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Fee changes to .eu dispute proceedings

27 June 2012

Brussels and Prague, 27 June 2012 – The Czech Arbitration Court (CAC) and .eu registry EURid today announce a special fee reduction to make the .eu Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process even more accessible to the European public. The cost of a basic proceeding is cut by 50% and the new fee structure is valid for six months from 1 July 2012.

This move comes in response to recommendations made in an external audit of the .eu ADR service prepared for EURid. The .eu ADR procedure is functioning well but, according to the audit, a fee reduction would further raise the visibility of the service and improve access.

"The Czech Arbitration Court is the out-of-court institution appointed to rule on .eu domain name proceedings. We hope that the new fee structure will help even more people resolve their disputes with respect to contested .eu domain name registrations," said Board Member of the Czech Arbitration Court, Petr Hostas.

EURid’s General Manager, Marc Van Wesemael, added, “At EURid, we enable anyone with a legitimate prior rights claim to challenge a .eu registration. Making the .eu ADR process more available, especially to Europe’s small businesses, by lowering the fee during 2012 is one way of doing this.”

EURid also plans to engage with the European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA) to help raise awareness about using .eu proceedings as a quick alternative to formal court hearings or litigation. In the same spirit, the CAC plans to enhance the .eu ADR online platform and procedural routines.

Why ADR

People can challenge a .eu registration if they believe they have a prior right to the domain name and the current holder has registered the name for speculative or abusive purposes. Although they can do this through a European court, EURid offers the fast and convenient .eu ADR procedure through the independent CAC. No travel is required as all cases are conducted online and by email, and in 21 official EU languages. Cases take an average of four months to resolve.

EURid appointed the CAC in 2005 as its ADR provider. In order to make .eu ADR decisions, the CAC selects one or more panellists from its list of 136 accredited international experts.

In numbers

During 2011, 47 .eu ADR cases were filed and 42 decisions were published, of which 38, or 90%, were in favour of the complainant. In total since .eu’s launch in 2005, there have been over 1 000 .eu proceedings.

More information about the new .eu ADR price structure is available at eu.adr.eu.