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Terms and Conditions of the Nominet Registry
WARNING: by registering a domain name within the .uk Top Level
Domain (a "Domain Name"), you enter into a contract of registration with
Nominet UK ("We", "Our" or "Us") on the following terms and conditions.
This is a separate contract to any arrangement you may have with any third
party for the provision of internet services.
Nominet is the Registry for all internet Domain Names ending in .uk
and provides a public service for the .uk namespace on behalf of the
Internet community. You can find out more information about Nominet from our
web site at
http://www.nominet.org.uk/.
Nominet is a not - for - profit company limited by guarantee which is
performing services on a cost recovery basis. This is why we consider it
reasonable to limit our liability in certain respects so that we may
continue to offer our services in the interests of the whole internet
community.
This Contract includes our current Rules For The .uk Domain And
Sub-Domains ("Rules") and the Policy and Procedure for our Domain Name
Dispute Resolution Service ("Policy" and "Procedure" as appropriate).
Copies of the Policy, Procedure and Rules are at
http://www.nominet.org.uk/ref/drs-policy.html
or can be obtained from us.
You may have registered a Domain Name through a third party (usually, but
not always, your internet service provider). In these terms and conditions,
the term "Agent" means such a third party.
| 1. |
What we will do |
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| 1.1. |
We will process your application to register a Domain Name and consider
whether or not to accept it in accordance with the criteria laid down
in the Rules;
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| 1.2. |
If your application is accepted, we will inform you or your Agent. If
your application is rejected, we will inform you or your Agent as soon
as reasonably practicable and return to you or your Agent (as
appropriate) any payments received;
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| 1.3. |
Unless the current Rules of the relevant sub-domain state to the
contrary, we will register Domain Names on a first come, first served
basis. Until we accept your application, there is no guarantee that
the Domain Name you applied for will be entered in the Register as
such. We therefore recommend that you do not take any action in respect
of a Domain Name until you have received confirmation from us that your
application has been accepted.
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| 1.4. |
After your application has been accepted, we will enter the Domain Name
and other relevant details (namely the data described in clause 6
below, together with details of your Agent, if any) in the Domain Name
register database for the requested second level of the .uk top
level domain (the "Register").
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| 1.5. |
We will use the information in the Register entry for the Domain Name to
enable the resolution of requests for the Domain Name, by pointing to
the authoritative name servers listed in the Register Entry for the
Domain Name. For further information about the technical requirements
for registering a Domain Name, please contact your Agent.
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| 1.6. |
After your application has been accepted and we have received your
registration fee, we will issue you with a registration certificate and
a reply form.
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| 1.7. |
Subject to clause 8 below, we will transfer your Domain Name and update
the Register accordingly on receipt of correctly completed transfer
documentation from you and any relevant transfer fee applicable at the
time of transfer. We will not transfer a Domain Name whilst it is the
subject of legal proceedings or proceedings under our Dispute Resolution
Service.
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| 1.8. |
Please note that subject to clauses 8.5 and 8.6 we will not refund any
fees after your Domain Name and details have been entered in the
Register.
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| 1.9. |
Subject to clauses 8.7 and 8.8 below, we will only make changes to the
details contained on the Register (other than the registrant field), if
we receive instructions and approval from you or your Agent.
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| 1.10. |
Subject to clauses 8.7 and 8.8, we shall only alter the details
contained in the "registrant" field of the Register if we receive
authorisation directly from you.
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| 2. |
What you must do |
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| 2.1. |
You must ensure that we receive the registration or renewal fee within
one month after the issue of our invoice. For the avoidance of doubt,
if you use an Agent it will be your responsibility to ensure that the
Agent has paid the registration or renewal fee to us within one month
of the issue of our invoice.
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| 2.2. |
You must sign and return to us the reply form which we will send to you
after registration or renewal as appropriate.
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| 2.3. |
You must inform us promptly of any change in your registered details,
and those of your Agent if applicable. It will be your responsibility
to maintain and update any details you submit to us and to ensure that
your details are up to date, and accurate. In particular, it is your
responsibility directly or by your Agent to ensure that we have your
full and correct postal address.
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| 2.4. |
You must promptly inform us of any court proceedings brought in respect
of the Domain Name.
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| 2.5. |
Any name server listed in the Register entry for the Domain Name must
respond authoritatively to requests for the Domain Name at all
reasonable times.
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| 3. |
Renewal of your Domain Name Registration |
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| 3.1. |
The registration period is two years from the date of entry into the
Register of your Domain Name registration. Provided you pay us your
renewal fee and subject to clause 8 below, you will have the right to
renew the Domain Name registration by entering into a new Contract with
us for further periods of two years.
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| 3.2. |
Subject to clause 3.3 below, when the Domain Name registration falls
due for renewal, we will contact your Agent (at the Agent's address
appearing in the Register) to request payment of the relevant renewal
fee.
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| 3.3. |
If no Agent is listed on the Register entry for the Domain Name, or if
the Register entry for the Domain Name indicates that you wish to be
invoiced direct, we will request payment of the relevant renewal fee
direct from you at the registrant address appearing in the Register.
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| 3.4. |
If we fail to receive the renewal fee within thirty (30) days of our
making a request for the renewal fee, we will suspend your registration
for at least 6 weeks and if we do not receive payment within the
suspension period we will cancel your registration without further
notice to you. During any period of suspension, we will not point to
any name servers listed in the Register entry for the Domain Name, and
you will be unable to use or transfer the Domain Name.
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| 4. |
Exclusions and Limitations of Liability |
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| 4.1. |
Nominet does not carry out any investigation as to whether you are
entitled to register or have any rights in the Domain Name. By
registering the Domain Name we are not acknowledging that you have any
rights in the name comprised in the Domain Name, and we are not
authorising you to use the Domain Name in the course of trade.
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| 4.2. |
Nothing in these terms and conditions limits or excludes our liability
for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or for
fraudulent misrepresentation.
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| 4.3. |
We shall not be liable to you whether in contract, tort (including
negligence) or otherwise for:
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| 4.3.1. |
any loss of profit, revenue or other type of economic loss
(whether direct or indirect);
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| 4.3.2. |
loss of business or contracts;
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| 4.3.3. |
loss of anticipated savings or goodwill; or
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| 4.3.4. |
any losses which a court holds to be consequential, or indirect
losses; arising out of or in connection with the Contract, including
but not limited to:
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| 4.3.5. |
any error or omission in entries to the Register; and
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| 4.3.6. |
loss of registration and/or use (for whatever reason and whether
temporary or otherwise) of the Domain Name.
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| 4.4. |
All conditions and warranties which may be implied by law into any
Contract with you are excluded to the fullest extent permissible by law.
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| 4.5. |
Our aggregate liability to you whether under these terms and conditions
or otherwise (including liability for negligence) shall not exceed
£5,000.
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| 4.6. |
If you are a consumer (ie you are not registering or intending to use
the Domain Name in the course of a business, trade or profession) (a
"Consumer"), the provisions of clauses 4.3 4.4 and 4.5 above will not
apply to you.
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| 4.7. |
Nothing in these terms and conditions will reduce your statutory rights
relating to faulty or misdescribed goods. For further information
about your statutory rights contact your local authority Trading
Standards Department or Citizens Advice Bureau.
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| 5. |
Warranties
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By entering into this agreement you consent to and warrant the following:
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| 5.1 |
That you (or your Agent) have obtained the consent of any individual
whose personal data is to be held on the Register in accordance with
clause 6;
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| 5.2 |
That the details and information submitted by you to us are true and
correct, and that any future additions or alterations to your details
and information will be true and correct, and that you will submit them
in a timely manner. Unless you are a Consumer, you shall pay us
(including the current or past members of Nominet UK's Council of
Management) any and all reasonable costs, claims and expenses (whether
direct or indirect) arising out of any claim resulting from your breach
of this warranty; and
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| 5.3 |
That by registering or using the Domain Name (in whatever manner) you
will not knowingly infringe the intellectual property rights of a third
party, that you are entitled to register the Domain Name, and that you
have not registered the Domain Name in breach of trust. Our right to
rely upon this warranty will continue to be available after completion
of the registration process and will not be affected by any surrender,
cancellation or transfer of the Domain Name. Unless you are a Consumer,
you shall pay us (including the current or past members of Nominet UK's
Council of Management) any and all reasonable costs, claims and
expenses (whether direct or indirect) arising out of any claim that
your registration or use of the Domain Name directly or indirectly
infringes the intellectual property rights of a third party.
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| 6. |
Personal Data |
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| 6.1 |
The Register is a public register for the purposes of data protection
legislation. The Register will include your name and postal address,
telephone and fax number and email address together with any other
relevant details. This information (if it refers to individuals) is
'personal data' for the purposes of data protection legislation.
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Personal data submitted by you will be:
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| a. |
Posted onto the Register;
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| b. |
Posted onto the WHOIS database by us. The WHOIS database is provided
on our web site at
http://www.nominet.org.uk/.
Other Agents which provide an online Domain Name registration
service may point to our WHOIS database. We will publish your name
and address but will not publish your telephone or fax number or
email address as part of the WHOIS database; and
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| c. |
Used as part of the Public Register Subscription Service ("PRSS"),
under which we provide a compressed form of the Register to
subscribers. We provide the PRSS only to trusted third parties,
based within the European Economic Area, under strict contractual
terms which prohibit the use of PRSS data for the purposes of direct
marketing. The PRSS enables subscribers to perform WHOIS queries
and reverse look-ups. We will publish your name and address but not
your telephone or fax number or email address as part of the PRSS;
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| d. |
We may provide your personal data to governmental or law enforcement
agencies at their written request in connection with the conducting
of any investigation of criminal activities; and
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| e. |
We will provide your personal data to third parties only if required
to do so by a court order.
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You may write to us to request a copy of the personal data held by us
about you. We may charge a reasonable fee for the provision of such
data. As required by the Data Protection Act 1998, we will adopt
appropriate security procedures in relation to the storage and
disclosure of information provided by you in order to prevent
unauthorised access. Our security procedures mean that we may
occasionally request proof of your identity before we are able to
disclose personal information to you. Other than the uses identified
above, we will not disclose your personal information to others.
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You should be aware that personal data posted on the WHOIS database
may be accessible to countries outside the European Economic Area. By
registering a Domain Name you consent to your personal data being
transferred out of the European Economic Area and to our use of your
personal data for the purposes specified above.
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| 7. |
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service |
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| 7.1. |
You will be bound by the Policy and Procedure of our Dispute Resolution
Service which are incorporated into these terms and conditions and made
a part of the Contract by reference. The current version of the Policy
and Procedure can be found at our web site:
http://www.nominet.org.uk/drs.html
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| 7.2. |
If a dispute arises, you agree to be bound by the Policy and Procedure
which are current at the time that proceedings under the Dispute
Resolution Service are commenced until the dispute is over.
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| 7.3. |
Neither we nor our directors, officers, employees or servants nor any
expert shall be liable to a party for anything done or omitted in
connection with any proceedings under the Dispute Resolution Service
unless the act or omission is shown to have been in bad faith.
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| 8. |
Termination/Cancellation, Suspension and Amendment of the Register
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| 8.1. |
You or your Agent may surrender registration of the Domain Name by
notice in writing to us at any time prior to our receiving payment.
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| 8.2. |
After we have received payment for a Domain Name, only you (and not
your Agent) may surrender the Domain Name.
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| 8.3. |
After payment has been received but prior to the issue of a
registration certificate you may surrender the registration by writing
to us on headed notepaper which corresponds to the registrant address
field of the Register entry for the Domain Name.
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| 8.4. |
If a registration certificate has been issued, you may surrender the
Domain Name by correctly completing the surrender of registration
form (on the reverse of the registration certificate).
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| 8.5. |
If you are a Consumer, then you may cancel the Contract by giving
notice to us by any of the means set out in clause 10.4 below at any
time up to and including 7 working days following the day on which the
Contract is concluded, i.e. the date on which we give notice to you or
your Agent that we have accepted your application to register a Domain
Name. If you register or use the Domain Name in the course of a
business, trade or profession, you will not have this right to cancel
the Contract.
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| 8.6. |
If you cancel the Contract in accordance with clause 8.5 then we will
provide you or your Agent (as appropriate) with a full refund of our
registration fee within 30 days from the day on which we receive notice
of your cancellation. If we refund your Agent, you may have to seek
direct from your Agent any further component of the fees which you have
paid.
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| 8.7. |
We may cancel or suspend the registration of a Domain Name by providing
you with notice in writing in the event of the following:
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| 8.7.1. |
if we do not receive your registration or renewal fees in accordance
with clause 2.1 above;
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| 8.7.2. |
if you are in breach of the terms of this Contract (including the
Rules) and in the case of a breach which is capable of remedy you
fail to remedy this within 30 days of receiving written notice from
us to do so;
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| 8.7.3. |
if we receive independent verification that you have provided
grossly inaccurate, unreliable or false registrant contact details,
or failed to keep such contact details up to date;
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| 8.7.4. |
if you are in breach of the warranties contained in clauses 5.1 and
5.3 of the Contract; or
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| 8.7.5. |
if the Domain Name is being administered in a way likely to endanger
the operation of the Domain Name System.
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| 8.8. |
We may transfer, suspend, cancel or amend the Domain Name registration
in the following circumstances:
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| 8.8.1. |
upon receiving written instructions from you to take such action
together with any relevant fee;
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| 8.8.2. |
upon receiving a copy of a perfected order of a court of competent
jurisdiction requiring such action, or where the retention of a
Domain Name by you would be inconsistent with the terms of a
perfected court order received by us or any other legal
requirements;
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| 8.8.3. |
if such changes are necessary in order to correct an error relating
to the Domain Name registration; or
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| 8.8.4. |
following a Decision requiring such action or an agreement reached
between the parties and approved by us relating to proceedings under
the Dispute Resolution Service.
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| 8.9. |
If a name server listed for the Domain Name registration does not
respond authoritatively to requests for the Domain Name, we may
remove the name server from the Register entry for the Domain Name.
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| 9. |
Change of Agent |
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| 9.1. |
If you wish to change your Agent, you should first approach your
current Agent to arrange this. If your approach is unsuccessful, we
may at your request record a change of Agent directly onto the Register
entry for your Domain Name registration. On receipt of your request,
we will approach your Agent (unless exceptional circumstances apply).
We will only comply with your request if:
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| 9.2. |
we are satisfied that you have first approached your Agent, and that
the approach has been unsuccessful; and
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| 9.3. |
we are not informed by your Agent that there is an express term in your
contract with your Agent which can prevent us from recording such a
change.
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| 10. |
General |
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| 10.1. |
If any clause of these terms and conditions is held to be unenforceable
in whole or in part the other terms and the rest of the provisions
shall continue to be valid and enforceable.
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| 10.2. |
We may transfer our rights and obligations under the Contract to any
third party. You may transfer the Contract, only on the transfer of
the Domain Name, in accordance with clauses 1.7 and subject to clause
8 above.
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| 10.3. |
The internet is an emerging and evolving medium and the regulatory and
administrative framework under which we operate is constantly
developing. For these reasons we reserve the right to make reasonable
modifications to the terms and conditions of this Contract (including
the Policy, Procedure and Rules) at any time during the term. We will
only do so when we have good reason. No change will have the effect of
requiring an increase in fees from you in advance of the next renewal
of the Domain Name. Except where we are acting in pursuance of a
statutory requirement or a court order, changes will be implemented
across the board in all of our Domain Name contracts following a
process of open public consultation. Each such change will be published
in advance (where practicable, 30 days in advance) on our web site:
http://www.nominet.org.uk/ and will become binding and
effective upon the date specified therein. You should review our web
site regularly in order to be aware of all such changes. If you do not
agree with any change or proposed change to these terms and conditions
you are entitled to terminate the Contract by providing us with thirty
(30) days notice in writing, in which case you will receive a pro-rata
refund of your registration fee in respect of any unexpired portion of
the term.
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| 10.4. |
If you wish to contact us our postal address is Nominet UK, Sandford
Gate, Sandy Lane West, Oxford, OX4 6LB, England and our telephone
number is +44(0) 1865 332211. Our offices are open from 9.00a.m. to
5.30pm (UK local time) Monday to Friday, except for public holidays.
Except as set out in the Policy and Procedure any notice to be given
under the Contract shall only be deemed to be served if delivered by
hand or sent by pre-paid post, by fax or e-mail, to the party to whom
it is given at its last known postal or e-mail address or fax number.
Except as otherwise set out in the Policy and Procedure the notice will
be effective: if delivered, on delivery; if sent by fax or email, on
the date of sending; and if by post, on the date of posting. For the
avoidance of doubt, any notice sent to you will be deemed served if
sent to the address appearing in your Registrant's address field.
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| 10.5. |
This contract is a binding document. Consumers should read it carefully
and ensure that it contains everything you want and nothing you are not
prepared to agree to. These terms and conditions, together with the
Rules Policy and Procedure, constitute the entire agreement between you
and us for the registration of the Domain Name, and supersedes all
prior agreements, understandings and representations whether oral or
written.
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| 10.6. |
These terms and conditions shall be governed by the relevant United
Kingdom law, and by agreeing to be bound by them you agree to submit
to the exclusive jurisdiction of the relevant courts of the United
Kingdom.
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