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version 3.9 (approved by the Executive Committee on
31 July 2002. This version is on duty since 18 August 2002)
INDEX SECTION 1 - Assignment Rules Naming Rules
SEZIONE 1 - Regolamento di assegnazioneThe present Rules contain the norms for the assignment of domain names within the ccTLD "it" (Italy), both for the Internet Protocol Suite (IPS) standard and the Open System Interconnection (OSI) standard. The following Rules and the procedures which constitute the base of the Registration Authority Italiana (RA) operations are defined by the Naming Authority Italiana (NA). Declaratory note: the principal concepts and terms used in these Rules, in the Technical Registration Procedures and in the referenced documents are described in a specially created "Tutorial" available from the NA. The tutorial is by no way part of the regulations and cannot be used as a probe document; it is made available to the readers for a purely didactic informative purpose.
The RA must verify that domain name assignment requests conform to the Rules and Technical Registration Procedures. The RA provides for the registration and assignment in use of the following objects related to domain names within the ccTLD "it" (ISO 3166), including the geographic section:
Domain names are assigned by the RA to registrants following the requests chronological order, as defined by the Technical Registration Procedures Domain names have the only purpouse to identify uniquely groups of objects (services, machines, post boxes etc.) located on the net. Domain names within the ccTLD "it" can be assigned to subjects belonging to a member state of the European Union. Associations without VAT numbers or fiscal code (or equivalent) and persons not owning a VAT number (or equivalent) can register a single domain name, only. Domain names can be assigned directly under the ccTLD "it" or else under the predefined geographic structure. The predefined geographic structure is constructed with the names and abbreviations of the Italian provinces and regions, as well, under the provinces, as the names of Italian councils. The domain names which constitute the predefined geographic structure form a hierarchical container for other domain names (functionally equivalent to a ccTLD or gTLD) and as such are not assignable. The complete geographic structure of the tree of Italian domain names is given in the document "Reserved Domain Names" available from the NA. For all domain names placed directly under the ccTLD "it" or directly under the predefined geographic structure registration with the RA is obligatory. Some domain names are reserved, and as such are not assignable, or are assignable only to predetermined subjects. Domain names constituted by only one or two characters are not assignable:
The domain names, listed in the reserved domain names and belonging to the predefined geographic structure registered in a date older than their definition as reserved names, can be used by the assegnee for at maximum of one year after the date they have been declared as reserved names.Afterwards, these names will be used as described into the naming rules and procedures. The domain names already registered which correspond to a gTLD remain assigned to the current assignee. However no SLD, in whichever way activated, can be given to third parties, different from the assignee. Domain names cannot be booked. A domain name assigned within the name space under the ccTLD "it" cannot be considered as prereserved in other positions of the same name tree.
A domain name can be transferred upon agreement of the parties, or following a specific or universal succession, or at the end of a reassignment procedure run in accordance with art.16. It is anyhow forbidden to forestall and cybersquat domain names. A suspended or challenged domain name according to art.14 can be transferred only to the subject that has submitted it to the challenge procedure. Once the challenged status of a domain name is over, the assignee can transfer it to anybody. Universal or specific succession cases excepted, a modification request of an assigned domain name, including the position change within the Italian domain name tree, is considered in all respects as a cancellation of the domain name previously assigned joint with a new domain name request.
Where annulment is a result of renunciation of the domain name on the part of the assignee, if requested by the assignee the RA is obliged to ensure the maintenance of the old domain name for a maximum period of six months.
The RA annuls the assignment of a domain name in view of a judicial sentence or arbitration decision which establishes that the assignee did not have rights to its use. A suspended domain name cannot be reassigned for others until its annulment. A domain name annulled according to the substance of the previous comma is immediately rendered available for assignment to subjects other that the previous assignee, except in the case of explicit indication to the contrary expressed within the judicial sentence or arbitration decision. The RA can suspend the assignation of a domain name only:
The RA suspends the assignation of a domain name on orders from the judicial Authorities noted to them in legal terms, or cautionary precautions communicated by the arbitration body, wherewith the use of the domain name on the part of the assignee is inhibited. The domain name thus suspended is reactivated for the original assignee only in view of an executive proceeding on the part of the judicial or arbitration authority rejecting the requests of whomsoever disputed the legitimacy of its use, or in view of the demonstration that the procedure, in the ambit of which the suspension order was issued, has been extinguished. The domain name suspended in accordance with the substance of the first comma of the present article is revoked by the RA only in view of a judicial sentence or arbitration decision which confirms the act of suspension or declares that the assignee did not have rights to its use. The RA suspends a domain name upon request by the assignee whose use of the same is disputed judicially. In this hypothesis, the RA is bound to reactivate the domain name for the original assignee upon request by the same. Contemporarily to the assignation of a domain name, the RA, whenever it forsee the need and urgency of a verification of the statements made by the assignee into the AR letter, can request the verification of the documents as specified in art. 13.2 and suspend the domain name while waiting for documents themeselves. The RA, upon completion of the verifications specified in art. 13.2, must re-enable the domain name to the assignee, or, in the hypothesis described in art. 13.3, to revoke the assignation. The request for a new domain name is made by way of an electronic form containing the technical data necessary to its functionality and operation forwarded by the provider/maintainer of the domain name to the RA and a predefined letter of assumption of responsibility forwarded by the domain name requester. The RA accepts assignment requests only when accompanied by the above-mentioned documentation, compiled in accordance with the instructions. The assignee of a domain name assumes full civil and penal responsibility for the use of the same. To this end the requester is obliged to forward to the RA a letter of assumption of responsibility (AR letter) according to the format given by the RA. In the AR letter the identificational data of the requester must be given. The requester must also declare knowledge of the fundamental principals of use of the resources and of the Internet, the norms given by the NA and the principles expressed in the document "Netiquette" (available from the NA) and must pledge to respect them. In the AR letter, the requester may devolve the controversies relative to the requested domain name to the arbitration committee constituted by the RA. The RA, at its discretion, can request that it be furnished with documents confirming declarations made in the AR letter. Such documents must be received by the RA within 15 days from the request. For foreign assignees the above term is doubled. It is the faculty of the RA to annul the assignment of the domain name where:
The RA is obliged to render public and
maintain on line on its own servers the models for the forms and the letter
of assumption of responsibility, as well as the instructions for the registration
of domain names and further necessary particulars.
SECTION 2 - Resolution of DisputesAnyone can dispute with the RA the domain names assigned by it and in use in the RAN. A dispute is begun by letter forwarded by registered post to the RA by complainants professing to have been the subject to prejudice as a result of an object assigned in use to (an) other(s). The letter of dispute must contain the generalities of the sender, the domain name disputed, the reasons for the dispute, the prejudice to which the sender has been subject or the rights which are assumed by the same to have been breached. In the presence of a dispute, the RA adds the note "valore contestato/challenged value" to the value contained in the RAN, and notes there also the date of the beginning of the dispute in a special file which, though not accessible to the public, can be obtained on request. Furthermore, within 10 working days of receipt of the dispute, the RA informs the assignee via e-mail of the dispute, and invites both parties to begin arbitration procedure in accordance with article 15 or a domain name riassignement administrative procedure in accordance with article 16, The communication to the assignee of the object disputed must contain all of the information relevant to the dispute, including the data unavailable for public access in the RAN. The RA is obliged to furnish all of the data and documentation relative to the object disputed to the party who requests it, subject to repayment of expenses. The RA does not participate in the resolution of a dispute, which, where it cannot be brought about amicably, can be devolved by the interested parties to the arbitration body, for which see article 15, or by action of the challenger activating an adrministrative procedure as described in article 16. The RA is not obliged to act in any further way until the dispute has been resolved. Pending dispute, the initiating party is obliged to confirm to the RA at least once every six months its wish to keep the dispute pending and its continued interest in the object disputed. Failing this, the RA will consider the dispute resolved, unless it received communication of an existing pending judgement, arbitration or administrative procedure regarding that domain name. The RA considers a dispute resolved in the moment in which:
Once the dispute has been resolved in accordance with the substance of article 14.4, the RA: a - if the resolution has come about
b - if the resolution has come about
In the cases covered by point "b" of the preceding article 14.5, the removal of the domain name under dispute does not lead to its automatic assignment to the party which initiated the dispute. Once the dispute has been resolved, the RA does not render available the disputed domain name for at least 30 days. The RA must also invite, not more than 10 working days after the resolution of the dispute, the disputing party to begin normal procedure for the assignment of the domain name. If the procedure is not initiated within 30 days from the resolution of the dispute, then the domain name cannot be reassigned to any body which makes request for it to the RA. Whomsoever requests a domain name with the RA may engage, in the AR letter or in a successive act, in the devolution to an informal arbitrator of the eventual controversies connected to the assignment of the domain name in question in accordance with the present naming rules, recognising as valid and binding the decisions made by the arbitration body. An arbitration body is formed by the NA. The committee is composed of those members of the NA who have asked the president to be allowed to take part, excluding the president, the vice-president and the Executive Committee Director on duty. The list of the arbiters nominated by the Executive Committee who are members of the arbitration committee is available from the secretary of the NA. The arbitration body is composed of three arbiters who are members of the arbitration committee; one member is chosen by each disputing party while the third, who acts as president of the arbitration body, is chosen by the two aforechosen arbiters. The party wishing to initiate arbitration procedure is obliged to proceed with the nomination of an arbiter via registered post letter forwarded to the defendant, to the arbiter nominated and to the President of the NA. The letter must include the name of the chosen arbiter among those who make up the arbitration committee, the object of the question to be submitted to the arbitration body, the factual and legal reasons on which it is founded, conclusions, domestic address and e-mail address, as well as the invitation to the other party to nominate an arbiter from the members of the arbitration committee. The party to whom the invitation to nominate an arbiter is addressed is obliged to do so, in accordance with the procedures given in the previous comma, within 10 working days of receipt. Failing this, the party submitting said invitation may ask for the nomination to be made by the President of the NA, who will proceed with the nomination of an arbiter within 5 working days from the request. The nomination is communicated to the parties via e-mail. The party arbiters thus nominated choose
the president of the arbitration body within five working days of the latest
nomination on the part of the disputing bodies. Where this choice is not
made in time the more diligent party may ask for the nomination of the
third arbiter to be made by the President of the NA, who will proceed with
the nomination of an arbiter within 5 working days from the request. The
nomination is communicated to
The arbitration body is considered constituted from the day following the acceptance of the task on the part of the president of the same body. The arbiters must come to a decision within 90 days of the constitution of the arbitration body. The president of the body may nominate a secretary to assist during the process and take minutes of the sittings in which the parties or their representatives are heard. The arbitration body may regulate the process of judgement in the manner it maintains most appropriate, as long as respect for the examination is assured. It is in all cases obliged to concede a period not less than 10 working days to each party to present their respective defences and documentation, and a further period not less than 10 working days for responses, as well as to convoke personally the parties and hear them in examination where this is requested by one or both of them. Before the arbitration body either party may be represented by another person, except where the arbitration body deems it necessary for them to be heard in person. Communications of the arbitration body to the parties, the exchange of minutes and responses may take place via e-mail, except where the parties explicitly request paper documentation, or where it is necessary to exchange or examine original documentation which cannot be transmitted via e-mail. Where there are serious reasons, upon request from one of the parties the arbitration body may take safeguarding measures relative to the domain name and to the assigned domain name under dispute. The RA is obliged to put such measures into place immediately. Where instruction is necessary, the arbitration body may delegate the proceedings of instruction to one only of the arbiters. The RA is bound to furnish the arbitration body with all of the information requested. The arbiters pass judgement according to equity, in the quality of amicable components, on the basis of the present naming rules and the Italian ordination norms. The president of the arbitration body informs the parties, the President and Executive Committee of the NA and the RA of the definitive decision via registered post. The decisions of the arbitration body are kept by the secretary of the NA and are placed at the disposal of the members of the arbitration body. The arbitration decision is rendered public by the president of the NA, except where the arbitration body, upon request from one of the parties, decides to the contrary. The decision of the arbitration body is unappealable. The decisions of the arbitration body are
put into execution by the RA within five working days of the receipt of
the same.
Upon the decision, the arbiters liquidate their compensation along with that of the secretary of the body, charging them, partially or entirely, to the losing party. On request of either one of the parties, the body may order the losing party to compensate, partially or in total, the expenses sustained by the winning party, determining them, if necessary, according to fairness. The compensation which the arbitration body liquidates to the arbiters for the judgement cannot be superior to half of the maximum set out by the current forensic tariff at the moment of the decision. The claimant may request that the registered domains, which have been challenged under art. 14, undergo this Reassignment procedure. The administrative procedure is applicable
to all domain names registered under the ccTLD "it".
The purpose of the procedure is to check the entitlement to use or legal availability of the domain name by the registrant, and that the domain has not been registered and is not maintained in bad faith. The only possible result of the procedure is the domain name reassignement. The procedure is not of a jurisdictional
nature, and, as such, does not prevent the parties from appealing, even
at a later time, to the court of law or arbitration as provided by art.
15 of the naming rules.
The procedure shall be enforced and administered by special organisations, called the "administrators", provided they fulfil the requirements established by the Naming Authority. Those who challenge a domain name shall be responsible for the selection of an administrator to enforce and administer the procedure. All costs related to the procedure shall be the sole responsibility of those who dispute a domain name. The procedure cannot be started pending
another judgement related to the disputed domain name before the ordinary
judge or the board of arbitrators, as provided by art.15 of the naming
rules. If a judgement is filed before the ordinary judge or an arbitration
procedure is started as provided by art. 15 of the naming rules pending
the Procedure, then the Procedure shall be extinguished.
The Procedure shall be ruled by:
The NA President shall be responsible for checking the requirements of the organisations which apply for the enforcement and administration of a Procedure and for checking the work of such organisations. If an administrator repeatedly breaches the procedural or merit rules, the NA President may exempt the administrator from the administration of the procedures.
With respect to the point b) above of this article, the defendant shall be deemed as entitled to the disputed domain name if the defendant proves that:
If multiple procedures are started with respect to one domain name, those which have been started after the first one shall be suspended pending the outcome of the first one started. If the first procedure started concludes with the transfer of the disputed domain name to the claimant, the other procedures shall be extinguished. The Naming Authority has no relation to the procedure and shall not be responsible for the work of the administrators which enforce the procedures. The list of pending procedurs and the deliberations on the procedures shall be made public in the web site of the Naming Authority and in the web site of the administrator to which the deliberating board belongs, unless such board, under exceptional circumstances and by taking justified measures, decides not to publish all or part of it. If the board decides that the disputed domain name is to be reassigned, the board's deliberation shall be enforced by the Registration Authority (and the rules under articles 15.5 and 14.6 shall apply), unless the latter receives, within 15 days from reception of the board's deliberation, a suitably documented release from the defendant that the defendant has filed legal proceedings or arbitration with respect to the disputed domain name. In the case - it allowed for the specific case - the defendant which filed the legal proceedings wished to use the terms given in the following third paragraph, they shall submit an explicit and documented declaration inside the communication to the RA. The documented release described in the previous sub-section must be supported within 10 days by the photo-copy of the official act notification introducing the judgement. In case the above documentation is not produced within 10 days, or if the judgment has started later than the terms specified in the first sub-section, the RA shall proceed with the domain name reassignement. In the exclusive case there the notification of the legal action shall be sent from or to different countries, the term to provide the copy of the notified act (after which term the RA will re-assigne the domain name) is changed into 30 days, starting from the data when the RA has received the notification described in the first paragraph on this article. If the legal proceedings or arbitration filed by the defendant are extinguished, the Registration Authority shall enforce the board's deliberation on the claimant's request. The cost of procedure shall amount to at least 400 euros (plus V.A.T., if applicable). 5% of the cost shall belong to to NA, as a lump-sum reimbursement of the costs incurred for the enforcement of deliberations. The Procedures may be enforced by public or individual legal persons or by professional firms incorporated in the European Union. Applications for admission to the administration of procedures shall be submitted to the President of the Naming Authority, who shall decide within 20 days from the submission of the applications. The application shall indicate:
The President of the Naming Authority, after evaluating the opportunity to evaluate new administrators with respect to the needs of the ccTLD "it, shall accept the applications and authorise the administrators whose applications comply with the provisions laid down by art. 17.2 and whose enforcement rules, if any, do not conflict with the naming rules. The rejection of the application shall be justified and shall not prevent the administrator from submitting a new application. The candidate administrators whose requests were rejects for opportunity reasons, shall be notified whenever the rejection motivation are no more valid. The acceptance of the application shall authorise the applicant to administrate the procedures. The administrator shall be authorised to start working as such, provided he publicly opens the URL, under art 17.2, last sub-section, of the indications contained in the applications and annexes under art. 17.2 sub-section IV, points a) and b).
The President of the Naming Authority shall revoke the qualification for the administration of procedures under the following circumstances:
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