.EU ADR

.EU ADR is the Alternative Dispute Resolution for the .eu ccTLD names. It was created by the European Commission through the European Registry of International Domain Names, EURid. The primary objective of .EU ADR is to protect intellectual property rights and provide alternative resolutions to consumers who have commercial complaints against companies in Europe.

.eu ccTLD[edit | edit source]

.eu is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD)for the European Union (EU. The delegation of the .eu ccTLD in the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS) was approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 2005.^[1]

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)[edit | edit source]

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is an “out-of court-mechanism” which aims to help EU citizens resolve their internet related and other commercial transactions disputes with a company. The ADR resolution uses an arbitrator, mediator or ombudsman to assist the two conflicting parties come-up with an acceptable solution to an issue. The scheme is more affordable, faster and flexible way of solving conflicts compared with directly filing a complaint in the court. ^[2]

EURid Background[edit | edit source]

The European Registry of International Domain Names (EURid) is a non-profit organization which was founded in April 2003. It was officially appointed by the EC to assume the responsibility in managing and operating the .eu country code top-level domain name (.eu ccTLD)on May 2003, while it's service contract was subsequently signed in October 2004. Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and and the European Chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC) are the members of the organization.^[3]

Czech Arbitration Court(CAC)[edit | edit source]

In 2005, The EC directed EURid to designate the Czech Arbitration Court(CAC), a non-profit organization that administers legal proceedings of the ADR.u to resolve domestic and international commercial conflicts related to IP and technology issues. The court makes decisions based on ADR Rules and ADR Supplemental Rules in accordance with the Public Policy for .eu implemented by the European Commission.Since its establishment in 2005 'CAC' has already administered thousands of ADR.eu proceedings. ^[4]

ADR.eu is an exceptional online platform that provides cost-effective, fast, secure and high quality Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR) filed by companies regarding internet problems through its team of experts that are also fluent in 21 European and other languages in different countries.

(ICANN) approved the application of CAC as an international provider of Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy and Rules (UDRP) services last January 2008. ADR.eu is the fourth UDRP provider internationally and it is the only ADR service provider for the .eu domain name conflicts.

One year after ICANN's approval for ADR.EU to become a UDRP service provider, on January 2009 it launched an exclusive UDRP service with special features which allows e-filing and class complaints for the (.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .mobi, and .tel) gLTD domains.

In addition, on May 6, 2009, the Euro DNS S.A; operator of the CO.NL designated CAC as the domain name dispute resolution provider of .co.nl. The UDRP panelists will be responsible in making decisions on disputes per UDRP Policy and Rules.

CAC was established in 1949 under the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic located in Prague.

CAC Advisory Board[edit | edit source]

The Czech Arbitration Court created an Advisory Board on January 1, 2007 for the .eu ADR Center. The Advisory Board is composed of six experts from the domain-name arbitration field, who will help CAC by means of informal consultations. The advisers will provide their expert comments based on their skills and special knowledge in .eu related issues particularly on:Policy issues (for example topics for consultation among Panelists & public consultation);Strategy issues (future developments for the ADR Center)and General feedbacks on the operations and functions of the Court team.^[5]