have selected the Consumer opt out
provision , posted onto the WHOIS database by us. The WHOIS database
is provided on our web site at http://resellers.tucows.com/.
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"),
or any other service(s) amending or replacing it. Under the PRSS 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. Any service(s)
which may replace the PRSS will be provided on similar terms. 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 and/or as part of any
other service(s) amending or replacing it. If you are a Consumer you
may select the Consumer opt out provision in respect of the PRSS, or
any other service(s) amending or replacing it;
We may provide your personal data to governmental or law
enforcement agencies at their written request in connection with the
conducting of any investigation. We may provide your name and address
to third parties with a legitimate reason for requesting the
information upon their written request; and
Otherwise, 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. Please
note that if at any point we discover that you are no longer a Consumer,
we will automatically post your personal data onto the WHOIS and the
PRSS and/or onto any other service(s) amending or replacing the PRSS in
accordance with clause 6.1(b) and (c) above without further notice to
you.
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://resellers.tucows.com/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; or
8.8.5. should you at any time withdraw your consent to
having your personal data displayed on the WHOIS and/or the PRSS and/or
any other service(s) amending or replacing the PRSS as set out in Clause
6.1 above; or
8.8.6. if you are a Consumer, should you withdraw from
the Consumer opt out and refuse to allow Nominet to provide your
personal data on the WHOIS and/or the PRSS and/or any other service(s)
amending or replacing the PRSS in accordance with Clause 6.1 above.
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 will
at your request and on payment of the required fee record a change of
Agent directly onto the Register entry for your Domain Name
registration. On receipt of your request, we will notify your Agent. You
will remain liable for any charges you have incurred under the terms of
the contract with your Agent, which may include a fee payable upon
change of Agent.
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://resellers.tucows.com/ 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.