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AGN-DNS EARTH/USA Registry Terms and Conditions FIRST DRAFT



Ok, here is the first draft of the terms and conditions for 
our registry. I am interested in intelligent feedback and am
more than willing to make changes if they are needed. We at
AGN-DNS would like to be a service to the world internet 
community and realize that to do so, we need the input of that
community. 

I would particularily like to hear from members of the IAHC. 
They were chosen to be on the committee because of their 
expertise on internet issues. 

Here it is.
John Palmer

BEGIN draft1.txt
                                                              1



        American Global Network Domain Name Services, Inc

            Top Level Internet Domains USA and EARTH

                      Terms and Conditions

                     (Rev 0.1 - 11/21/1996)
                                

[1]. INTRODUCTION

American Global  Network Domain  Name Services  Inc (AGN-DNS)  is
responsible for  registration of  domains under the USA and EARTH
international Top-Level  domains (iTLD's). AGN-DNS can be reached
in the following way

          American Global Network - Domain Name Services, Inc.
          31511 Harper Ave.
          St. Clair Shores, MI
          USA
          48082
          
          Tel. +1 810 790 9522 (In USA toll free: 800-456-0094)
          Fax. +1 810 790 0156
          E-Mail: dns@AGN.NET
          Web Page: http://www.agn.net


AGN-DNS's parent  company has been providing internet services to
the world  community since November of 1991. Some of the services
offered are internet PPP and ISDN accounts. AGN-DNS also provides
name service for many city-zones under the US top level domain as
well as name service for domains under other iTLD's.

[2]. THE USA AND EARTH TREES

Appendix A  and B  show the  hierarchy of  the USA and EARTH zone
tree. These  iTLD's were  designed to  provide both  freeform and
geograpical domains.  In the USA iTLD, domains can exist within a
state  or   state/city  hierarchy   (ie:   DOMAIN.Nevada.USA   or
DOMAIN.Cleveland.Ohio.USA)  or  freeform  (such  as  DOMAIN.USA).
States can  be specified with either the two letter codes used by
the US  Postal Service  (ie: NV,  MI) or  the entire  name of the
state,  with  the  blanks  removed  (WestVirginia,  Florida).  In
addition to  this, four  specialized domains  (GOV, COM,  ORG and
EDU) are  present for  those who  wish a  domain which identifies
their organization type.

In the  EARTH iTLD,  a similar hierarchy exists. Freeform domains
of the form DOMAIN.EARTH are allowed (ie: MYDOMAIN.EARTH) as well


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as  domains   under  a   particular  nation   name   (ie:   JEAN-
LUC.FRANCE.EARTH).  Within  the  nation  domains  are  also  city
domains   within   which   domains   can   be   registered   (ie:
PIERRE.PARIS.FRANCE.EARTH). Nation names are the names printed in
common world  atlases such  as the Rand-McNally atlas. In addtion
to this,  nicknames for  nations as  well as the English-alphabet
alliteration of  native names  for a  nation are  also  included.
Examples of  nicknames would  be ENGLAND  and GREAT BRITAIN  as a
nickname  for  the  UNITEDKINDOM,  HOLLAND  for  NETHERLANDS  and
AMERICA for  UNITEDSTATES. An  example of  a native  name  for  a
nation would  be ITALIA  for ITALY  and  DEUTSCHLAND for GERMANY.
Words like "The" and "Republic" are eliminated and all blanks are
removed.

Within each nation, there are sub-domains for each city. The city
name is  the name  taken from  an atlas such as Rand-McNally. All
blanks are  removed. Finally,  each nation  will have the domains
GOV, COM, ORG and EDU in the same fashion as the USA iTLD has.

[3]. CONTROL OF INTERMEDIATE ZONES WITHIN THE USA/EARTH TREES

AGN-DNS retains  ownership and  control of all intermediate zones
between the  iTLD and  the customer's zone (domain). Intermediate
zones are  indicated in  the  charts  in  Appendix  A  and  B  as
rectangles. AGN-DNS  may subcontract name service for these zones
to  third  parties.  End  users  may  not  obtain  any  of  these
intermediate zones and they remain the property of AGN-DNS. These
zones are  as follows:  In the  USA iTLD:  All  two-letter  state
names, all  full state  names, All city domains under both the 2-
letter and  full state name domains, the GOV domain under each of
the two-letter  and full  state name  zones, the  zones "GOV.USA,
COM.USA, ORG.USA  and EDU.USA".  In the  EARTH iTLD:  Each of the
nation zones (including nick names and english-alliterated native
nation names),  all of  the city name zones under each nation and
the "GOV", "COM", "ORG" and "EDU" zones under each nation zone.

[4]. REQUIREMENTS TO REGISTER IN A CERTAIN CATEGORY

AGN-DNS does  not impose  any restrictions as to who can register
in either  of the  EARTH or  USA iTLD's  or any   any  particular
subzone  therein,   with  the  following  exception:  We  require
documentation for  registration under any GOV subzone. These are:
GOV.USA (for  the United States federal government), any GOV zone
under a  state (2-letter or full name) and any GOV zone under any
nation zone  in the EARTH iTLD. In order to register under one of
these zones,  an applicant  will have  to fill out a special form
(available on  our web  site) and  submit it  by ground  mail (as
opposed to  e-mail) along  with a  letter  of  authorization,  ON
GOVERNMENT LETTERHEAD from the government in that nation (or sub-
jurisdiction therein).  In the  case of  GOV.USA, the letter must
come from a branch of the US government.


                                                              3



AGN-DNS will not impose any requirements that applicants actually
be  located   in  the  geographical  region  in  which  they  are
registering a  domain. We would like to extend as much freedom as
possible, however, we STRONGLY advise people not to register in a
geographic subdomain  unless they  are actually  in that area. We
realize that  there are situations when this is not possible (ie:
multiple offices,  temporary locations,  etc)  and  so  will  not
impose any such restrictions.

[5]. METHODS OF APPLICATION

AGN-DNS will  accept applications  for domain names under USA and
EARTH by  E-MAIL, FAX  or postal  mail. Applications  MUST be  on
approved templates  (available on  the web  site).  In  addition,
applicants can  sumbit requests  via the  World Wide Web. The web
method is the preferred method as much error checking can be done
and application  processing time  is reduced. AGN-DNS will try to
process applications  within 2  calendar days,  but is  making no
promises as to length of time needed to process applications.





[6]. FIRST COME/FIRST SERVE

Applications are  accepted on  a first  come - first serve basis.
All web-based  applications are  assigned a  ticket number  which
contains the  date and  the sequence  in which they were received
that day.  All other  applications are considered received in the
following order:  Email, fax  and postal  mail. The date and time
stamp on  the fax  and e-mail  applications determine  the  order
within these  categories. Postal  mail applications  are  stamped
with a  date and  sequence number  based on the date and order in
which they  were opened  that day. To summarize, applications are
ordered based  on date  and within  that date in this order: web-
based applications,  e-mail, fax  and finally  postal mail.  This
ordering is  used when more than one application for a particular
domain is  received. Any  e-mail, fax  or postal mail application
not sumbitted  on  the  proper  template  will  automatically  be
rejected and  discarded. Any applications which contain omissions
or errors will be rejected and returned to the sender.

[7]. NAME SERVERS

Applicants must  provide 2  (two) name  servers for  each  domain
requested. Before  AGN-DNS will  create the  domains, these  name
servers MUST  be configured  and  must  contain  valid  Start  of
Authority  (SOA)  records  for  the  domain.  If  AGN-DNS,  while
processing an  application, is  not able  to obtain  a SOA record


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from each  of the two specified name servers, either because they
do not  exist or  are inacessible to AGN-DNS or any other part of
the internet,  AGN-DNS will  notify the  applicant and  place the
domain application on hold, during which time the domain is still
reserved for  the applicant.  If after 30 days, the applicant has
not responded and has not corrected the SOA problem, AGN-DNS will
delete the  application and  release it for assignment to others.
Applicants whose  applications are  rejected for  this reason may
NOT re-apply  for the  same domain  again unless the name servers
are properly  configured AT  THE TIME  OF APPLICATION.  Any  such
application not  meeting this  requirement will be rejected. AGN-
DNS can  provide name  service for  any USA/EARTH  domain  at  an
additional charge.  The web  page and  the application  templates
provide this  option. Upon  creation of  a domain,  the applicant
will be  notified by  e-mail. All new domains will become visible
in the  WHOIS datatbase  immediatly upon  creation and in the DNS
zone files  each night. AGN-DNS reloads its name servers at least
once a day, but our secondary servers may not update as often.

[8]. CHANGES TO DOMAIN INFORMATION

AGN-DNS will  provide a  mechanism for  domain holders  to modify
their domain  name  information  (contact  name,  address,  phone
number, email address, name server specifications) and for domain
holders to  request deletion  of a  domain name.  Information  on
modification methods  will be published on the web page. AGN-DNS,
upon receiving a modification request, will notify by e-mail, the
current contact  person for  said domain and request verification
that the  modification is  authorized. If no response is received
within SEVEN  days, or  a  negative  response  is  received,  the
request will  be rejected  and returned  to the  sender.  Written
requests will  be honored  without verification  if they  are  on
company letterhead.  AGN-DNS  may,  in  this  case,  contact  the
authorized party  by phone  or fax to further verify the request.
Eventually,  a  secure  automated  modification  scheme  will  be
implemented to streamline updates.






[9]. BILLING

AGN-DNS charges  both a one-time setup fee and an annual registry
fee for  registering and  maintaining domains  under the  USA and
EARTH iTLD  (or any  sub-zone controlled  and owned  by AGN - see
paragraph 3).  Upon creation  of a  domain, AGN-DNS  will send an
invoice by  e-mail to  the contact  person as  specified  in  the
application. This  invoice is  due 30  days from  the date on the
invoice (the  date the domain is created).  If the invoice is not


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paid by the due date, the domain will be deleted and released for
assignment to  others. When  this  is  done,  applicant  will  be
notified of  this fact  by e-mail.  There  are  no  other  "grace
periods". If  customer, on  the application has requested AGN-DNS
provide name service for the domain in question, the invoice will
also contain  charges for name service fees. For current registry
and DNS  fee schedules,  see the  web page.  AGN-DNS reserves the
right to  reject applications  from any  party without prepayment
for those  parties who  have previously failed to pay registry or
DNS fees.

[10]. ANNUAL BILLING

Holders of domains under the USA and EARTH iTLD's will receive an
invoice at  least 30  days before the anniversary of the creation
of their  domain. (The  anniversary date, or domain creation date
will be  included in  the e-mail sent to the applicant to confirm
creation of  the domain  and  is  also  available  in  the  WHOIS
database). The  invoice is  due ON THE ANNIVERSARY date. Customer
will be  billed for  both the  annual registration fee as well as
the DNS  fee (if  AGN-DNS is  providing name service). The annual
fee for  both items  will be based on the fee structure currently
in place  ON THE  DATE OF  THE INVOICE.  If the fee(s) is/are not
paid by  the due date, the domain will be deleted without further
notice. Again - there are no "grace periods". Domain name holders
should watch their anniversary dates carefully.

[11]. TRADEMARK DISPUTES

AGN-DNS will not involve itself in determining if applicant is or
is not infringing on another party's intellectual property rights
by applying  for a  certain domain.  Selection of domain names is
strictly up  to the applicant. Applicant agrees to reimburse AGN-
DNS, its  officers, subcontractors  and employees  for any  legal
expenses or  judgements against  same arising out of action taken
against any  of the  aforementioned parties due to a trademark or
intellectual property  dispute regarding  a domain name for which
applicant has  applied. AGN-DNS  will not take any side in such a
dispute and  will abide  by any  court order issued by a court of
competent jurisdiction  in the United States, without being named
as a  party in  a suit.  AGN-DNS will  take NO ACTION against the
holder of  a USA  or EARTH domain (such as deletion or suspension
of a domain name) without the domain holder's permission unless a
court order  is received.  The only  time that AGN-DNS will enter
into a  determination of trademark infringement is if, during the
review of  an application, it sees an obvious and blatant attempt
to use  a readily  recognized trademark  by a party obviously not
entitled to  use that  trademark.  (Such  as  someone  trying  to
register a domain such as coke.usa). In the case where an obvious
violtion is  suspected, AGN-DNS  may require  that the  applicant
submit proof that this usage is allowed (such as a letter from


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the trademark holder on company letterhead).







[12].  CHANGES/AMENDMENTS

This agreement  can be  amended at any time by AGN-DNS by posting
the amendments  to the  web page  30 days  before amendments take
effect. Pricing  changes are effective immediatly and take effect
for all  applications received on or after the date that they are
posted to  the web  page.  For  registration  and  DNS  renewals,
pricing is  based on  the rate schedule in effect on that date of
the renewal invoice.

[13]. NON-WAIVER

The failure  of either  party to require performance by the other
party of  any provision  in these  Terms and Conditions shall not
affect the  full right  to require  such performance  at any time
thereafter; nor  shall the  waiver by either party of a breach of
any provision  hereof be  taken or  held to  be a  waiver of  the
provision itself.

[14]. INVALIDITY

In the  event that  any provision  of these  Terms and Conditions
shall be  unenforceable or invalid under any applicable law or be
so held  by applicable  court decision,  such unenforceability or
invalidity  shall   not  render   these  Terms   and   Conditions
unenforceable as a whole.

[15]. ENTIRETY

These Terms  and Conditions,  as amended  constitute the full and
complete  agreement   of  the   parties  regarding  domain  names
registered under  the  USA  and  EARTH  iTLDs.  These  Terms  and
Conditions supersede  all prior  proposals, agreements  or  other
communications between  the parties.  Applicant  agrees  that  by
applying for  a domain  name under  the EARTH  or USA  iTLD, that
applicant is  agreeing to be bound by this policy as amended from
time to time.

END draft1.txt