.be Domains Dispute & Policy
Last Update 20 August 2012. The most current .be domains dispute policy can be found at: dns.be/en/legal/domain_name_disputes/adr_procedure
10. Dispute resolution policy
The registrant must submit the type of disputes set out below to alternative dispute resolution proceedings and accepts in this regard the competence of an accredited Dispute Resolution Entity. The registrant accepts that those proceedings must be conducted before one of the accredited Dispute Resolution Entities listed at the web site of DNS.be. The procedure will be conducted in the language chosen by the registrant during his application. Every dispute will be governed by the dispute resolution policy applicable when the complaint is filed.
- circumstances indicating that the domain name was registered or acquired primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark, trade name, registered name or company name, geographical designation, name of origin, designation of source, personal name or name of the geographical entity, or to a competitor of the complainant, for a price that exceeds the costs directly related to the acquisition of the domain name; or
- the domain name was registered in order to prevent the owner of a trademark, a trade name, a registered name or a company name, a geographical designation, a name of origin, a designation of source, a personal name or a name of a geographical entity to use the domain name and that the registrant has engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
- the domain name was registered primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
- the domain name was intentionally used to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to the registrant’s web site or other on-line location, by creating confusion with the complainant's trademark, trade name, registered name or company name, geographical designation, name of origin, designation of source, personal name or name of a geographical entity as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the registrant’s web site or location or of a product or service on his web site or location.
- the registrant has registered one or more personal names without the existence of a demonstrable link between the registrant and the registered domain names.
- prior to any notice of the dispute, the registrant used the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services or made demonstrable preparations for such use; or
- the registrant (as an individual, business, or other organization) has been commonly known by the domain name, even if he has no trademark; or
- the registrant is making a legitimate and noncommercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent to misleadingly divert consumers for commercial gain or to tarnish the trademark, trade name, social name or corporation name, geographical designation, name of origin, designation of source, personal name or name of the geographical entity at issue.
The rules of procedure of the Dispute Resolution Entity state how to initiate and conduct the proceedings, which delays apply and how the Third-party Decider that will decide the dispute, will be appointed. The rules of procedure also determine the fees that the complainant must pay. The Dispute Resolution Entity publishes the rules of procedure on its web site.
DNS.be does not, and will not, participate in the administration or conduct of any proceedings before a Third-party Decider. Neither DNS.be, nor the Dispute Resolution Entity or the Third-party Decider will be liable for their or one and others fault during the dispute resolution process, except for intentional fault.
The remedies available to a complainant under any proceedings before the Third-party Decider are limited to requiring the cancellation of the domain name registration or the transfer of the domain name to the complainant.
The Dispute Resolution Entity is obliged to publish all decisions on its web site during a reasonable term. DNS.be must also be informed of these decisions. If the registrant is involved in other legal procedures concerning his/her domain name, he/she must inform DNS.be of the final decision(s). DNS.be has the right to publish the decisions referred to in the present article. If the registrant or complainant is a private person, DNS.be will omit the address of the person involved.
The submission to the alternative dispute resolution proceedings does not prevent either the registrant or the complainant from submitting the dispute to a competent, independent court before, during or after those proceedings. If a Third-party Decider decides that the domain name registration should be cancelled or transferred, DNS.be will implement that decision 15 days after being informed of the Third-party Decider's cpr144449003101 decision by the Dispute Resolution Entity, except if the registrant has started the appeal procedure of the dispute resolution proceedings in due time. This period for appeal is a prescriptive date. If the appeal procedure was started in time, DNS.be will not take further action (whilst leaving the domain name on hold) until the appeal procedure has ended or has been cancelled.
All other disputes between the registrant and any party other than DNS.be over the domain name registration that can not be brought under the alternative dispute resolution proceedings must be resolved through court proceedings, arbitration or other available proceedings.
DNS.be will not participate in any dispute between the registrant and any party other than DNS.be over the registration and use of the domain name, neither in the alternative dispute resolution proceedings, nor in any other proceedings. The registrant must not name DNS.be as a party or otherwise include it in any such proceedings. If DNS.be is named as a party in any such proceedings, it reserves the right to raise any and all defences deemed appropriate, and to take any other action necessary to defend itself.
As soon as a request for alternative dispute resolution is properly filed with the Dispute Resolution Entity and the appropriate fee is paid, the Dispute Resolution Entity must inform DNS.be of the identity of the complainant and the domain name involved. DNS.be will put the domain name involved immediately “on hold”, as stipulated in article 3 of these terms and conditions. The domain name remains on hold until the end of the proceedings set out in paragraph (g).
The dispute resolution fee is payable by the complainant. However, if the Third-party Decider concludes that the domain name registration needs to be cancelled or transferred, DNS.be shall repay the total of these costs to the complainant and reclaim the thus repaid costs from the registrant.
Upon DNS.be's first request, the registrant shall reimburse the repaid amounts. The registrant will have no recourse against DNS.be, the Dispute Resolution Entity, the Third-party Decider or the complainant for the thus suffered financial loss. The potential financial loss for the registrant is the risk that the latter took for the speculative registration of domain names on which third parties have rights.
The repayment provision specified in the previous paragraph does not apply to the appeal procedure of the dispute resolution proceedings. The costs of the appeal procedure are payable by the party that instituted this procedure.
The costs mentioned in this article only refer to the administrative costs of the dispute resolution proceedings as stipulated in article 10 and do not include any costs or fees for legal advice of the parties.
ADR procedure
Alternative dispute resolution procedure
Working in conjunction with the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation, known as CEPINA (www.cepina.be), DNS.be has developed an Alternative Dispute Resolution procedure (ADR) to deal with disputes relating to .be domain names. This procedure runs quite quickly (average of 55 days) and is carried out entirely in writing. It also involves relatively low costs.
The procedure is set out in detail in article 10 of the DNS.be
General Terms and Conditions. A summary of the procedure follows. If the summary should conflict with what is contained in article 10, the General Terms and Conditions will apply.
Any party with an interest can lodge an application for the alternative dispute resolution with CEPINA to settle a dispute about a .be domain name. The dispute is assessed by an independent Third-Party Decision-Maker, who is a legal expert in the matter. The Third-Party Decider may decide to delete the domain name or to transfer the name to the complainant. Under normal circumstances, the domain name holder is able to reply once in writing to the complainant's arguments.
Admissibility and legitimacy of domain name disputes
A complaint from a third party against a .be registrant will be taken up by CEPINA on condition that the complaint is lodged in accordance with standard conditions and after depositing the procedural costs of 1620 EUR into CEPINA's account.
In order to obtain the transfer of the domain name, all three of these conditions must be demonstrated:
- the registrant's domain name is identical to or display significant similarity to a brand, trade name, registered name or company name, a geographic indication, a personal name or designation of a geographic entity to which the complainant has a right; and the registrant has no rights or legitimate interests with regard to the domain name; and the registrant's domain name has been registered or used in bad faith. The application to transfer the domain name in question must, of course, be expressly included in the complaint. Length of the procedure (average)
- You can find details of the official procedure at the CEPINA website.
- lodging the complaint the registrant is notified within 7 days that a complaint has been lodged the registrant has 21 days to respond the mediators must be appointed at the latest 7 days later the decision must be announced 14 days later
The 15-days execution period starts to count the day after DNS.be was informed of Cepina's ruling and the 15th day fully counts; DNS.be will thus carry out the decision on the 16th day after the day DNS.be was informed and at the earliest at noon.
(In this case, "days" means "calendar days") In some cases some of these periods can be extended.
Costs for the procedure
The fee charged for the procedure is 1620 EUR, which is paid by the complainant at the beginning of the procedure. If the Third-Party Decider rules that the complaint is justified, DNS.be will refund the total of the costs to the complainant. DNS.be will then claim this amount back from the previous, unlawful registrant.
Appeal procedure
Regardless of the option to submit the dispute to an ordinary court, all parties have the right to lodge an appeal with CEPINA within 15 days of the ruling handed down by the Third-Party Decider. The appeal term counts as an expiry term, which means that when the term has gone by, no appeal can be lodged any more against the Cepina ruling.
The application for appeal must be lodged with CEPINA in accordance with the standard requirements mentioned above and payment of 4,050.00 EUR.
The defending party then has a period of 7 days to respond to the arguments submitted by the other party.
After this, an Appeal Panel of three Third-Party Deciders will be appointed by CEPINA. This panel must take a decision within 30 calendar days of the case being submitted to it. Rulings by the Appeal Panel cannot be appealed any higher.
