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SDC Hosting and Support Domain Products Terms and Conditions
These Domain Products Terms and Conditions are supplemental to the General Terms and Conditions, including the Acceptable Use Policy and the Data Processing Policy and apply to the provision of any domain related services by SDC Hosting and Support Limited (“SDC Hosting and Support”). By purchasing Domain services from SDC Hosting and Support the Client agrees to Our General Terms and Conditions and Domain Products Terms and Conditions.
1.1.The Client acknowledges that registration of a Domain is subject to third party terms and conditions including those from the relevant registry for the Domain extension. The Client confirms that it will at all times and in all respects comply with ICANN’s and any relevant registry’s terms and conditions for domain registration and use. Further, the Client indemnifies both SDC Hosting and Support and the applicable registry for a Domain in respect of the Client’s use of the Domain and in respect of the Client’s failure to comply with the terms of this Agreement or any failure to comply with ICANN or the registry’s terms and conditions.
1.2. The Client acknowledges and accepts that domain registration and renewal services are limited to the forwarding by SDC Hosting and Support of the Client’s request to register or renew a domain to the relevant registry for that domain. It is at all times the Client’s responsibility to check that a Domain has been registered and/or renewed with the registry as appropriate.
1.3. The Client warrants that the registration of a domain name requested by a Client (‘a Domain’) and the manner in which it is to be used, either directly or indirectly:
1.3.1. will not infringe any third party rights, including third party intellectual property rights;
1.3.2. Is not being made in bad faith or could otherwise be considered to be an abusive registration under the dispute resolution procedures or policies of any relevant registry or of ICANN; and
1.3.3. will at no time be used for an unlawful purpose whatsoever.
1.4. While SDC Hosting and Support shall use reasonable endeavours to register a Domain, the Client accepts that SDC Hosting and Support is not required to accept any request to register a Domain or to continue with any attempt to register a Domain if the Domain is not capable of registration.
1.5. SDC Hosting and Support makes no representations, express of implied, that a particular Domain is available for registration and SDC Hosting and Support accepts no liability for failure to register a Domain for any reason.
1.6. SDC Hosting and Support may from time to time change the registrar that a Domain is held with, at its discretion and without notice to the Client.
1.7. The Client accepts and consents to SDC Hosting and Support making the Client’s registration details in relation to the Domain available to third parties including ICANN and the applicable registry for the Domain as applicable including to law enforcement and governmental bodies as required by law.
1.8. The Client accepts and consents to the SDC Hosting and Support making publically available certain of the Client’s information, for example by inclusion in the whois database, as required by law or for any other purpose required or permitted by ICANN, a relevant registry or any regulatory body. The Client consents to any and all such disclosures as set out in clauses 1.7 and 1.8 and waives any cause of action it may have against SDC Hosting and Support in this respect.
1.9. In the event that the Client has not purchased the Whois Privacy Service, the Client must ensure that its details on the whois database are accurate and current failing which the Domain may be suspended by SDC Hosting and Support, ICANN or the relevant registry until such time as the Client can prove that the details on the whois database are accurate.
1.10. The Client consents to Domains registered through SDC Hosting and Support having [locks] automatically applied to such Domains.
2.1. SDC Hosting and Support shall endeavour to automatically renew a Domain on a Client’s behalf when it is due for renewal subject to the following:
2.1.1. the Client has a valid and up-to-date payment method of its account; and
2.1.2. the Client has not set the Domain to either cancel or manual renewal in the Client’s control panel.
2.2. If either 2.1.1 or 2.1.2. above apply then SDC Hosting and Support shall not automatically renew a Domain and the Client is entirely responsible for any consequences of a Domain not being renewed.
2.3. Domains which are automatically renewed by SDC Hosting and Support will be ordinarily renewed for the same duration as the initial registration period. Clients may select a different renewal period by making amendments via the ‘Domain Auto Renewals’ section of the Client’s control panel.
2.4. SDC Hosting and Support shall take payment for Domain renewals up to 7 days prior to the Domain renewal date in order to ensure that the Domain is renewed on time. SDC Hosting and Support shall endeavour to follow any payment priority set up on the Client’s account, however, SDC Hosting and Support reserves the right to take payment from any stored payment method on the Client’s account.
2.5. SDC Hosting and Support may request direct debit payments up to 15 days prior to the renewal date for a Domain and that payment will be taken 6 days after that initial request.
2.6. Domain renewals shall be charged at SDC Hosting and Support’s prevailing rate at the time of the renewals. SDC Hosting and Support’s prevailing rates can be located on SDC Hosting and Support’s website.
2.7. If a Domain is not renewed by the applicable renewal date then the Domain shall become an Expired Domain and clause 6 below shall apply.
2.8. Most Domains can be registered and/or renewed for up to ten years, however, certain Domains are subject to restrictions on the length of initial registration or renewal. These restrictions are set by the respective registries and is set out in more detail here.
3.1. Domain cancellations by Clients must be done through the Client’s control panel and must be completed at least 24 hours prior to any payment date. The payment date is at least 7 days prior to the renewal date and varies by both payment method and by domain extension.
3.2. If the Domain is purchased alongside another SDC Hosting and Support service then the Client must cancel both the Domain and the other SDC Hosting and Support service separately. Cancellation of either the Domain or any other service will not automatically cancel the other.
4.1. Domain registrations and/or renewals are non-refundable by SDC Hosting and Support in whole or in part.
4.2. Once a Domain has been registered by the applicable registry, SDC Hosting and Support is unable to refund any refund in respect of that Domain. This is due to the bespoke nature of Domains and the Client accepts this to be a fair apportionment of risk given SDC Hosting and Support’s inability to claim a refund from the relevant registry.
4.3. Any refund on a Domain prior to registration with the relevant registry is entirely at SDC Hosting and Support’s discretion.
4.4. The Client accepts that SDC Hosting and Support is unable to verify or check for errors in Domain registration requests. Accordingly, the Client is solely responsible for ensuring that a Domain has the correct or intended spelling.
4.5. As set out in the General Terms and Conditions and above, Domain registrations are a bespoke purchase to the Client’s specification and accordingly the Client, when a consumer, waives any right to a cooling off period that may be applicable. If the Client as a consumer is not willing to waive such right then the Client must make SDC Hosting and Support aware of the same and SDC Hosting and Support will be unable to register a Domain until after the applicable cooling off period has expired.
5.1. SDC Hosting and Support shall determinate the ownership of a registered Domain by reference to the details held on the whois database. If the whois database details are not determinative then SDC Hosting and Support shall be entitled to request whatever supporting evidence it may require to ascertain ownership.
5.2. In the event that ownership of a registered Domain is disputed then the Client agrees to make all reasonable efforts to resolve such dispute with the third party, including before involving SDC Hosting and Support and at SDC Hosting and Support’s request.
5.3. If a Client wishes to transfer ownership of a registered Domain the Client must:
5.3.1. ensure that all necessary consents and permissions to that transfer have been obtained;
5.3.2. deliver to SDC Hosting and Support documentary evidence of all such relevant consents and permissions;
5.3.3. accept that SDC Hosting and Support is under no obligation to carry out any transfer request if the Client fails to satisfy SDC Hosting and Support that the documentation provided shows the transfer to be properly requested or authorised or where the Client has not complied with this clause 5.3.
5.4. The transfer service offered by SDC Hosting and Support is supplied on the basis that the Client is solely responsible for changing the tag of the domain to SDC Hosting and Support and to ensure that the transfer completes to the Client’s specifications. If a transfer is cancelled, the Client will be responsible for contacting SDC Hosting and Support to request a refund for the incomplete transfer, if applicable
5.5. The Client accepts that the transfer of a gTLD Domain may require SDC Hosting and Support to carry out a manual transfer. In such event, the Client agrees to pay the applicable manual transfer fee to SDC Hosting and Support as stated on SDC Hosting and Support’s website and as updated from time to time.
5.6. On transfer, the Client can select to register the transferred domain for a minimum term of one year up to a maximum term of ten years, on certain domains. The Client acknowledges that the maximum terms for a particular domain may vary and are available on an “as is” basis as displayed by SDC Hosting and Support. Clients acknowledge that one year may be added and charged to some domain extensions when transferred, including but not limited to .FR, .FM, .NAME
5.7. SDC Hosting and Support will only allow a domain name owned or managed by the Client to be attached to the IPS tag of SDC Hosting and Support or any of its Associated Companies if the Client has an active hosting account with SDC Hosting and Support or one of its Associated Companies or when the Client is holding the domain name within a SDC Hosting and Support account.
5.8. The Client agrees that on to transferring ownership of a registered Domain to another person or registering a Domain on behalf of another person (the “Transferee”) the Client will confirm and prove that the Transferee agrees in writing to be bound by the terms of the Agreement at SDC Hosting and Support’s request.
5.9. SDC Hosting and Support will not transfer ownership of a Domain until all Fees attributable to the services associated with the account, which are due have been paid by the Client to SDC Hosting and Support.
5.10. In the event that SDC Hosting and Support receives a complaint in regards to trademark / brand infringement, SDC Hosting and Support has the right to place a Domain on hold and move into the SDC Hosting and Support holding account. SDC Hosting and Support shall take this action if in receipt of a decision from a Domain Dispute Resolution and/or a settlement agreement between the parties concerned. Any renewal payments must be paid to SDC Hosting and Support by the Client.
5.11. In the event of receiving documentation which matches the WHOIS details, SDC Hosting and Support reserves the right to move a Domain from the current Domain holder’s account into a SDC Hosting and Support holding account, lock the domain and place a registrar hold on it. SDC Hosting and Support shall not move the Domain from this status until it is satisfied that the dispute has been resolved between the parties concerned, with documentation provided to SDC Hosting and Support by both parties proving the same. This documentation may include a court order, an email/letter/legal document from the current domain holder and the complainant both stipulating the transfer of the domain to the complainant.
5.12. For all applicable gTLDs the Client agrees that SDC Hosting and Support will act as a Designated Agent, in accordance with ICANN’s Transfer Policy, for the Client whenever a request is made to update the registrant contact details associated with a Domain. In that respect, the Client expressly authorises SDC Hosting and Support to approve a change of registrant of any change to the registrant’s details on behalf of the Client.
5.13. The Client acknowledges and accepts that where SDC Hosting and Support takes an action on a Domain as a Designated Agent under clause 5.12 then such Domain will be opted out from any 60-day transfer lock period.
6.1. In the event that a domain name is not renewed by its expiry date it shall cease to operate and shall be deemed to be expired.
6.2. A registered Domain shall expire if SDC Hosting and Support is unable to take payment via the method stored on the Client’s SDC Hosting and Support account, where the Client has set the Domain to expire or where the Client fails to manually renew the Domain by the renewal date.
6.3. It is the Client’s responsibility to ensure that the email address stored on its’ SDC Hosting and Support account is up to date and is able to receive renewal reminders from SDC Hosting and Support.
6.4. Following the expiry date a domain may enter a grace and/or redemption period. Certain registries do not allow for grace and/or redemption periods as more fully set out here.
6.5. Domains from registries which do not allow for a grace and/or redemption period may be unrecoverable by the Client or SDC Hosting and Support following the expiry date and in such circumstances SDC Hosting and Support’s agreement with the Client for that Domain will terminate immediately and without liability to SDC Hosting and Support. Further, SDC Hosting and Support is under no duty to attempt to recover such Domain(s).
6.6. The Client acknowledges that three (3) calendar days after the date of expiration of a Domain, SDC Hosting and Support may in its sole discretion carry out the following actions:
6.6.1. renew the Domain;
6.6.2. park the Domain on different name servers from those set by the Client including the SDC Hosting and Support name servers; and/or
6.6.3. where the relevant registry does not allow for grace or redemption periods, clause 6.5 above shall apply.
6.7. Provided that the relevant registry for the Domain(s) allows a grace period, the Client acknowledges that it has up to 16 days following expiry of the Domain(s) (‘the Grace Period’) to contact SDC Hosting and Support to retrieve and renew the Domain provided that the Client pays for said renewal in full and in cleared funds.
6.8. On receipt of the renewal fee by SDC Hosting and Support within the Grace Period, the Client will retain ownership of the Domain(s) and as soon as reasonably practicable SDC Hosting and Support shall restore the Domain(s) to the Client’s control panel.
6.9. The Client acknowledges that following the end of the Grace Period SDC Hosting and Support may at its sole discretion carry out the following actions:
6.9.1. auction the Domain;
6.9.2. change the contact details
6.10. If SDC Hosting and Support does not receive the renewal fee within the Grace Period then SDC Hosting and Support’s agreement with the Client for that Domain will terminate immediately and without liability to SDC Hosting and Support.
6.11. Provided that the relevant registry of the Domain(s) allows for a redemption period, if SDC Hosting and Support receives a request from the Client to renew the Domain after the end of the Grace Period (‘the Redemption Period’), the Client agrees to pay the applicable redemption fee(s) plus the renewal fee(s) for the Domain(s). Both the length of the Redemption Period and the redemption fee varies depending on the registry involved and the applicable redemption fees can be located here.
6.12. Clients acknowledge and agree that SDC Hosting and Support is not obliged to take any action to renew or recover a Domain in the Redemption Period and will only make such attempts once the Client has paid both the redemption and renewal fees to SDC Hosting and Support.
6.13. SDC Hosting and Support endeavours to renew Domain(s) on behalf of the Client. However, SDC Hosting and Support make no guarantee that attempted renewals, including attempts to renew expired domains, will be successful and it is the Client’s responsibility to check the WHOIS database, and any other source, to ensure the Domain name has been renewed.
7.1. SDC Hosting and Support offers a backorder service for already registered domains (‘the Backorder Service’ and ‘Backorder’ shall be construed accordingly) which attempts to automatically register a domain (‘the Backorder Domain’) on behalf of the Client if and when the Backorder Domain becomes available for registration by the general public. Such availability would be following any applicable Grace and/or Redemption Periods.
7.2. The Backorder Service is only available on selected domain extensions as specified on SDC Hosting and Support’s website.
7.3. The Client will be advised of an estimated availability date via the Client’s control panel, however, such date is an estimate only and SDC Hosting and Support shall not be responsible for any inaccuracy in the estimated date.
7.4. Payment for successful Backorders must be made by the Client within 28 days of confirmation of the same failing which the Backorder Domain will be removed from the Client’s control panel and SDC Hosting and Support shall be entitled to deal with the Backorder Domain as it deems appropriate. The Client has no right or title to a Backorder Domain until all fees for the Backorder Service have been paid in full.
7.5. The Client agrees to pay the prevailing fee for the Backorder Service at the time when the Backorder Domain becomes available for registration. The fee for the Backorder Service shall vary dependant on the domain extension of the Backorder Domain. SDC Hosting and Support reserves the right to vary the fee for the Backorder Service at any time including in relation to Backorders already placed. It is the Client’s sole responsibility to check the prevailing Backorder Service fee on SDC Hosting and Support’s website from time to time and prior to the Backorder Domain becoming available.
7.6. Following a successful Backorder SDC Hosting and Support shall automatically attempt to take payment of the fee from the Client’s stored payment method on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th day following the successful registration of the Backorder Domain. It is the Client’s responsibility to ensure that valid and up-to-date payment details are stored on the Client’s account.
7.7. Clients may cancel the Backorder Service at any time while the status is listed as ‘awaiting fulfilment’. Clients may not cancel a Backorder at any other time. SDC Hosting and Support may cancel a Backorder at any time, for any reason and without liability.
7.8. SDC Hosting and Support shall endeavour to email the Client in the event that a Backorder is cancelled or fails. Accordingly, the Client must ensure that up-to-date contact details are stored on the Client’s account.
7.9. If a Backorder has failed then it is the Client’s responsibility to resubmit any Backorder request.
7.10. SDC Hosting and Support makes no warranty, express or implied, that any Domain is available or suitable for Backorder. SDC Hosting and Support shall have no liability for any failure to register a Backorder Domain for a Client for any reason.
8.1 Choosing Your Domain Name Settings. When you register a domain name with SDC Hosting and Support, you will be prompted to choose your domain name settings during the checkout process. If you plan on using another provider for your website or hosting needs, then you should enter the name servers of such provider when you choose your domain name settings. This will direct your domain name away from SDC Hosting and Support’s name servers. If you are an existing SDC Hosting and Support customer and have already set up a customer profile designating your domain name settings for new domain name registrations, you will not need to complete this step again during the checkout process.
8.2 SDC Hosting and Support’s Default Settings. If you do not direct your domain name away from SDC Hosting and Support’s name servers as described above, SDC Hosting and Support will direct your domain name to a “Parked Page” (“Default Setting”). You acknowledge and agree that SDC Hosting and Support has the right to set the Default Setting.
8.3 Parked Page Default Setting. SDC Hosting and Support’s Parked Page service is an online domain monetisation system designed to generate revenue (through the use of pay per click advertising) from domain names that are not actively being used as websites. If your domain name is directed to a Parked Page, you acknowledge and agree that SDC Hosting and Support may display both (a) in-house advertising (which includes links to SDC Hosting and Support’s products and services) and (b) third-party advertising (which includes links to third-party products and services) on your Parked Page through the use of pop-up or pop-under browser windows, banner advertisements, audio or video streams, or any other advertising means, and we may aggregate for our own use, related usage data by means of cookies and other similar means. In addition, you acknowledge and agree that all in-house and third-party advertising will be selected by SDC Hosting and Support and its advertising partners, as appropriate, and you will not be permitted to customise the advertising, or entitled to any compensation in exchange. Please note that the third-party advertising displayed on SDC Hosting and Support’s Parked Pages may contain content offensive to you, including but not limited to links to adult content. SDC Hosting and Support makes no effort to edit, control, monitor, or restrict the content and third-party advertising displayed on SDC Hosting and Support’s Parked Pages, and expressly disclaims any liability or responsibility to you or any third party in connection therewith.
8.4 Changing SDC Hosting and Support’s Default Settings. You may change SDC Hosting and Support’s Default Settings at any time during the term of your domain name registration.
8.5 You cannot modify the content displaying on your Parked Page. Please contact customer support to learn what other options might be available to you.
8.6 Return To Parked Page Default Setting Upon Domain Name Expiration. Upon domain name expiration, and regardless of how you use your domain name during the term of your domain name registration, your domain name will automatically return to the Parked Page Default Setting described above. As used in this paragraph, “expiration” is deemed to include any “renewal period” or “redemption period” immediately after the domain name expires, but before the domain name is returned to the registry. Once your domain name has returned to the Parked Page Default Setting described above, the only way to opt out of the Parked Page service is to renew, redeem, or re-register your domain name in accordance with these Domain Products Terms and Conditions.