Rules for Domain Names Registration under .tz  ccTLD

Effective from 1st January 2009.

1.1.       This document presents the rules for registration and delegation of the second-level Domain Names under .tz ccTLD.

1.2.       The terms used in this document have the following meaning:

1.2.1.   “Central Register” - a database of Domain Names, their holders and other persons administered by tzNIC. The Central Register is the source for Domain Name delegation into the tz zone administered by the primary nameserver.

1.2.2.   “tzNIC” - an authorized organization for .tz domain space management with a certificate of incorporation No. 58303 of 2006.

1.2.3.   “Delegated  Domain  Name”  -  a  registered  Domain  Name  for  which  tzNIC maintains a record on the primary nameserver (“tz zones”).

1.2.4.   “Day of Registration” - the day when the registration of the Domain Name in the Central Register occurs.

1.2.5.   “Day of Expiration” - the day following the day on which the expiration of the registered Domain Name occurs.

1.2.6.   “.tz ccTLD” - country code Top Level Domain (top-level domain, also called the national domain) of the United Republic of Tanzania.

1.2.7    “SLD” – Second Level Domain which may be .go.tz; .ac.tz; .mil.tz; .ne.tz; .or.tz; .co.tz; .sc.tz and any other that may be created under tzNIC rules and regulations.

1.2.8.   “Domain Name” - third-level domain consisting of a combination of permissible characters.

1.2.9.   “Holder” - natural person or legal entity who registered the Domain Name; if the name of the company or organization is not included in the record, the person who submitted the request for the Domain Name is considered the Holder; if the name of the company or organization is included, it is considered to be the Holder.

1.2.10. “Contact” - the record of a specific person (natural or legal) maintained in the Central Registry. A Contact may be administrative, technical or in the Holder’s role.

1.2.11. “Rules for Dispute Resolution” - a document published by tzNIC, containing the Holder’s public proposal of dispute resolution, which forms an integral part of the Rules for domain name registration.

1.2.12.  “Rules for Registration” - the document “Rules of Domain Names Registration under .tz ccTLD” published by tzNIC.

1.2.13. “Registrar” - a subject entitled to access in a defined way the Central Register and submits requests for the changes of records administered by the Central Register. All changes of the Central Register can be done only through a Registrar.

1.2.14. “Key Set” - a record file containing at least one DS (Delegation Signer) record according to RFC4034 intended for secure delegation of the domain name by means of the DNSSEC technology and at least one technical Contact.

1.2.15.  “Nameserver Set” - a record file containing at least 2 nameservers and at least one technical Contact.

1.2.16.  “Accredited Registrar” – A legal entity that has been accredited by tzNIC to register, delete, add, modify or change domain names under .tz domain space.

1.2.17.  “System Registrar” – an accredited registrar who can conduct domain name registrations with zero credit.

1.2.18.  “Appointed Registrar” - the Registrar for a specific Domain Name appointed by the Holder, for a specific Contact appointed by the Contact concerned, for a specific Nameserver Set appointed by the technical Contact of the nameservers, or for a specific Key Set appointed by the Contact of the Key Set concerned. A single Appointed Registrar is set for  every  registered  Domain  Name,  Contact, Nameserver Set and Key Set.

1.2.19.  “Applicant” - a natural person or legal entity submitting a request for registration of a Domain Name.

1.2.20   “Bad usage of a domain name” – Bad usage (bad faith) of a domain name may be demonstrated where:

(a) the domain name was registered primarily for the purpose of selling the domain name to a party holding a right validly recognized or established in Tanzania;

(b) the domain name has been registered in order to prevent the holder of a validly recognized or established name in Tanzania from reflecting this name in a corresponding domain name;

(c) the domain name was registered primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor;

(d) the domain name was intentionally used to attract Internet users, for commercial gain, to a web site by creating a likelihood of confusion with a name corresponding to a right validly recognized or established in Tanzania, such likelihood relating to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the web site; or

(e) the domain name registered is a personal name for which there is no demonstrable link between the holder and the domain name registered. 

2.         DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION

2.1.      Domain Names are registered through an accredited Registrar including tzNIC who is the system registrar.

2.2.      The Registrar is obliged to obtain the consent of every Applicant to the current version of the Rules of Registration as a condition of the   Domain Name registration. This consent is obtained only if the up-to- date version of the Rules of Registration was accepted by the Applicant, so that the consent of the Applicant to the contents of the Rules of Registration is apparent.  The following is considered to be a valid consent:  

2.2.1.    A Domain Name registration order has been placed,

2.2.2     The price has been paid for the Domain Name registration or, if relevant, for any other service that the Registrar may connect with registering the Domain Name,

2.2.3.    The Holder has begun to use a Domain Name, or

2.2.4.    The Holder has effected any other act toward the Registrar or tzNIC, provided that such an act pertains to changing records on the given Domain Name that are kept in the Central Registry.

2.3.       The individual giving consent to the current version of the Rules of Registration on behalf of the Applicant in connection with an application for Domain Name registration at the same time declares that he or she is authorized to act on the Applicant’s behalf in this matter.  

2.4.       Registrars are obliged to make available and document at any time by request of tzNIC the consent of the Holder to the current version of the Rules of Registration on the date of registration, according to article 2.2. tzNIC is entitled to make available and document such information to any relevant state authority for the purposes of legal, administrative, criminal or any other proceedings.

2.5.       tzNIC registers the Domain Names according to the order in which the individual registration requests submitted through the Registrars were delivered. tzNIC files the records of every received registration request.

2.6.       The Domain Name is registered always for an entire year beginning with the Day of Registration of the Domain Name, up to a max. of 5 years.

2.7.       Upon the registration of a Domain Name, the Domain Name is reserved for the Holder for the specified period of time.

2.8.      tzNIC will register the Domain Name if:

2.8.1.    the registration request form does not contain any imperfections preventing it from further processing;

2.8.2.    the existing Domain Name has been assigned with an existing Contact in the role of the Holder;

2.8.3.    all required information has been properly filled in;

2.8.4.    the Applicant agreed with the current version of the Rules of Registration and Rules for Dispute Resolution;

2.8.5.    the requested Domain Name is not, at the time of processing of the request, registered by the Central Register;

2.8.6.    the requested Domain Name conforms to the  regulations for the creation of Domain Names (see Article 10), and

2.8.7.    applicable  payments  of  appropriate  prices  are  settled  concurrently  with  the registration.  

3.1.      Domain Name registration may be renewed by means of the Appointed Registrar.

3.2.      Domain Name registration may even repeatedly be renewed for whole multiples of a year, yet for no more than 5 years. tzNIC will renew a registration if:

3.2.1.   tzNIC receives a request for registration renewal at the latest on the day on which the period for which the Domain Name was registered elapses (this is without prejudice to the possibility to renew a Domain Name registration during the protection period according to Article 6.2);  

3.2.2.   the Holder agreed with the current version of the Rules of Registration on the date of the registration renewal, whereas the provisions in Articles 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 are used similarly;

3.2.3.    applicable payments of appropriate prices are settled concurrently.

4.1.      tzNIC delegates a registered Domain Name, to which just one Nameserver Set is assigned.

4.2.      tzNIC is entitled to conduct periodic technical inspections of nameservers in the Nameserver Set and of DS (Delegation Signer) records in the Key Set assigned to the Domain Name.

4.3.      When a Domain Name registration is cancelled, the Domain Name delegation is terminated without further ado. When the assignment of a Nameserver Set to a Domain Name is canceled, the Domain Name delegation is canceled with further ado. Under the terms and conditions defined by these Rules of Registration, a Domain Name delegation may also be canceled if a Nameserver Set is still assigned to it.

5.1.       tzNIC will register a change of the Domain Name Holder (a Domain Name transfer) upon request submitted through the Appointed Registrar of the given Domain Name. The Appointed Registrar may submit a request for a change of the Domain Name Holder upon written request of the Holder and the future Holder.

5.2.       The Registrar is obliged to acquire the consent of the future Holder to the current version of the Rules of Registration and the Rules for Dispute Resolution on the date of the transfer of the Domain Name, while the provisions in Articles 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 are applied similarly.

5.3.       No entitlement to a refund of the paid price or any part thereof arises for the Holder from its Domain Name transfer.

5.4.       The transfer of the Domain Name does not affect the latter’s Day of Expiration.

6.1.      tzNIC will cancel the registration of a Domain Name upon request submitted by domain holder through the Appointed Registrar of the Domain Name. No entitlement to a refund of the paid price or any part thereof arises from canceling the registration of a Domain Name.

6.2.      If a Domain Name registration is not renewed before the Day of Expiration (Article 3), then on the Day of Expiration the Domain Name enters a “protection period” of 45 days.

6.2.1.   The Domain Name registration may be renewed in compliance with Article 3 hereof retroactively from the Day of Expiration.

6.2.2.    If the Domain Name is not renewed in the first 30 days of the protection period, tzNIC is entitled to terminate the Delegation of the Domain Name. In such a case, the Domain Name delegation cannot be renewed, not even by changing details in the assigned Nameserver Set or by assigning a different Nameserver Set to the Domain Name concerned.

6.2.3.    The registration of a Domain Name expires when the protection period has elapsed unless the Domain Name registration is renewed during the protection period.

6.3.      If the agreement between an Appointed Registrar and tzNIC is terminated, based on which the Appointed Registrar enjoyed the Registrar status, the registrations of Domain Names registered through the Appointed Registrar will not be terminated. The Holder may designate another Appointed Registrar at any time afterwards.

6.4       A registered domain name shall be subject to revocation, where that name is identical or confusingly similar to a name in respect of which a right is recognized or established by national laws; or where; (a) such name has been registered by its holder without rights or legitimate interest in the name; or (b) has been registered or is being used in bad faith.

7.1.       A single Contact can be used for more than one Domain Name (Contact in the role of a Holder or an administrative Contact), Nameserver Set (a technical Contact) or a Key Set (a technical Contact).

7.2.      Contacts are registered by means of a Registrar. By filing an application in this respect, the given person expresses its consent to these Rules of Registration by means of the Registrar.

8.1.       The wording of a Domain Name cannot be modified.

8.2.       The  Registrar,  who  requested  the  change,  is  responsible  towards  tzNIC  for  authentication, authorization and validity of such an instruction.

8.3.       tzNIC will change data in the Central Registry upon request by the persons that are stated for each of the Domain Names, Contacts, Nameserver Sets, and Key Sets, as the persons authorized to make such changes, provided that the request is submitted by means of the relevant Registrar.

8.4.       For a Contact that is a legal entity, apart from the person stated in the Contact record, acts may also be effected by a person or persons authorized to act on behalf of the legal entity. In such a case, an officially certified signature is required for the authentication. The officially certified signature shall also be accompanied by an original or certified copy of an excerpt from the relevant authority. The name of the legal entity in the official excerpt must be identical with the legal entity’s name stated in the Contact in the field meant to show the name of the company or organization; the confirming person(s) must be authorized to act on behalf of the legal entity in line with the official excerpt. If the authorized person is represented, then appended to the confirmation must also be a Power of Attorney with an officially authenticated signature.  

8.5.       If multiple persons are entered in the Central Registry that are competent to make the same change, then the change can be made upon request by any of these persons.

8.6.       Changing Domain Name information. A request for changing Domain Name data may only be made by means of the Appointed Registrar except for changing the Appointed Registrar itself; this type of change can only be made by means of a new Appointed Registrar.                                                                                                  

9.2.       The price of individual domain name registration provided by tzNIC to the Registrars can be found in the tzNIC price list which is available to Registrars.

9.3        Administrative or maintenance fee

9.3.1     The annual administrative or maintenance fee for local registrars will be Tshs 250,000.00

9.3.2     The annual administrative or maintenance fee for accredited registrars residing out of The United Republic of Tanzania will be Usd 1,000.00.                       

9.4        tzNIC may review the price and fees and make changes from time to time.

10.       RULES FOR CREATING A DOMAIN NAME

10.1.1.  Domain Name may contain only characters [a-z,0-9,-];

10.1.2.  The maximum Domain Name Length is not more than 63 characters;

10.1.3.  A Domain Name must not begin or end with “-“ character;

10.1.4.  A Domain Name must not contain two characters “-“ in sequence.

10.2.1   .co.tz  Only for registered company or business entity as defined under national laws.

10.2.2    .or.tz   Only for none profit making organizations.

10.2.3  .go.tz  Only for formal Tanzania Governmental entities as recognized through parliament or on production of a letter from   relevant Permanent Secretary of the relevant government Ministry where the registrant belongs.

10.2.4 .ac.tz Only for formal tertiary academic or technical institutions with relevant accreditation.

10.2.5 .ne.tz Only for addressing the network of people and hardware.

10.2.6 .mil.tz Exclusively for Tanzania Military entities recognized by the Ministry responsible for Defense;

10.2.7   .sc.tz Only for schools that are elementary, primary and secondary level institutions; and

10.2.8   Any other third level that may be established.

 11.       PERSONAL DATA AND CENTRAL REGISTER DATA PROTECTION

11.2.1.  grants by lodging such an application his/her consent with processing his/her personal data specified in the application for the purpose of maintaining and administering the Central Register, as well as with making such data public through the mediation of the Internet within the framework of information services rendered by tzNIC.

11.2.2   is liable for the correctness of all data specified in the registration application pertaining to persons mentioned in such an application, and declares that these are not cover names, that such a person has obtained consent from all persons whose personal data are to be recorded in the Central Register on the basis of the application, and undertakes to obtain such consent in the event of any changes of such persons or data pertaining to such persons.

11.2.3.  is obliged to report any changes of the data submitted to tzNIC through the mediation of the Registrar without any undue delay.

11.2.4.  is obliged to act in such way that in consequence of his/her doing no duplicate records of Contacts arise, and no identical Contacts differing only in the identifier are kept in the Central Register.

 12.       RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF tzNIC   

12.1.1.  to perform the Domain Name registration and maintain such a registration in compliance with defined conditions,

12.1.2.  to keep record of a registered Domain Name in the Central Register,

12.1.3.  to keep a record of the delegated Domain Name in the tz zone;

12.1.4.  to make every effort that may be reasonably required to ensure a fault-free and smooth operation of the Central Register and the primary nameserver; and

12.1.5   to review these Rules and other related documents for better carrying its functions.

12.2.1   tzNIC has the right to terminate, at its discretion, a Domain Name registration if:                                                                     

i.        the information kept in relation to the Domain Name in the Central Register is untrue, incomplete or misleading,                                                                    

ii.     no additional information is provided according to the article 11.4 within 15 days after sending the notice,                                                                   

iii.     facts, on the basis of which the Domain Name was registered, change, for example if the Holder ceases to exist without any legal successor or dies without any heirs,

iv.     consent to the Rules of Registration or Rules for settlement of disputes was not granted in compliance with these documents,                                                                    

v.      such right arises from other provisions of the Rules of Registration.

12.2.2.  tzNIC is entitled to accept technical measures aimed especially at limitation of the direct online operation endangering the stability of tzNIC systems, even if such measures lead or may lead to limitations of availability of the tzNIC services, functioning of the registered Domain Names, name servers etc. tzNIC does not bear any responsibility for the damages incurred, but it is obliged to make every effort that may be reasonably required to terminate such measures as soon as possible.

12.2.3.  The cancellation of a Domain Name carried out by tzNIC pursuant to the Rules of Registration does not constitute any title to the return of any fulfillment accepted by tzNIC from the Holder or any other person in relation to the Domain Name whose registration is to be cancelled.

 13.       LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES

 14.       MUTUAL COMMUNICATION

14.1.     Communication between tzNIC and the Holder of the Domain Name is carried out through the Appointed Registrar.

15.       RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES BETWEEN HOLDER AND tzNIC

16.       RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES BETWEEN HOLDER AND THIRD PARTIES

16.1.     The Holder is obliged to make every effort that may reasonably be required from him to achieve an amicable settlement of disputes concerning Domain Names and/or their registrations that might arise between the Holder and other persons.

 17.       DOCUMENTS CHANGES