Notes on Legal Aspects

Introduction

In this chapter you will find information about legal aspects of domain registration.

Changes and deletions of domains with a DISPUTE entry

Things to be observed if a domain is bearing a DISPUTE entry

§ 2 (4) of DENIC's Member Terms and Conditions stipulates:

"DENIC shall have the right to place a Dispute entry on a domain under .de if a third party presents a credible case to show that they have a right to the domain or that their rights have been infringed by the domain, and provided such third party declares that they intend to enforce the resulting claims against the domain holder, and provided that they also expressly declare that they will not in any way hold either DENIC or the DENIC member administering the domain liable for eventual claims by the domain holder or any third party. The Dispute entry takes effect for a year, but may be extended by DENIC if its holder is able to submit evidence that the dispute has not yet been brought to a conclusion. It is possible for the domain holder to continue to use a domain that has had a Dispute entry placed on it; it is not, however, possible to transfer it to any third party."

This means, if a domain bears a DISPUTE entry:

  • The domain can be updated by means of an UPDATE request; you may change the data of the General Request, Abuse Contact as well as the technical data entered for the domain.
  • A CHHOLDER request will be rejected with an error message because you must not change the domain holder.
  • A CHPROV request will be accepted, provided the mandatory keywords (Name, Organization, Address, PostalCode, City, CountryCode) remain unchanged.
  • A DELETE request can be executed. The DISPUTE holder will become the new domain holder.
  • A handle which is referenced as holder in a domain bearing a DISPUTE entry, cannot be updated. Please contact Business Services.
  • The output in response to an INFO query concerning a Contact will include the information whether the queried contact is listed as domain holder in a domain which bears a DISPUTE entry. The value "DisputeReference" will be set to "true".
  • The output in response to an INFO or whois query concerning a domain administered by the RegAcc submitting the query (own domain) will include information about possibly existing active DISPUTE entries.

Common Problems

A handle referenced as holder in several domains shall be updated. The update will fail if any - and even if it is only one - of the domains is bearing a DISPUTE entry. Since the RegAcc will be unable to find out which of its domains is concerned, it should contact Business Services.

NOTICE

If a domain is bearing a DISPUTE entry and the holder shall be updated (e.g. in case of a change of name or address of the company), send the corresponding evidences to DENIC. The following documents can be used as evidence:l:

  • Move of a natural person: confirmation of registration at the new place of residence or similar type of document (e.g. two tax assessment notes - one addressed to the address recorded at DENIC and one addressed to the new address).

  • Move of a sole proprietorship company / business: a trade report

  • Move of a German GmbH / GmbH & Co. KG / AG: an extract from the commercial register

Please note that the evidences must prove both addresses and/or legal forms, the current and the future one.

Changes to Domains in the Name of DENIC's Legal Department

In certain cases, domain data will be updated by the Legal Department of DENIC. This may happen, for instance, if holder data are updated, even though a DISPUTE entry is placed on the domain.

In such cases, the RegAcc will be notified informally by e-mail. The e-mail will be sent to the address recorded for EmailLegal. If no such e-mail has been recorded, the EmailTo address will be used.

Domain Deletions in the Name of DENIC's Legal Department

In certain cases, a domain will be deleted at the instigation of DENIC's Legal Department. This may happen, for instance if the domain infringes the Domain Terms and Conditions or a judgement on the substance of the case has been issued.

In this case, the RegAcc is notified by a message in its message queue (if MsgFeed “rri” is used) or by an e-mail to the address recorded for EmailTo (if MsgFeed “mail” is used).

NOTICE

Please note that domain deletions instigated upon request of DENIC’s Legal Department (DENICrecht) will be executed without delay. There is no Redemption Grace Period.

Other Legal Problems

Infringements of the Domain Terms and Conditions

The RegAcc should always make sure that the domain data is complete and correct. This is in the interest of the RegAcc itself and of the domain holder. Particularly important is that the domain holder is denominated clearly and uniquely. A mistake as minor as a typing error in the mandatory data may have the effect that the domain holder loses their domain.

Trotzdem kommt es immer wieder vor, dass DENIC von Dritten auf unzureichende Daten zu einer Domain aufmerksam gemacht wird. Diese unzureichenden Daten stellen einen Verstoß gegen die DENIC-Domainrichtlinien dar.

In this case:

  • Business Services first informs the administering RegAcc via the e-mail address specified for “EmailLegal” (if one has been provided, otherwise via the e-mail address for “EmailTo”) and sets a deadline for the data to be corrected.
  • If the data is not corrected by the deadline, the procedure is forwarded to DENIC's legal department.
  • If necessary, the domain is then terminated due to a violation of the domain guidelines and subsequently deleted.