TERMS OF SERVICE

Last Updated: 12 June 2020

Redline from the previous version of our Terms of Service

The following Terms of Service apply to electronic platforms, applications, and online services ("Platforms") that are owned, operated, or sponsored by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers organization ("ICANN organization") and its affiliated organization Public Technical Identifiers ("PTI") where these terms are referenced, linked, or published. In these Terms of Service, ICANN and PTI are sometimes referred to collectively as "we", "us", or "our." The singular term "Platform" includes all equivalent, mirror, replacement, substitute, or backup Platform, and all information and data made available or communicated via the Platform. The Platform is made available subject to all of these terms and conditions and all of our operating rules, policies and procedures, including, without limitation, our Privacy Policy, the ICANN Expected Standards of Behavior, and ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy and Terms of Participation and Compliant Procedure, that may be published from time to time on the Platform by us (collectively, the "Agreement").

This Agreement is not intended to supersede or govern any other terms and conditions or any other operating rules, policies and procedures specific to any other program or service provided by us unless expressly stated by us in connection with such other program or service. Also, you may be required to agree to additional terms and conditions applicable to specific functions and services offered in a Platform. Those additional terms and conditions supplement these Terms of Service, but apply only to your use of such functions and services.

Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing or using the Platform. By accessing or using any part of the Platform, you agree to become bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

1. Data Privacy Policy

   In addition to these Terms of Service, we have established a Privacy Policy to explain how we collect and use information about you. A copy of the Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy. We have also published a Cookies Policy that describes how, when and why we use tracking technologies on our Platforms. A copy of the Cookies Policy can be found at https://www.icann.org/privacy/cookies. By accessing or using the Platform, you are also signifying your acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy.

2. Your Account

   If you create an account on the Platform, you are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and you are fully responsible for all activities that occur under the account. You must immediately notify us of any unauthorized or suspicious uses of your account or any other breaches of security. We will not be liable for any acts or omissions by you, including any damages of any kind incurred as a result of such acts or omissions.

   By creating an account on the Platform, you may be required to provide information about yourself (such as identification or contact details) as part of the registration process for the Platform, or as part of your continued use of the Platform. You agree that any registration information you give to us will be accurate, correct and up to date. Furthermore, you agree that the information that you share about yourself will be shared publicly for the purpose of displaying of profiles of ICANN community members and for identification of discussion contributors within the communication tools provided.

3. Responsibility of Contributors

   If you communicate, post material, or transfer information using the Platform, post links on the Platform, or otherwise make (or allow any third party to make) material available by means of the Platform (any such material, "Content"), you are entirely responsible for the Content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content. By making Content available, you represent and warrant that:

   • communicating, downloading, copying and using the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any person or third party organization;
   • if your employer has rights to intellectual property you create, you have either (i) received permission from your employer to post or make available the Content, including but not limited to any software, or (ii) secured from your employer a waiver as to all rights in or to the Content;
   • you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms;
   • the Content does not contain or install any viruses, worms, malware, Trojan horses or other harmful or destructive material or information;
   • the Content complies with any applicable third party terms and conditions you have accepted applicable to the Content or the use of the third party services needed for your use of the Platform;
   • the Content is not spam, is not machine-generated or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content material designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing);
   • the Content is not pornographic, does not contain threats or incite violence, and does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party;
   • the Content does not consist of unsolicited promotional materials such as spam links on newsgroups, email lists, blogs and web sites, and other similar unsolicited promotional methods;
   • the Content is not named in a manner that misleads others into thinking that you are another person or company;
   • you have, in the case of Content that includes computer code, accurately categorized and/or described the type, nature, uses and effects of the materials, whether requested to do so by us or otherwise; and
   • the Content complies with the ICANN Expected Standards of Behavior and ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy and Terms of Participation and Compliant Procedure.

4. Content Contributions and Cancelations

   We have the right (though not the obligation) to, in our sole discretion, (i) refuse or remove any Content that, in our reasonable opinion, violates any of our policy or procedure or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or (ii) cancel any registration or account to use a Platform, or (iii) terminate or deny access to and use of the Platform to any individual or entity, in each case for any reason and in our sole discretion.

5. Responsibility of Platform Visitors

   We have not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the material posted to the Platform, and cannot therefore be responsible for that material's Content, use or effects. By operating the Platform, we do not represent or imply that it endorses the material there posted, or that it believes such material to be accurate, useful or non-harmful. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive Content.

   You may only use the Platform pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. You are solely responsible for your use of the Platform and agree to abide by, and comply with, all laws in connection with your use of the Platform, including but not limited to laws related to recording, intellectual property, privacy and export control.

6. Age Restrictions

   In order to use the Platform on your own behalf, you must be at least 18 years of age. If you are between the ages of 16 and 18, you may still use the Platform, but you must have a parent or legal guardian provide valid and verifiable consent to your use of the Platform and acceptance of these Terms of Service. Under no circumstances is the Platform intended for direct use by persons under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect any personal data directly from persons under the age of 16.

7. Content Posted on Other Platforms

   The Platform may contain add-on services, hyperlinks or references to third party services and websites that are not our vendors.  These third party websites and services are outside of our control and are operated by third parties. We have not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the material made available through third party online services, websites and webpages to which the Platform links, and that link to the Platform that we are not responsible for, nor shall it be liable to you for your access and use of any such third party hyperlinks, websites or services. The appearance on the Platform of external online services and hyperlinks, in any form, does not constitute endorsement by us of the opinions or views expressed by any such third-party websites and we do not take responsibility for the accuracy, currency, completeness, or quality of the Content contained at such websites and third-party services. Furthermore, we are not responsible for the quality or delivery of the products or services offered, provided, accessed, or advertised by any third party. As such, we will not be responsible or liable to you in any way for any Content, errors, or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of any information contained in or provided to those third-party sites. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive Content. We disclaim any responsibility for any harm resulting from your use of third-party websites and webpages.

8. Copyright Infringement and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Policy

   As we ask others to respect our intellectual property rights, we respect the intellectual property rights of others. We will terminate a visitor's access to and use of the Platform if, under appropriate circumstances, the visitor is determined to be a repeat infringer of our or other party's copyrights or other intellectual property rights.

   If you believe that your intellectual property is being used on the Platform in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our Designated Agent (set forth below) the following information (as required by Section 512(c)(3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act):

   • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
   • Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
   • Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;
   • Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an email address at which the complaining party may be contacted;
   • A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
   • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

   The information specified above must be sent to our Designated Agent, whose contact information is as follows:

   ICANN
   Attn: ICANN Legal
   12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
   Los Angeles, CA 90094
   Tel: 310-301-5800
   Email: [email protected]

   Please note that Section 512(f) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act may impose liability for damages on any person who knowingly sends meritless notices of infringement. Please do not make false claims.

   Any information or correspondence that you provide to us may be shared with third parties, including the person who provided us with the allegedly infringing material.

   Upon receipt of a bona fide infringement notification by the Designated Agent, it is our policy to remove or disable access to the infringing material, notify the user who posted the material that we have removed or disabled access to the material, and, for repeat offenders, to terminate such user's access to the service.

   If you believe that your Content should not have been removed for alleged copyright infringement, you may send our Designated Agent a written counter-notice with the following information:

   • Identification of the copyrighted work that was removed, and the location on the Platform where it would have been found prior to its removal;
   • A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good faith belief that the Content was removed as a result of a mistake or misidentification; and
   • Your physical or electronic signature, together with your contact information (address, telephone number and, if available, email address).

   If a counter-notice is received by the Designated Agent, we may send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party, informing that person that we may replace the removed material or cease disabling it in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the user, the removed material may be replaced or access to it restored in 10 to 14 business days or more after receipt of the counter-notice, at our discretion.

   We will terminate a visitor's access to and use of the Platform if, under appropriate circumstances, the visitor is determined to be a repeat infringer of our or other party's copyrights or other intellectual property rights.

9. Intellectual Property

   This Agreement does not transfer from us to you any of our or third party intellectual property, and all right, title and interest in and to such property will remain (as between the parties) solely with us. All trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Platform are trademarks or registered trademarks of our organization or other third parties. Your use of the Platform grants you no right or license to reproduce or otherwise use any intellectual property belonging to our organization or other third parties.

10. Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

    TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, ICANN ORGANIZATION, ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES, AND EACH OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, MEMBERS, SHAREHOLDERS, EMPLOYEES, ASSOCIATES, AGENTS, LICENSORS, REPRESENTATIVES, AND THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY COMPENSATORY, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, THAT MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OF, ACCESS TO, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE PLATFORM OR ANY MATERIALS CONTAINED IN THE PLATFORM, WHETHER THE MATERIAL IS PROVIDED OR OTHERWISE SUPPLIED BY US OR ANY THIRD PARTY.

    If, notwithstanding the other provisions of these Terms and Conditions, we are found to be liable to you for any damages or losses arising out of your use of, access to or inability to use the Platform or any material provided or otherwise supplied by us or any third party, our liability shall in no event exceed US $25.00. Note that some jurisdictions do not allow limitations of liability or may place limitations on our ability to limit its liability to you, so the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.

    The material provided by the Platform could include technical inaccuracies or other errors. The availability of the Platform may be interrupted due to technical conditions. Your use of the Platform is at your risk. We do not warrant that the functional aspects of the Platform will be uninterrupted or error-free or that the Platform or the servers that make it available are free of viruses or other harmful components. Without limiting the foregoing, everything in the Platform is provided to you "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

11. Governing Law

    This Agreement, and any disputes or claims arising out of or relating to this Agreement, is subject to the laws of the state of California, without giving effect to any conflict of laws principles that may provide the application of the law of another jurisdiction.

12. Arbitration Agreement Dispute Resolution and Arbitration

    REVIEW THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. AS DESCRIBED BELOW, IT LIMITS: (i) YOUR ABILITY TO LITIGATE CERTAIN CLAIMS IN COURT; (ii) YOUR RIGHT TO HAVE A JURY DECIDE CERTAIN CLAIMS; AND (iii) YOUR ABILITY TO COMBINE CLAIMS AND TO BRING CLAIMS THROUGH CLASS ACTIONS. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT BY USING AND/OR BECOMING A REGISTERED USER OF THE PLATFORM OR SERVICES, YOU CONSENT AND CHOOSE TO HAVE SUCH CLAIMS SUBMITTED TO BINDING ARBITRATION. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT NO ARBITRATION OR PROCEEDING WILL BE COMBINED WITH ANOTHER WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF ALL PARTIES TO ALL AFFECTED ARBITRATIONS OR PROCEEDINGS.

    To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, you agree that, except as otherwise set forth in this Section, all Claims (defined as any dispute or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement, your use of or inability to use the Platform, Content or services, except the following types of disputes and controversies: (a) any claim seeking to enforce or protect, or concerning the validity of, any of our intellectual property rights; (b) any claim related to, or arising from, allegations of theft, piracy, or unauthorized use; (c) any claim for injunctive relief; and (d) any claim within the jurisdictional limits of the small claims courts) between you and us (and its officers, directors, executives, agents, and employees) shall be resolved through binding arbitration administered by JAMS, pursuant to its Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures and in accordance with the Expedited Procedures in those rules in effect at the time the Claim is filed. Each Claim shall be submitted to a single arbitrator selected through mutual agreement of the parties. The arbitrator's decision shall be final, binding, and non-appealable. Judgment upon the award may be entered and enforced in any court having jurisdiction or application may be made for judicial acceptance of the award and an order of enforcement. Except as otherwise indicated in this Agreement, the arbitrator, and not any federal, state, or local court, shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, and/or enforceability of this Agreement and any terms or documents incorporated herein, including any claim that all or any part of this Agreement, are void or voidable. The arbitration proceedings shall be held in Los Angeles County, California and shall be subject to this Agreement and the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to conflicts of law provisions thereof. The arbitrator shall not have authority to combine or aggregate similar claims or conduct any Class Action (as defined below), or make an award to any person or entity not a party to the arbitration. No arbitration or proceeding will be combined with another without the prior written consent of all parties to all affected arbitrations or proceedings.

    Before you take a dispute to arbitration or to small claims court, you must first contact us in writing and describe: (a) the nature and basis of the Claim or dispute; and (b) the specific relief sought to give us an opportunity to resolve the dispute. Similarly, before we take a dispute to arbitration, we must first attempt to resolve it by contacting you. If we do not reach an agreement to resolve the claim within sixty (60) days from the date such notification is provided, you or we may commence an arbitration proceeding.

    If we prevail before the arbitrator, and if we show that you acted in bad faith in bringing your claim, then we may seek to recover the JAMS' fees and expenses of the arbitrator from you.

    Class Action Waiver

    Each of us expressly agree that any Claim(s) must be brought in the respective party's individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, representative, multiple plaintiff, or similar proceeding ("Class Action"). Each of us expressly agree to waive any ability to maintain any Class Action in any forum raising a Claim covered by this Section. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement to the contrary, any Claim, dispute, or controversy alleging that all or part of the Class Action waiver contained in this Section is invalid, illegal, unenforceable, void, or voidable may be determined only by a court of competent jurisdiction and not by an arbitrator.

13. Changes

    We reserve the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any part of this Agreement. Your continued use of or access to the Platform following the notification of any changes to this Agreement constitutes acceptance of those changes. We may also, in the future, offer new services and/or features through the Platform (including, the release of new tools and resources). Such new features and/or services shall be subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

14. Termination

    We may terminate your access to all or any part of the Platform at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. If you wish to terminate this Agreement, you may simply discontinue using the Platform. If you wish to terminate your account (if you have one), please contact [email protected]. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.

15. General Representation and Warranty

    You represent and warrant that (i) your use of the Platform will be in strict accordance with this Agreement and with all applicable laws and regulations (including without limitation any local laws or regulations in your country, state, city, or other governmental area, regarding online conduct and acceptable Content, and including all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the country in which this Platform resides or the country in which you reside); and (ii) your use of the Platform will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

16. Miscellaneous

    1. Modification. This Agreement may be modified by the posting by us of a revised version on the Platform.
    2. No Waiver. Our failure to enforce, or delay in enforcing, any provision of these Terms of Service will not constitute a waiver of such right. Any waiver must be in writing and signed by both Parties to be legally binding.
    3. Severability. All parts of these Terms of Service apply to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. If a part of this Agreement cannot be enforced as written, then that part will be replaced with terms that most closely match the intent of the Parties to the extent permitted by applicable law. The invalidity of part of these Terms of Service will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.
    4. Relationship of the Parties. Nothing in the Terms of Service creates any partnership, joint venture, franchise, employment, or other agency relationship between us and you. You may not enter into any contract on our behalf or bind us in any way.
    5. Assignment. You may not assign any of your rights under these Terms of Service, and any such attempt will be null and void. We may, in our sole discretion, transfer, delegate, subcontract or assign, without notifying you, any rights or obligations under these Terms of Service.
    6. Third-Party Beneficiaries. These Terms of Service are for our benefit and you only, and only we and you may enforce it. The Parties do not intend for these Terms of Service to confer any right or benefit on any third party. No third party may commence or prosecute an action against a Party to these Terms of Service claiming to be a third-party beneficiary of these Terms of Service or any of the transactions contemplated in these Terms of Service.

17. Effective Date of Terms of Service

    These Terms of Service are effective and were last updated on 12 June 2020.