Terms and Conditions

Last Revised: 01-Sep-2024

PLEASE READ THIS TERMS OF SERVICE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY, AS IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.

1. OVERVIEW

1.1 These Terms & Conditions apply to the provision of services by The Domain Name Company Limited, and its subsidiaries (domain.co.nz, we, us, our) to you as a user and customer of our services (you, your), and is made effective as of the date of your use of this website (site) or the date of electronic acceptance. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of a Services Agreement and the provisions of these Terms & Conditions, the provisions of the applicable Services Agreement shall prevail.

Certain words used in these Standard Terms and Conditions have a special meaning which is set out in the GLOSSARY OF TERMS at the end of this agreement.

2. THE TERMS OF YOUR CONTRACT

2.1 Your agreement with us (Contract) in respect of each service (Service) you obtain from us is made up of:
  1. these Terms & Conditions;
  2. the relevant Service Description for the Service;
  3. any relevant Service Terms; and
  4. our Privacy Policy.
2.2 The documents listed in clause 2.1 supersede all prior arrangements (whether written or oral) in relation to their subject matter.

3. HOW WE CAN MAKE CHANGES TO THE TERMS OF YOUR CONTRACT

3.1 We may, in our sole and absolute discretion, change the terms of your Contract, at any time, by posting new versions of any online terms on our website, by logging a notice in your customer interface and/or sending an email to you. Such changes or modifications shall be effective immediately upon posting to this Site. If you continue to use the Service after the change, you will be deemed to have agreed to the change. Where such a change may adversely impact you we shall endeavour to give at least 30 days advance notice.

3.2 We reserve the right to modify, change or discontinue any aspect of this site or Services, including without limitation prices and fees at any time.

4. SUPPLY OF SERVICES

4.1 We will supply each Service to you in accordance with the terms of the Contract until the Service is terminated in accordance with the Contract.

4.2 We will comply with your lawful directions in a reasonable and diligent manner, including but not limited to registration, amendment, cancellation, deletion and associated technical support and billing within 24 hours.

4.3 Periodic contracts will roll on a monthly basis without notice to you. Unless expressly stated otherwise in the Service Terms, fixed contract period Services will automatically roll over for a further fixed contract period on the date notified to you by our reminder email. Following auto-renewal, the further term of a fixed contract period Service will take effect at the end of the then current term.

4.4 If your fixed contract period Service is to be auto-renewed, we will notify you of, and provide you the ability to cancel, the impending auto-renewal. You must advise us by the specified date prior to the auto-renewal date if you wish to cancel the Service. If we do not receive your cancellation or "do not renew" advice in time, the Service will be auto renewed to ensure it continues uninterrupted. Your Service will be renewed for the same duration at the then current applicable charges published on our website.

4.5 Our Services (or any part of those Services) may not be resupplied or sublicensed to any third party, directly or indirectly, under any circumstances.

4.6 We reserve the right to refuse to supply Services to a Potential Customer who has previously had an account with domain.co.nz which was either terminated for breach, or has any unpaid fees remaining on it. In this clause, "Potential Customer" includes:
  1. (if the Potential Customer is a corporation) its Related Company (as that phrase is defined in the Companies Act 1993); and
  2. (if the Potential Customer is an individual) any corporation in which the potential customer was at the relevant time an officer or shareholder, or a Relative of a shareholder (as that phrase is defined in the Companies Act 1993).
4.7 Support is provided subject to our acceptable use policy and proportional to the revenue a customer represents. We reserve the right to charge for support beyond these limits on a time and materials basis.

5. PROVISION OF SECURE ACCESS TO OUR SYSTEMS

5.1 In order to access some of the features of our website, or the Services, you will have to create an account with us or you may have an existing account in our system. Additionally, some of Services may require us to allocate you a username and password or provide you access codes, API keys or access to non-public website addresses for the purpose of gaining secure access to those systems. Any such account or access details created by you or us will be referred to collectively as Login Details.

5.2 You must keep all Login Details secure and confidential at all times and must not disclose them to anyone else (except those of your employees who need to know them for the purposes of their employment). For security purposes, we recommend you change your password(s) and/or API keys at least once every three (3) months.

5.3 You agree that you are totally responsible for all actions of the people (if any) to whom you provide your Login Details (whether knowingly or not, and whether directly or indirectly) while they obtain access to our systems using those Login Details, and that we are entitled to treat instructions provided by those people through such access as instructions originating from you.

5.4 You must notify us immediately of any breach of security or unauthorised use of your Login Details to access our systems. We will not be liable for any loss you incur due to any unauthorised use of your Login Details.

5.5 You consent to our use of your Login Details in provisioning the Services, including in respect of any migration or transition of your account, content or data (to or from any suppliers we use) as reasonably necessary for the continued provision of the Services.

6. YOUR OBLIGATIONS

6.1 You must provide us with such co-operation and support as we may reasonably request to perform the Services, including by:
  1. responding promptly to our communications in relation to the Services and requests for you to review Customised Service; and
  2. providing accurate and prompt responses to our requests for any information or documentation reasonably required by us to perform the Services.
6.2 All details and information you provide to us (including without limitation when creating any account) must be accurate, current and complete, and must be maintained by you in an ongoing basis.

6.3 Except to the extent that we expressly agree to do so as part of a Service, you must conduct backups of any of your data (whether hosted on our computer systems or provided to us in connection with the performance of the Services) at such intervals as are reasonable having regard to the nature of the data.

6.4 You indemnify us and our officers, agents, employees, contractors and suppliers from and against any and all liabilities incurred, suffered or sustained by any of them in connection with:
  1. our use of or reliance upon any images or trading names, or any data, information, specifications, documentation, computer software or other materials provided by you;
  2. our compliance with any directions or instructions by you in relation to the provision of the Services; and your use of our Services.
6.5 We do not tolerate the transmission of spam. We monitor all traffic to and from our web servers for indications of spamming. Customers suspected to be using our products and services for the purpose of sending spam are fully investigated. If we determine there is a problem with spam, we will take the appropriate action to resolve the situation.

6.5.1 We define spam as the sending of Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE), Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE) or Unsolicited Facsimiles (Fax), which is email or facsimile sent to recipients as an advertisement or otherwise, without first obtaining prior confirmed consent to receive these communications. This can include, but is not limited to, the following:
  1. Email Messages
  2. Newsgroup postings
  3. Windows system messages
  4. Pop-up messages (aka "adware" or "spyware" messages)
  5. Instant messages (using AOL, MSN, Yahoo or other instant messenger programs)
  6. Online chat room advertisements
  7. Guestbook or Website Forum postings
  8. Facsimile Solicitations
  9. Text/SMS Messages
6.5.2 We will not allow our servers and services to be used for the purposes described above. In order to use our products and services, you must not only abide by all applicable New Zealand laws and regulations, the US Can-Spam Act of 2003 and the US Telephone Consumer Protection Act, but you must also abide by this no spam policy. Commercial advertising and/or bulk emails or faxes may only be sent to recipients who have "opted-in" to receive messages. They must include a legitimate return address and reply-to address, the sender's physical address, and an opt-out method in the footer of the email or fax. Upon request by us, conclusive proof of opt-in may be required for an email address or fax number.

6.5.3 If we determine the account, products, or services in question are being used in association with spam, we may re-direct, suspend, or cancel any account, web site hosting, domain registration, email boxes, or other applicable products or services without notice. In such event, at our election, we may require you to respond by email to us stating that you will cease to send spam and/or have spam sent on your behalf and to require a non-refundable reactivation fee to be paid before the site, email boxes, and/or services are reactivated.

6.6 You will not use this Site or the Services in a manner that:
  1. Is illegal, or promotes or encourages illegal activity;
  2. Promotes, encourages or engages in the exploitation of, or violence against people, animals, or property, or any activity related to the proliferation of sexual abuse material;
  3. Infringes on the intellectual property rights or the privacy or publicity rights of any other person or entity, or breaches any duty of confidentiality that you owe to any other person or entity;
  4. Interferes with the operation of this Site or the Services found at this Site;
  5. Is vexatious, malicious or otherwise unreasonable;
6.8 You will not copy or distribute in any medium any part of this Site or the Services, except where expressly authorised by us.

7. FEES AND PAYMENT

7.1 You must pay us the Service fees without setoff or deduction of any kind by the due date specified in any invoice sent to you or as required at the time of purchase. Customers on monthly billings are required to make payments by way of a standing order or direct debit from any of the provided payment services. All amounts are non-refundable unless otherwise noted.

7.2 IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT YOU DO NOT EXPERIENCE AN INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF SERVICES, ALL SERVICES ARE OFFERED ON AUTOMATIC RENEWAL. You authorise us and provide consent to keep on file and automatically debit the payment service associated with your account for all Services fees on issuance of a valid invoice (Consent Agreement). To minimise service disruption due to credit card expirations, you consent to our payment systems automatically attempting to update the expiry date of your credit card when necessary to process payments, however we do not guarantee this will be successful. We remind you that it is your responsibility to ensure your credit card details are kept up to date at all times. Changes to this Consent Agreement will be notified to you by changes to this terms and conditions web page. The expiration date of this Consent Agreement will be taken to be the expiry of any Services provided to you. The stored credential will only be used for payment for the Services.

7.3 Monthly, quarterly or bi-annual fees are not refundable if your Service is terminated part way through a payment period. Each time we charge a transaction, we will provide you with a receipt of the payment. We require 3 business days notice prior to your next billing date to avoid charging you at that next billing date. If you elect to cancel a payment method, we will then, subsequent to the expiry of the notice period, provide a cancellation or refund confirmation within 3 business days.

7.4 Prices quoted or published are inclusive of any government taxes or charges unless otherwise notified, and exclusive of any registration or delegation charges imposed by domain name authorities.

7.5 Monthly fees are not refundable if your Service is terminated or cancelled part way through a month (unless otherwise expressly provided for in the Service Terms). Refunds are not available for domain names.

7.6 Unless the Service Terms expressly provide differently, if you terminate a fixed period contract before the end of its term, you will be charged an early termination charge equal to 6 months fees or the fees for the rest of the contract term, whichever is the lesser (Early Termination Fee). If you have prepaid the fees for the fixed period contract and there is greater than 6 months remaining, you will be refunded the balance of the prepaid fees minus the Early Termination Fee.

7.7 In the event of a refund, it will be made via the original payment method charged at the time of the original sale, we have no control over when the refund will be applied towards your payment method's available balance. Under no circumstances will cheques be issued.

7.8 Where any part of the Contract refers to charges on a "time and materials basis" for performing particular activities, we may charge you for all time spent by personnel in performing those activities, at our then current hourly rates (as published by us or notified to you from time to time) and all out of pocket expenses incurred by us in performing those activities.

7.9 If payment of the Service fees or any part of them is overdue, then we may at our option suspend the performance of the Services until such payment is made (including any interest charged on overdue amounts), and we may, at our sole discretion, extend the times for performance of the Services by a period equal to the time lost due to suspension.

7.10 If we have taken action to recover overdue amounts from you, any reasonable costs incurred by us in recovering the debt including but not limited to any legal expenses and collection agency charges, will be recoverable from you.

7.11 We reserve the right to change our prices and fees at any time, and such changes shall be posted online at this Site and effective immediately without need for further notice to you. If you have purchased or obtained Services for a period of months or years, changes in prices and fees shall be effective when such Services come up for renewal.

8. DELIVERY AND FORCE MAJEURE

8.1 Timeframes we provide for the performance of Services are good faith estimates only. We will use reasonable endeavours to comply with such timeframes, but time is not of the essence in the adherence to such timeframes.

8.2 We are not responsible for any delay in performing or failure to perform any of our obligations under the Contract to the extent that failure is due to an event or circumstances beyond our reasonable control (including any negligence by you, failure by you to perform any of your obligations under the Contract or any of your other wrongful acts or omissions).

9. TERMINATION

9.1 The Contract commences from the date on which on the Services are stated to commence, or, where no such date is specified, on the day the Contract is agreed to by you and us.

9.2 Either party may terminate the Contract immediately by notice in writing to the other party if:
  1. the other party commits a material breach, which cannot be remedied, of its obligations under the Contract (including a breach of clause 10.1);
  2. the other party commits a remediable material breach of its obligations under the Contract which can be remedied, but fails to remedy that breach within 14 days of being required to do so in writing by the first-mentioned party; or
  3. an insolvency event occurs with respect to the other party.
9.3 Where the Contract does not state expressly that the Services are to be provided for a minimum fixed period or, following the expiry of such a period if specified and where renewal of a further fixed period has not occurred, either party may terminate the Contract on 30 days' written notice to the other.

10. CONFIDENTIALITY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

10.1 You agree to:
  1. keep the Confidential Information secret and confidential;
  2. use the Confidential Information only for the purpose of receiving the Services;
  3. not to disclose the Confidential Information to any person, without our permission;
  4. restrict the disclosure of the Confidential Information to those of your employees who need to know; and
  5. notify us promptly if you become aware of any breach or threatened breach of the your obligations of confidence.
10.2 The restrictions contained in clause 10.1 do not apply to:
  1. any Confidential Information lawfully in the public domain;
  2. the disclosure of any Confidential Information to the extent required by a court of competent jurisdiction, governmental body or applicable regulatory authority under law, provided that you use reasonable endeavours to give us as much prior notice of such disclosure as is reasonably practicable.
10.3 Nothing in the Contract transfers to either party any IP Rights owned by the other party existing prior to the commencement of the Services. All IP Rights in the Customised Service, other than those pre-existing IP Rights, are and will remain owned by us and you hereby assign such IP Rights (both present and future) to us. We grant you a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use the Customised Service for your internal business purposes (but not to disclose the Customised Service to third parties unless otherwise agreed in writing).

11. WARRANTIES

11.1 Each party warrants that it is authorised to enter into this Contract. If you are not the customer, you warrant that you have the power and authority to enter into this Contract on behalf of the customer and will indemnify us for any breach of the Contract by the customer.

11.2 We warrant that:
  1. we will perform the Services using reasonably qualified and experienced personnel; and
  2. we will not knowingly infringe the IP Rights or other rights of any third person in the preparation of any Customised Service.
11.3 You acknowledge that neither we nor any person acting on our behalf (including any supplier we use) has made any representation or warranty regarding the Services or any Customised Service (including as to the quality or suitability for any purpose of the Services or the Customised Service, or whether the performance of the Services or the possession or use of the Customised Service will infringe the rights of any person, or whether the Services will be uninterrupted or error free), which is not recorded expressly in the Contract.

11.4 We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, always accurate or error free, or that they will be free from hackers, virus, denial of service attack or other persons having unauthorised access to our services or those of our suppliers.

11.5 You agree that we may be required to perform maintenance in respect of our systems to ensure their satisfactory operation which may affect the availability or functioning of the Services. We will use reasonable endeavours to provide you with advance notice of any maintenance downtime, except when circumstances beyond our reasonable control prevent us from doing so.

11.6 All terms and warranties which might otherwise be implied by any legislation, the common law, equity, trade, custom or usage or otherwise into the Contract, are expressly excluded to the maximum extent permitted by law. Where legislation implies into the Contract any term or warranty that cannot lawfully be excluded (such as any rights a consumer may have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (unless you use, or have indicated you will use our Services for business purposes)), that term or warranty is included but our liability in respect of a breach of that term or warranty is, where permitted by such legislation, limited at our option to any one or more of the following:

if the breach relates to goods:
  1. the replacement of the goods or the supply of equivalent goods; or
  2. the repair of such goods; or
  3. the payment of the cost of replacing the goods or of acquiring equivalent goods; or
  4. the payment of the cost of having the goods repaired; or
  5. refund.
if the breach relates to services:
  1. the supplying of the services again; or
  2. the payment of the cost of having the services supplied again; or
  3. refund.
12. LIABILITY

12.1 Nothing in the Contract excludes or limits either party's liability under or in respect of:
  1. any indemnity;
  2. any breach of clauses 5 or 10;
  3. any fraud or other criminal act;
  4. personal injury or death caused by the negligence, breach of contract or other wrongful act or omission of that party; or
  5. any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.
12.2 To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, unless otherwise expressly stated in the Service Terms neither party is liable for:
  1. any indirect, special or consequential loss or damage, any loss of profit, revenue or business opportunities, loss of or damage to data or loss of goodwill arising out of or in connection with the Contract (whether or not the loss or damage may reasonably be supposed to have been in the contemplation of the parties as at the date the Contract was formed as a probable result of any act or omission);
  2. any loss or damage to the extent such loss or damage is caused or contributed to by the other party's negligence, breach of contract or other wrongful acts or omissions; or
  3. any claim made 6 months or more after the circumstances giving rise to the claim first became known by the claimant or could, with reasonable diligence, have become known by the claimant.
12.3 Subject to clause 12.1, and to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, each party's aggregate liability for any loss or damage in connection with the provision of a Service, which is not excluded or limited under clauses 12.2 or 11.6, is limited to an amount equal to the aggregate Service Fees paid by You for the preceding 12 months to any claim in respect of that Service.

13. GENERAL

13.1 Excluding in relation to notice(s) provided under clause 3.1, any notice, demand, consent or other communication (a Notice) given or made under the Contract will be sent to the last notified address of a party and will be deemed delivered:
  1. if delivered in person - when delivered;
  2. if delivered by post - 2 Business Days after the date of posting (if posted to an address in the same country) or 7 Business Days otherwise; and
  3. if delivered by email - 2 Business Days after the date of sending.
13.2 Where as a result of the above a Notice would otherwise be taken to be given on a day that is not a Business Day, it will be taken to have been duly given on the next Business Day.

13.3 Neither party may assign its rights or obligations under the Contract without the consent of the other party (not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed), provided that we may novate the Contract to any of our affiliates or assign this Contract on any merger or acquisition.

13.4 We are free to sub-contract any of our obligations under the Contract, but such sub-contracting will not release us from our liabilities under the Contract.

13.5 The Contract is governed by the laws of New Zealand.

13.6 Nothing in the Contract is to be interpreted against a party solely on the ground that the party put forward the Contract or a relevant part of it.

13.7 Our contact details are: PO Box 141, Palmerston North 4440, New Zealand. Telephone: +64 9 8844182.

13.8 Abuse of our systems can be reported through the contact form and must be clearly labelled as an abuse report: REPORT ABUSE HERE. All abuse reports will be acknowledged within the standard timeframe given in 4.2 (above) and dealt with in line with these terms of service.

13.9 Complaints can be made through the contact form and must be clearly labelled as a complaint: MAKE A COMPLAINT HERE. All complaints will be acknowledged within the standard timeframe given in 4.2 (above). We will deal with any complaint(s) made by you, promptly and with best endeavours to lawfully resolve them in the best interests of all parties concerned. In the event you are unsatisfied with our response, you may request a complaint appeal via the same channel. For your protection all complaints will be handled in writing via our ticketing system to ensure an accurate record is kept at all times.

14. ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS, .NZ REGISTRATIONS

14.1 We will comply with all .nz policies and any authority having jurisdiction over any domain name registered to you and have the right to refuse any application for a domain name.

14.2 We will supply and keep secure your personal information stored in our databases and systems and provide your unique domain name key (EPP) to you, on demand and at no cost.

14.3 You agree that you have read and understood, and will comply with all .nz policies as laid out by the NZ Domain Name Commission (https://dnc.org.nz/) and any orders it may make regarding.nz domain names.

14.4 You agree that everyone you are responsible for or who uses a domain name registered to you will also comply with these Terms and Conditions.

14.5 By entering into this agreement you consent to providing us with the minimum personal information necessary to maintain your domain name record and administer your account. You agree this information will be stored for no less than 6 years from the cessation of your business relationship with us, as required by the .nz Domain Name Commission and New Zealand Government. You also agree that data including your: name; email address; mailing address; and phone number, may be publicly accessible via the Domain Name Commission's Query Service throughout the period of registration and 90 days afterward.

14.6 The Individual Registrant Privacy Option (IRPO) is an optional feature available to individuals who are not using the domain name it is applied to in significant trade, as used in the Fair Trading Act 1986. If you are eligible and choose to use the IRPO, your telephone number and contact address information will not be disclosed on the Query Service ("Withheld Data"). If you use your domain name for significant trade purposes you will not be eligible for the IRPO (see section 8 of .nz Operations and Procedures policy for further details https://dnc.org.nz/about/compliance-and-enforcement/nz-policies/nz-operations-and-procedures-policy/).

14.7 To the extent GDPR or other equivalent law applies, registrants have the right to object to the registry storing historical personal information and/or disclosing it as authorised or required by New Zealand law.

14.8 For the avoidance of doubt and pursuant to Clause 4.4, Article 21 of the EU GDPR, the .nz registry maintains it has compelling legitimate grounds for storing an historical auditable record of all domain names and disclosing historical personal information as authorised or required by New Zealand law. This is because without carrying out these functions, the integrity and operation of the register would be significantly undermined.

15. ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS, .UK REGISTRATIONS

15.1 We will comply with all .uk policies and any authority having jurisdiction over any domain name registered to you and have the right to refuse any application for a domain name.

15.2 We will supply and keep secure your personal information stored in our databases and systems and provide your unique domain name key to you, on demand and at no cost.

15.3 You agree that you have read and understood, and will comply with all .uk policies as laid out by Nominet (the .uk registry) (http://www.nominet.uk/go/terms) including its Data Quality and DRS Policies and any orders it may make regarding.uk domain names.

15.4 You agree that everyone you are responsible for or who uses a domain name registered to you will also comply with these Terms and Conditions.

15.5 By entering into this agreement you consent to providing us with the minimum personal information necessary to maintain your domain name record and administer your account and in line with Nominet's Data Quality Policy. You agree this information will be stored for no less than 6 years from the cessation of your business relationship with us. You also agree that data including your: name; email address; mailing address; and phone number, may be publicly accessible via Nominet's Query Service (WHOIS) throughout the period of registration, for 90 days afterward and in line with the Data Release Policy.

15.6 You are also able to make a formal complaint about a registrar to Nominet (the .uk registry) here.

16. ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS, DROPLIST SERVICE

16.1 To be eligible to use this droplist service, you must have an active, fully paid up account and be in good standing on our platform.

16.2 We will endeavour to register expiring (droplist) domains on your behalf, where you are the highest bidder.

16.3 In using this droplist service you understand and agree that this registration attempt is made on a best efforts basis, meaning that no guarantee can be made or is offered as to the success of this attempt.

16.4 In the event of a successful registration attempt on your behalf, you will be invoiced for the amount of your bid. You agree that full payment of this invoice will be made strictly within 24 hours. Failure to make this payment, within this time, will result in the domain being allocated to the next highest bidder. You may also be disqualified from future auctions.

16.5 In the event of an unsuccessful registration attempt on your behalf, no fee will be charged.

16.6 To maintain market integrity we reserve the right to disqualify any participant in droplist auctions at our sole discretion.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

In the Contract, unless the context requires otherwise:

Business Day means a day of the week other than a Saturday, Sunday or a day on which trading banks in Wellington, New Zealand are not open for transacting business.

Confidential Information means all information of or pertaining to domain.co.nz and its affiliates which has been in the past or is in the future supplied or disclosed to you or which otherwise comes to your knowledge in connection with the performance of the Services, including without limitation:
  1. information concerning our business affairs, business partners, suppliers, plans or strategies;
  2. information concerning any products or services which we propose to supply; and
  3. information which is designated by us as being confidential or which a reasonable person would, given the nature of the information, consider to be confidential.
IP Rights means all rights in relation to copyright, trade secrets, trademarks, designs, drawings, patents, know-how, secret processes, formulae, semiconductor or circuit layouts and all other similar proprietary rights and all rights to the registration of those rights, whether created, formed or arising before, on or after the date of the Contract, in Australia or elsewhere.

Service Description means the features and functions of the service you have purchased as set out on our website at https://domain.co.nz/ (or as expressly identified in the Service Terms).

Service Terms means those specific terms and conditions related to the particular Service you have purchased, currently located at https://domain.co.nz/tos/.

Customised Service means any materials (including information, designs, reports, documentation, specifications, data and software) produced or required to be produced in connection with the performance of the Services.

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