1.Our Role and the Rules Above Us
This agreement applies to every domain name you register, renew or transfer through WebsNP, and forms part of our Terms and Conditions. A domain is not a product we own and lend you. It is a registration held in a global registry, and we submit and manage it for you as your agent.
Every registration is therefore subject to the policies of the relevant registry and of ICANN, including the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, the Transfer Policy, the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the registry rules for the extension you chose. Country-code extensions such as .np have their own eligibility, documentation and dispute rules, which may be stricter than those for .com or .net. Where we use a partner registrar to complete your order, that registrar's terms also apply to the registration.
These outside rules change from time to time. Where they change, they apply to your domain from the date they take effect, and we will tell you about changes that materially affect you.
2.Ordering and Registration
- Availability is confirmed by the registry, not by us. A name shown as available in our search can be taken by someone else before your order is processed. If that happens we will tell you and offer an alternative or return the amount paid for that registration.
- Check the spelling before you pay. A registration is submitted to the registry immediately and cannot be changed, swapped or cancelled for a refund afterwards. A typing error in the name or the extension is not a ground for refund.
- Premium and restricted names carry a higher price set by the registry. The price shown at checkout is the price you accept.
- Registration terms run for the number of years you purchased, within the minimum and maximum each registry allows.
- Some extensions require supporting documents, such as a citizenship or company registration certificate, before the registry will activate the name. We will ask for them by ticket or email and the registration is not complete until they are accepted.
3.Registrant Details and Verification
You must give accurate, complete and current contact details for the registrant, and keep them current for as long as you hold the domain. ICANN requires us to collect these details, to verify the registrant's email address and to act when they are inaccurate.
- After a new registration, or a change to the registrant's name or email, ICANN requires a verification email to be answered, usually within 15 days. If it is not, the registry-level DNS for the domain may be suspended until it is. Please watch the inbox registered on your account, including the spam folder.
- Providing false details, or failing to correct inaccurate details within the time we or the registry give you, is a breach of this agreement and may result in suspension or cancellation of the domain.
- Registrant details are published or redacted in the public WHOIS and RDAP databases according to the rules for the extension. Where a privacy or proxy service is available and you choose it, the service is subject to its own terms.
4.Ownership and Control
You, or the organisation you name as registrant, hold the registration for its term. We do not take ownership of your domain and we do not register domains in our own name on your behalf unless you have asked us to in writing.
- The registrant must be the person or business that really owns the name. A domain registered in the name of an employee, a freelancer or a developer rather than the business is a common cause of lost control later, so please register it correctly the first time.
- The holder of the WebsNP account that purchased the domain can manage it, renew it, change its DNS and request a transfer. Anyone who knows your login can do the same, so protect your credentials as set out in Section 2.2 of the Terms.
- Changing the registrant to a different person or business counts as a change of ownership. We may ask for proof of identity and the approval of the current registrant before we process it, and ICANN rules may impose a 60 day transfer lock afterwards.
- If a dispute arises between two people who each claim a domain, such as business partners or an agency and its client, we will act on the registrant of record and on any court or registry decision. We cannot decide between private claimants ourselves.
5.Renewal, Expiry and Recovery
Keeping a domain alive is the registrant's responsibility. We issue renewal invoices in advance and send reminders by email as a courtesy, but a reminder that is not delivered, or not read, does not extend a registration.
- Before expiry. Pay the renewal invoice, or turn on automatic renewal where the extension supports it.
- On expiry. If the renewal has not been paid, the domain expires. Its website, email and any services that depend on it stop working, and the registry may replace its DNS with a parking page.
- Grace period. Many extensions allow late renewal for a short period at the normal price. Length and availability are set by the registry, not by us, and some extensions have none.
- Redemption period. After the grace period, some registries allow recovery for an additional redemption fee, which is often many times the ordinary renewal price. That fee is set by the registry and we pass it on at cost with any handling charge shown on the invoice.
- Deletion. After that the domain is deleted and released. Anyone can then register it, and we cannot promise to recover it or to get it back from a new owner.
Renewal prices can differ from first-year prices, and registries may increase wholesale prices during the term. We tell you the renewal price before you confirm an order, and give notice before a price change affects an existing renewal as set out in Section 3.3 of the Terms.
6.Transfers In and Out
Transferring a domain to us. A transfer needs the authorisation (EPP) code from your current registrar, an unlocked domain, and generally a domain that is more than 60 days old and has not been transferred in the last 60 days. A transfer normally adds one year to the registration, and that year is charged at the price shown. A transfer can fail if the registrant email is unverified, the domain is locked, or the owner or registrar rejects the request. A failed transfer is not a ground for refunding unrelated services.
Transferring a domain away from us. We do not hold domains hostage. You may request the authorisation code from your client area once the domain is unlocked, and we will process outgoing transfers in line with the ICANN Transfer Policy. We may decline or delay a transfer only for a reason that policy permits, such as a 60 day lock following registration or a change of registrant details, a pending UDRP complaint or legal order, evidence of fraud, or the lack of authorisation from the registrant of record.
Please move a domain well before it expires. A transfer cannot be started once a domain has entered its deletion cycle, and a transfer does not rescue a domain that has already expired.
7.DNS, Nameservers and Propagation
If you use our nameservers we host your DNS records for you and the DNS uptime commitment in the Service Level Agreement applies. You are responsible for the records you set. A wrong A, MX or CNAME record can take a site or email offline, and we are not liable for the consequences of a record you entered or asked us to enter.
A change to nameservers or records takes time to be seen across the internet, commonly a few hours and occasionally up to 48 hours. Propagation delay is not downtime. If you delegate your domain to nameservers we do not control, we cannot see or fix what is published there.
8.Disputes, Trademarks and Legal Orders
You confirm that registering and using the name does not, to the best of your knowledge, infringe the rights of anyone else, including trademark and company-name rights, and that you are not registering it in bad faith, to resell it to a brand owner, or to impersonate someone.
- You agree to take part in the UDRP, or any equivalent process for your extension, if a complaint is filed against your domain, and to be bound by its outcome.
- We will comply with a decision of a UDRP panel, a court or a competent authority, and with a request from the registry, by locking, suspending, transferring or cancelling the domain. We are not liable for doing what such an order requires, and no refund follows.
- Domains used for phishing, malware, fraud or other conduct described in the Acceptable Use Policy may be suspended or cancelled without notice where delay would cause harm.
- Domains in sanctioned jurisdictions, or on behalf of sanctioned persons, cannot be registered or renewed where the law forbids it.
9.Domain Security
We keep registrar locks on by default on domains where the extension supports it, and we ask you to leave them on. A lock stops an unauthorised transfer. Use a strong password and two-factor authentication on your client account, and keep the registrant email address secure, since a person who controls that mailbox can usually approve changes to the domain.
If you suspect that a domain has been hijacked, open a ticket marked urgent at once. We will act quickly to lock it and help with recovery, but we cannot reverse a transfer that was authorised with valid credentials or an authorisation code obtained through your account.
10.Fees and Refunds
Registry fees are paid to the registry at the moment of registration, renewal or transfer, and the registry does not refund them. Domain fees are therefore never refundable, as set out in Section 4.5 of the Terms and in our Refund Policy. We will return the amount paid where we are unable to register the name at all, for example because it was taken before your order reached the registry, or because we charged you twice.
Where a domain was bundled free or at a discount with another product, it keeps its fee-free or discounted status only while the qualifying product stays active. If that product is cancelled or lapses, the domain is charged at the ordinary renewal price at its next renewal.
11.Changes to This Agreement
We update this agreement when ICANN, a registry or the law requires it, or when our practice changes. Where a change reduces your rights in a way that is not required by an outside rule, we will give at least 30 days' notice by email. Continued use of the domain after the change takes effect means you accept it.
12.Questions About This Document
If any part of this document is unclear, or you need it explained before you order, open a ticket from your client area or email us and a human will answer. We would rather explain a clause now than argue about it later.