Q: Is a domain Registrant responsible for information on a website linked with the domain?
A: Yes. A domain Registrant is personally responsible, since the date on which the Registrant's name has been entered into the Registry (central database of the .RU, .РФ, .SU and other TLDs), for the domain use, including illegal use, irrespective of who is actually using the domain.
Q: How can I learn who is the Registrant of a domain name?
A: Public domain name information is available through whois service on www.nic.ru. Full information about domain Registrant may only be provided at the request from a Russian court, law enforcement authorities or attorney.
Q: Can a web page print-out be considered an evidence of a law violation on the Internet?
O: Yes, but only if it is certified by a Russian Notary Public. A party interested in having the violations of law certified (for instance, using a domain name for a website offering for sale any goods the plaintiff has a legal protection of in conformance with the trademark law) files a request with a Notary Public demanding to certify the fact of any violating information being located under a certain address on the Internet. The request should include the goal of perpetuating evidence, web page address and document details. It is advisable to specify the heading of the respective text or graphic information and location on the web page, as well as the specific quotations to be used in the suit, complaint or application.
It is also advisable to describe in the page review report the succession of the actions performed by the Notary Public to obtain a screen image of the page in question. The notarial certification of the page has to be done before going to court.
Q: For quite a while now we have been receiving spam from a particular .RU email address . May RU-CENTER cancel registration of the .RUdomain name used for the email address?
A: The Registrar is entitled to apply to the Registrant of the domain only the actions directly provided for in the RU-CENTER Domains Registration Schedule in .RU and .РФ TLDs.
Domain Registrant independently defines the rules and order of using the domain name, is responsible for selecting the domain name and for possible violations of the rights of any third party in connection with the selection and use of the domain name, and is liable for the costs of such violations.
Website development, placement of the information on the website, , as well as website usage for spam mailing relate to the issue of domain use, rather than the issue of domain registration. The Registrar is not entitled to interfere with the relations arising between the domain Registrant and the third parties in relation to the domain use.
In accordance with the Terms and Conditions of Domain Names Registration in Domains .RU and .РФ, the Registrar may not independently decide on satisfying the third parties' claims for the domain name.
A person suggesting that administration of the domain name by his/her Administrator abuses his/her rights (specifically, those of trade mark, brand name, other object of intellectual property, the name of a nonprofit organization or government body) may file a corresponding legal statement.
Registration of the domain name used for spam purposes can be cancelled before its registration period expires only on the grounds specified in Section 3.3.5. of the RU-CENTER Domains Registration Schedule in RU and РФ TLDs, including a valid court verdict which:
- admitting a fact that the administration of the domain by its Registrant violates the rights of a complaint;
- and/or prohibiting the use of a designation belonging to or licensed to a complaint in the domain name.
Therefore, you have to address, first of all, domain name Registrant on all the issues related to domain use.
In this case you can either apply to the law enforcement authorities with a complaint about fraud and extortion, or else ignore the e-mails without contacting the spammers.
In respect of stopping unsolicited advertising (spam), you can also contact:
- Your Internet service provider (ISP) requesting a possible spam control;
- The ISP servicing the domain in question with a request to stop the spam mailings; and
- The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation with a request to stop the advertising law violations (if the mailings are of an advertising nature).
We advise you not to respond to the spammers' e-mails, since this will let them know that your address is active and its owner checks the incoming mail.
Q: Can I receive a formal answer confirming that a domain has been registered by our legal entity at RU-CENTER?
A: A domain name ownership certificate can be provided by RU-CENTER to any legal entity or individual at a request sent to the e-mail address ru-ncc@nic.ru.
The certificate will be provided with the RU-CENTER General Director's signature and contain the data publicly available at the WHOIS service on RU-CENTER's website.
Q: To settle an issue, we have to obtain more information on the domain Registrant than is available at the WHOIS service. Can we get it?
A: The information on the domain Registrant contained in the private RU-CENTER database can be provided at a request in writing filed by a Russian court, law enforcement authorities or by the bar (as per Ch. 2 of Federal Law "On the advocate activity and the Bar in the Russian Federation" No. 63-FZ , the request should contain information on the party receiving legal help, should be made on the letterhead of the advocatory institution (e.g. company), should be signed by an authorised person and should bear the official stamp of the advocatory institution; moreover, it is mandatory that a barrister certificate copy should be attached to the request).
Q: The domain name ***.ru has been registered by of one of our entity's employees, i.e., he is the domain Registrant. What can be done to make our entity as a whole act as the domain Registrant?
A: The domain Registrant (whether a legal entity or an individual) can transfer its domain ownership to any other entity or person. To do so, a Registrant has to submit a letter to RU-CENTER. The gaining Registrant should confirm the domain reception at the "Manage your account" section of the RU-CENTER website.
Learn more about domain ownership transfers here.
Q: Our organization is creating a corporate website. Is there any way to protect the information to be published on the website from copying and distribution? We would not like to have the information published on our website downloaded and used by anyone without our knowledge or consent.
A: It is simply impossible to exclude downloading of information by the third parties; the main point for you then is to be able to prove that it was downloaded from your website, rather than the other way around. The following steps can be taken by you for the protection of your information:
- Placing warnings on your website (copyright signs).
- Having your website registered as a mass media by applying to the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, in which case your activities will be covered by the Law "On Mass Media".
- We also advise, when placing any information on the web, to transfer it to the hosting provider not only via the Web or disks, but also in hard copies under a formal acceptance statement, i.e., to register on paper the texts and the fact of their placing.
Q: The website ***.ru contains insults at my address. I have already requested the website administration to delete this false information damaging my reputation, but they did not answer. Who can help me?
A: In order to settle this issue, we suggest that you, first of all, have the website information certified by a Notary Public. Then you can sue in a Russian court the persons who have published this information, or apply to law enforcement authorities. RU-CENTER registers domain names in the TLDs .RU, .РФ and .SU but has no authority to settle your problem. And full domain Registrant data can only be provided at the request from a Russian court, law enforcement authorities or from the Russian advocate (lawyer).