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General Policies

5. DOMAIN REGISTRY

5.1 REGISTRY METHOD

To register a new domain, there are two ways: 1. On-line, through NIC.EC’s web page, www.nic.ec or 2. Sending all required documentation to NIC.EC’s offices. No matter which way you choose, all conditions and terms are the same for both cases. This means that whoever register in, is deemed to have read, acknowledged and accepted the Registry Agreement and these Policies, and that by registering the domain name, no provision of the Registry Agreement, these Policies or the Law is being violated, neither are third parties rights.

5.2 ON-LINE REGISTRY

If on-line registration is performed, no documents shall be send to NIC.EC offices, except when such domains are intended to be registered in .org.ec, .edu.ec, .gov.ec, .mil.ec. In such cases, provisions included in Special Provisions section shall be observed. Also, documents must be send to NIC.EC offices, when it requests specific documents in either case.

In order to register a domain name, you should first verify within the Whois, if such domain name have been already registered or if it is available. The domain name that has not been previously registered should appear as available in all the different classifications of the second level. Even though several available possibilities should appear, registration shall be ruled by general terms and conditions provided in these Policies and the Registry Agreement. Such provisions will be accepted on-line. If the person performing the registration do not choose the option "I have read, understood and accepted the Registry Agreement", registry can not be fulfilled.

Further, complete information of the Registrant, the Administrative Contact, the Technical Contact, the Billing Contact and the Domain Server DNS (two minimums) shall be filled in. There are some validations about the given information, however, the responsible for the provided information is the one filing it in. Before the information filing, the person performing the registration could register his user name and password, if he already have them. If he do not have them, he shall register as a new user and such situation shall allow him to determine a user name and a password. If the Administrative Contact have domains registered with NIC.EC and do not know his user name, he shall ask one from NIC.EC, if it has not provided one.

The person performing the registry is the Administrative Contact, who most of the times is the same Registrant or a person on behalf the Registrant. It is deemed that the person performing the registration is duly authorized by the Registrant to perform the registry on behalf the Registrant. Therefore, the Administrative Contact is the one performing the whole process. The invoice shall be issued to the Administrative Contact.

In the Fees’ chapter, are detailed the different fees for periods and by domain, as well as fees for Ecuadorians and entities registered in Ecuador and the fees for non - Ecuadorians. For applying for an Ecuadorian fee, it is necessary to file in the taxpayer id (RUC) or the Ecuadorian personal id. If these are not detailed, it shall be applied a non - Ecuadorian fee although the rest of the information is apparently from Ecuador.

Technical Contact and Billing Contact may be the same Administrative Contact, even though it is recommended to be different persons. DNS information is vital in order to allow Internet users to access the web page or email that use the registered domain name. However, if the DNS technical data is not known or if there is only intended to register a domain name without the possibility of being accessed, NIC.EC will assign two temporarily DNS that could be later modified by the Administrative Contact. The domain registered with the temporarily DNS may be activated but not accessed through the Internet until its data is modified.

Once the information on Contacts and Servers is filled in, you will find the option on the registry term. Minimum term is 1 year, maximum term is 10 years. You will also find the payment option, which are through check, credit card or wire transfer. You will have options for registration for 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 years, even though some options may not be available for the different second level domain categories. Once the term and payment options are selected, registration process will be finished, and the internal process of NIC.EC about validations, confirmations and invoicing will start.

If a new registry is to be paid for with a check or wire transfer payment option, the domain will be on hold for up to 30 days, term in which the check shall be send or the transfer shall be credited on NIC.EC account. During this term, the domain will not be granted, neither activated, but until the moment or two working days after payment has been received and applied. After the term of 30 days, the domain will be available to be registered by another registrant. A correct payment application shall be subjected to a correct payment information, which means, when payment is being done, it must be specified the domains such payment is paying for. If a payment is received and it is not specified which domain is being paid for, payment will not be applied. In this case, if the fore-mentioned term is through, the domain may be available for another registrant. Once payment is received and applied correctly, NIC.EC will notify the Administrative Contact and the Billing Contact, via email the payment confirmation and the domain activation.

If a new domain is paid for with a credit card, NIC.EC will process the charge authorization, and if such authorization is denied or not given by any reason, NIC.EC will allow the Registrant to change the information provided if it is not correct or specify a different credit card. If new information is not provided or if it is not authorized again, then the Registrant shall choose to pay with a check or to cancel the registry. If the credit card authorization is obtained, the registry process will continue and the Registrant will be notified that request was received correctly. After two working days, NIC.EC will perform several control processes. The ones that turn out positive will be processed invoiced and activated. During such term and until the positive process is fulfilled, the domain will not be activated, the Whois information will not be available and the credit card will not be charged.

5.3 MANUAL REGISTRY

If on-line registration is not preferred or is not possible to use or if it is unavailable, the same steps and conditions of the on-line registration shall be followed, but by printing or downloading the forms from the web page, request them via email or request them at NIC.EC’s offices. These forms are 1. Domain Registry Application Form, and 2. Registry Agreement. Both shall be signed and delivered to NIC.EC’s offices.

Domain Registry Application Form: Is the form in which the information such as Registrant, Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Billing Contact and DNS is provided. The form has complementary instructions beside the ones provided in the On-line Registry section of these Policies.

Registry Agreement: Once the Policies and the Registry Agreement have been read, understood and accepted, the Agreement shall be signed and delivered. There are two types of Registry Agreement, the one available for on-line registration and the one available for not on-line registration. Both their contents are identical, however, you must be sure to send the one that has a space for the domain name and signature on its last page.

If you do not use the on-line registration mechanism, you should be aware of the following:

- It will only be accepted the Application Form that is in force at the time of application, duly filled and signed.

- It will only be accepted the Registry Agreement that is in force at the time of application and duly signed.

- For each domain name, there must be delivered a Domain Form and a Registry Agreement.

5.4 DOCUMENTATION FOR SPECIAL REGISTRIES

No matter if registry is done through the web page or not, the following documentation is required for the registration process on the following cases and must be delivered together with a letterhead letter, signed by the Administrative Contact or the Registrant, stating that such documentation is a backup of the requested domain:

.gov.ec: Letterhead letter signed by the main representative of the governmental institution of Ecuador that is applying the domain registry for such institution. If the request does not come from the Presidency of the Republic, a Ministry, a Governor’s Office, a Provincial Council or a City Hall, there must also be delivered a document that certifies the existence of such entity and the appointment note of the main representative.

.mil.ec: letterhead letter signed by the main representative of the institution part of the Armed Forces of Ecuador.

.org.ec: In the cases that NIC.EC considers necessary , Ministerial Decision or document that proves that the Registrant is a non-profit organization or association registered in Ecuador.

.edu.ec: In the cases that NIC.EC considers necessary , certificate issued by the Ministry of Education of Ecuador that proves that the Registrant is an educational institution registered in Ecuador.

Special considerations for these registries:

- These are registries exclusively for entities registered in Ecuador.

- Domains under gov.ec and mil.ec are not subject to payment of registry or maintenance fee.

- Domains under gov.ec and mil.ec will not be activated until all documentation is received. Domains under edu.ec and org.ec , the activation is subject to the payment of the registry fee and in the cases that NIC.EC requires additional documentation, the activation is also subject to the reception of the documentation.

- If the Registry under gov.ec and mil.ec is requested by a third party, such as an Internet provider, a web page designer, a law firm, etc., it is also required an Authorization Letter delegating such party the process of Registry and Maintenance.

- The names to be requested shall be directly related to the name of the entity or its initials or abbreviations.

- In any of these cases, NIC.EC may request additional information when it is deemed necessary.

- If the registration or renewal is made on line or sending information to NIC.EC office, both the Administrative Contact and the Registrant , which are responsible for the information submitted, also certify and declare that the domains registered under edu.ec or k12.ec , the Registrant is an education institution registered in Ecuador certified by the Minister of Education of Ecuador and that in registrations under org.ec , the Registrant is an Organization or Association non for profit registered in Ecuador under compliance of the Minister of Welfare (Ministerio de Bienestar Social) .

- Considering the information that must be reviewed, the registration process of these domains may be longer than the usual processes. It will depend on the delivered documentation and that these classifications are reserved and restricted for certain institutions.

6. RENEWAL

6.1 ADVANCE RENEWAL

Previously registered domains or new domains to be registered may be renewed for one or more additional years. To request NIC.EC the renewal of a domain, the on-line renewal mechanism available on NIC.EC’s web page can be used or there can be requested it on written to NIC.EC’s offices. Some domains shall been registered or renewed for more than a year, therefore, its expiration date shall depend of the chosen period, and, therefore, no yearly renewal shall be requested until the ending of such period. Every domain can be canceled or deactivated before the expiration date. Those domains that are renewed 30 days prior the expiration date, will be subjected to the same payment, suspension and renewal conditions specified on section 6.2 of these Policies. .

6.2 PAYMENT DUE DATES FOR RENEWAL, SUSPENSION AND CANCELLATION CONDITIONS

6.2.1 For those domains that have not been cancelled or renewed 30 days prior the expiration date of each domain, NIC.EC will issue and deliver an invoice for an additional period of one year to be started on the coming expiration date and will also send an email to the Administrative Contact and the Billing Contact reminding them the expiration and informing them about the issuance and delivery of the invoice. The email shall be send to the registered mentioned Contacts, as the information is deemed to be updated. If the information is not updated and there is any delay or the notification or invoice is not received, the responsible for it will be the Administrative Contact, and also the Registrant. Payment shall be done the following 30 days, which means, until the expiration date of the domain.

6.2.2 If 15 days before the expiration date, NIC.EC has not received the payment, a new email will be send to the Administrative Contact and the Billing Contact, reminding them the expiration and that payment has not been received.

6.2.3 If on the expiration date, payment has not been received, a new email to the same persons shall be send, notifying them that payment has not been received, that their domain has expired and notifying them their domain will be suspended for 15 days after the expiration date, which means 45 days after the invoice issuance date.

Copy of this message is also sent to the Registrant , as well as subsequent notices .

6.2.4 If after the 15 days referred before, payment has not been received, the domain will be suspended and an email will be send notifying the suspension and the notice that if in 15 more days payment is not received, domain will be cancelled.

6.2.5 Thirty days after the expiration date of a domain, which means 60 days after the invoice issuance date, the domain shall be eliminated, which means cancellation, deactivation, definitive withdrawal from the data base and zone files, and it will be available for a new registry.

6.2.6 During the suspension, NIC.EC will keep the domain registry but will withdraw it from the zone files, which means, it can not be accessed through the Internet. During the elimination, the Registrant will stop having the use of such domain and that it may be registered by another Registrant. NIC.EC will keep the right to extend such periods whenever it deems it is appropriate, for example, when payment can be proven but because of banking or operative reasons, it has not been processed, or credited or applied.

6.2.7 For renewals of domains registered under gov.ec and mil.ec an email will be sent to the correspondent contact reminding of future expiration and in case that additional documentation is required it will be specifically requested. The renewal will be subject that a confirmation is sent by the Registrant or the Administrative Contact requesting the renewal and that they comply with the subsistence of documents , if they were required. In case that requisites are not complied , another reminder email will be sent and if still there is no compliance the domains will be suspended for further deletion.