Upon registration of domain names pursuant to the principle “first come, first served”, there may be situations where persons who are not bona fides justified with regard to the respective domain try to register domain names, i.e. the domain is being hijacked.
Mostly, such activity concerns domain names that coincide with or are similar to well-known trademarks. The goal of registrants acting in bad faith is usually to profit from the sale of the respective domain name to the legitimate owner of the trademark or another sign.
In order to prevent such situations the Estonian Internet Foundation is establishing the Domain Disputes Committee (DDC) that will start resolving disputes in August 2010.
The legal basis for the activities of the committee arises from amendments made to the Domain Regulation and the Rules of the Domain Disputes Committee adopted on June 29 by a decision of the Council of the Estonian Internet Foundation.
Members of the DDC who will be settling disputes
Indrek Eelmets
Carri Ginter
Andres Hallmägi
Taivo Kivistik
Risto Käbi
Ants Nõmper
Riina Pärn
Almar Sehver
Alar Urm
Resolution of disputes
1. The Domain Disputes Committee is not a court or a court of arbitration, but a specific independent body for resolution of disputes pertaining to .ee domains, which operates under the aegis of the Estonian Internet Foundation.
2. If you find that someone has, without your consent, registered a domain name that coincides with your trademark or your name as an individuals or your company name or another name entered in a register, you can submit an application to the DDC.
3. You must certainly indicate in the application: a) the person (the registrant) who in your opinion has violated your rights by registering the domain name and b) the respective domain name. You need to submit evidence confirming your submissions and pay the fee of the commission. All application requirements are written in DDC Rules paragraph 5. All complient applications should be sent to disputes[at]eestiinternet.ee.
4. If your application complies with the requirements set out in the DDC Rules, the DDC will accept it and submit it also to the registrant who is (allegedly) violating your rights.
5. The registrant is obligated to submit to the DDC its response to your application within 20 calendar days and in the response the registrant must reason its right to register the domain name and refute your submissions concerning the violation of your rights.
6. If you have the said documents, the DDC will make a decision on the application on the basis of the submissions, reasons and evidence of both parties. The decision may: a) reject the application or b) approve the application.
7. If the DDC approves the application, the domain name violating your rights will be annulled or transferred to the applicant, depending on what decision was requested from the DDC.
Detailed description of the dispute settlement procedures and requirements are written in the Domain Dispute Committee Rules.
Notice: Domain Disputes Committee does not process disputes involving domains that have not been re-registered.