Domains Albania

General conditions and requirements

The applicant is legally responsible based on the legislation in force, for the genuineness, accuracy and authenticity of all the information in compliance with the requirements foreseen in this Regulation. For this reason, the applicant signs a written declaration about his/her legal responsibilities regarding the above mentioned and also that he/she has acted according to all the rules especially that he does not Applicant shall not violate the other parties’ rights foreseen in the law for Competition, the law “For the Copyrights”, intellectual, cultural property, etc.

Furthermore, in case of open violation of law or unauthorized use of the services stated in the Regulation, the Responsible Authority will act in accordance with this Regulation, not accepting the application or closing the domain name in use.

The applicant acts with regard to his obligation for the security and protection of the Responsible Authority from complaints and damages by third parties, for breaching their rights foreseen in the law, which comes as a result of giving them the domain name, and he has legal responsibility (administrative, civil, penal) in case they are confirmed by the competent body, based on a final court decision.

No other rights can derive or be pretended as a result of allocation of a domain name by the Responsible Authority apart from those defined in this Regulation.

Domain Categories

Name zones under the supervision of the Responsible Authority are:

• Names under .AL
• Sub-domains

Names under “.al” and sub-domains “.com.al, .org.al and .net.al” are free to be registered by public and private juridical entities as well as physical persons founded and registered in compliance with the relevant legal provisions.

Entities without local presence in Albania can meet that requirement via the Local Proxy Service offered by Web Solutions. Please contact our Support Team at support@web-solutions.eu.

Sub-domains and their functional scope:

• “.org.al” for private juridical entities – associations.
• “.com.al” for private juridical persons – business associations.
• “.net.al” for private juridical persons and physical persons which operate in the network field.
• “gov.al” for public juridical persons – state owned institutions of the Republic of Albania.
• “.mil.al” for the structures in the system of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania.
• “.edu.al” for the institutions (public and private juridical entities) of the educational and scientific system of the Republic of Albania.

Possessor of a domain name in “.al” zone

Possessor of one or more domain names in “.al” zone, can be the public and private juridical persons as well as physical persons and natural persons who, according to the registration procedure, fulfil all the terms and conditions foreseen in this Regulation.
Possessor of one or more sub-domain names in “.al” zone: “.com.al, .org.al and .net.al”, can be the public and private juridical persons as well as physical persons who, according to the registration procedure, fulfil all the terms and conditions foreseen in this Regulation.
For the physical persons in accordance with the law in force for the business associations, the implementation of the right to possess one or more domain names in “.al” zone and the sub-domains “.com.al, .org.al and .net.al” consistent with the procedure and rules foreseen in the Regulation, will start immediately after this Regulation has entered into force.

Administrative Contact

On presenting the registration application, in order to be the possessor of a domain name, apart from the other conditions foreseen in the Regulation, the applicant must also define an “administrative contact”. The Possessor is obligated to renew the “administrative contact” throughout the whole period of utilization of the domain name, every time he undergoes changes.

The possessor of a domain name, has the right to choose as an ‘administrative contact” himself, a private juridical entity or a physical person/natural person, despite the fact whether they a direct relationship together.

“Administrative Contact” must be a person/entity resident in Albania and must have an address which necessarily enables correspondence via mail.

Being a resident in Albania, for a private juridical entity as well as physical person and natural person, means having a residence/house with an identifiable address within the territory of the Republic of Albania in accordance with the relevant legislation.

The Responsible Authority does not take responsibility and does not engage in resolving possible disputes that might arise between the “possessor” of a domain name and the “administrative contact”, or the consequences deriving from these disputes.

Contact possibility

The Responsible Authority must have the possibility to contact the “possessor” of a domain name or the “administrative contact” at any time depending on the case and need encountered.

The “possessor” of the domain name and the “administrative contact” must always have a valid telephone number and e-mail address.

Rights on a domain name

The possessor of a domain name is entitled to use this name throughout the whole period of its validity.

The possessor of a domain name takes all the responsibilities regarding the registration, usage and performance of actions with a domain name in accordance with the terms and conditions foreseen in this Regulation.

Conditions in “.al” zone

According to this Regulation, until another decision has been taken and publicized by the Responsible Authority, the right to register a domain name in “.al”zone and sub domains “.com.al, .org.al and .net.al”, will be only of the public and private juridical persons, as well as of the physical persons with a residence and commercial activity within the Republic of Albania registered as such under the legislation in force for this purpose.

Every entity (private/public juridical person or physical person) which ceases to exist as such and is not any more registered in the Commercial Register, at the same time he loses the right to renew a domain name registered on his name.

Special regulations for the sub-domain .gov.al

The sub-domain “.gov.al” is reserved for the state institutions of the republic of Albania.

Special regulations for the sub-domain .mil.al

The sub-domain “.mil.al” is reserved for the structures of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania.

Special regulations for the sub-domain .edu.al

The sub-domain “.edu.al” is reserved for the educational and scientific institutions (state and private) of the Republic of Albania.

Selection of the domain name

Regarding the choice of a domain name, the applicant is obligated to implement all the terms and conditions defined in this Regulation.

The name chosen must fulfil the following conditions:

• it should not be in the list of “forbidden names”;
• it should not be in the list of “reserved names”;
• it should be in compliance with the syntactic rules (Article 20);
• it should not violate the rights of the third parties, especially:
  • The copyright (literary and artistic property and/or industrial property)
  • The competition law and correct behaviour in business/commercial relations;
• it should not breach the public morality and order, and especially should not contains such terms that:
  • Violate the basic human rights and freedom, personal freedom and rights, political freedom and rights, economic, social and cultural freedom and rights foreseen in the Constitution;
  • Can cause any damage regarding the normal growth of minors.
• it should necessarily be different from the names of territorial and administrative divisions in accordance with the law in force.

Reserved and forbidden names

The names considered as prohibited are those names that cannot be registered as domain names according to the published list or not (this depending on their peculiarity/nature) by the Responsible Authority.

Reserved names are the names subject to registration under special conditions related to the identity and the category in which the applicant has been classified.

The “forbidden” names include, but not limiting to them, abusive, insulting, racist names, words related to crimes or misbehaviour and those that conflict with the good customs and traditions.

Some examples of “reserved” domain names are: technical Internet terms, names related to actions/operations of the state, names of the international organizations, districts, prefectures, city halls, communes, cities, countries, administrative divisions of Albania, regions/areas with their popular or ancient name. Other reserved names are cultural or nature monuments defined as such by law or sub legal acts.

The published list of the reserved or forbidden names is updated by the Responsible Authority on the basis of relevant information acquired and processed in a legal way. There are not excluded the cases when, the Responsible Authority, considering the above mentioned reasons when replying to an application for a certain name, expresses the justified disapproval, regardless of the absence of this name in the published list.

Syntactic rules

A domain name is a series of alphanumeric characters including letters from A to Z, numbers from 0 to 9 and the sign minus “-“.

From a syntactic point of view domain names cannot be registered when:

• The names have only one character;
• The names have only two characters; 14
• The names begin or end in minus “-“;
• The names have more than 63 characters;
• The names begin with any two alphanumeric characters followed by two minuses (xy–).

Criteria for registration

The registration of a domain name in compliance with this Regulation will be made based on the principle “first come – firm served”, which means selection/choice by the Responsible Authority depending on the submission time of the effectual application.

Suspension of procedures

Suspension is imposed on actions (e.g. modification, transfer, etc.) of the Responsible Authority for a domain name according as follows, but not limiting to them:

• In case of a Court decision to suspend action, supported by a temporary execution either with the final decision authority as foreseen in the article related to the obligatory transfer, or property right transfer.
• Pending the arbitral decision on the respective conflict, if the petitioner has resorted to this alternative for the resolution of the dispute.

The suspension freezes all actions planned to be undertaken by the Responsible Authority, but the possessor has the right to use it, except when it is differently stated by a court decision.

Based on the final court or arbitral decision regarding the conflict resolution, the period of suspension of procedures is over.

Blockage of a domain name

The Responsible Authority blocks the domain name any time it identifies a violation of terms and conditions as well as the criteria defined in this Regulation, according as follows, but not limiting to them: such as:

• unsuccessful identification
• unsuccessful communication with the administrative contact
• a court decision
• failure to pay the appropriate fees

Cancellation of a domain name

Cancellation of a domain name is executed:

• If the situation has not been resolved after the blockage period of 30 (thirty) days, specifically related to the article 10 (renewal of information) and 25 (blockage of a domain name).
• Based on a decision of the court of law supported by a temporary execution or with the power of a final decision as defined in the article related to the obligatory transfer of a domain name. The interested party must necessarily announce/present this decision to the Responsible Authority via postal service.
• In case of an arbitral decision to settle the conflict and not appeal it on the court of law under the term defined by law.
• When the domain name itself includes a clearly illegal expression or is found to be included in the forbidden and reserved name list published by the Responsible Authority.
• When the registration of the domain regarding the possessor is illegal, regardless of its specific usage.
• The possessor has continually broken the fundamental conditions of the Regulation or has continued to break these conditions regardless of the warnings by the Responsible Authority.
• When the data of the possessor or the administrative contact submitted to the Responsible Authority for the registration or renewal of information are not precise even after 15 (fifteen) days from the announcement by the Responsible Authority to renew this information.
• When based on the data submitted, it is impossible to determine the possessor or the administrative contact identity.
• The address of the possessor can no longer be contacted even after 30 (thirty) days of blockage (article 25).

The possessor of a domain name has the right to ask for its cancellation at any time, by applying in the right form to the Responsible Authority. By applying for cancellation of the domain name, the possessor takes over all the responsibilities that derive from this action.

Dispute Resolution

In any event of dispute or conflict created directly or indirectly, between a possessor and any other interested party related to the registration of a domain name in compliance with the Regulation, for their resolution the claimant shall abide by one of the alternative solutions as defined in the Albanian legislation in force:

• To any district court of law in compliance with the law “On organization of judicial system”; or,
• To any Arbitral form and Mediator regulated by law in the Republic of Albania.

In any case of possible dispute or conflict between parties, about cases related to domain names, the Responsible Authority keeps to the principle of neutrality. The Responsible Authority is set in action only in cases foreseen in the law, like safeguarding confidentiality or protection of personal data, etc.

Technical modification

Technical modification can be done at any time in accordance with the conditions foreseen in this Regulation for this reason.

Voluntary transfer of a domain name

The domain names which comply with the terms and conditions of this Regulation and especially the identification criteria can be transferred from a possessor to another only with an anticipatory request approval by the Responsible Authority.
Transfer of names registered under “.gov.al, .mil.al and .edu.al” as well as transfer of domain names in possession during the sunrise period is not allowed.

The Responsible Authority will approve the voluntary transfer of domain names, apart from the exceptions defined in point 29.1, providing that the new applicant has acquired proof of approval by the current possessor, in compliance with the following procedure: For more information, contact our Support Team at support@web-solutions.eu

Obligatory transfer of a domain name – not sure if it is relevant

The Responsible Authority shall carry out the obligatory transfer of a domain name under:

• The execution of a final court decision or arbitral in compliance with the legislation in force.
• Legally compulsory implementation of an International Agreement (bilateral and multilateral).
• The execution of a court decision, as a partial asset contribution in cases of business association liquidation (juridical or physical person) in compliance with the legislation in force.
• As an executive title under the following conditions:
  • After the notification by post that the interested party makes to the Responsible Authority for an executive title regarding a compulsory transfer of the domain name in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure and the respective laws.
  • In case an executive title or decision issued by the alternative dispute resolution organs has been accepted, the Responsible Authority shall undertake all administrative actions as ordered, under the same conditions.

Confidentiality and privacy

The information and documents kept by/or submitted to the Responsible Authority are considered by nature as confidential and shall not be passed to third parties unless:

• It constitutes a legal obligation;
• when with a written request submitted to the Responsible Authority, an interested party requires the necessary information for one or more “owners” in order to pursue claims against him/them, according to the definitions provided in the Code of Civil Procedure (article 154), to initiate an alternative procedure for dispute resolution or conflict.

Obligations

The applicants are responsible for taking all the necessary measures to fulfil the conditions of this Regulation as well as for all kinds of information given by the Responsible Authority for this reason (explanations, online information, juridical data, more common questions, informative letters, etc.).

The applicant has individual legal responsibility for genuineness, accuracy, authenticity and sufficiency of information that he provides for the Responsible Authority.

Guarantees

The possessor of the domain name shall not in any case implicate the Responsible Authority in responsibilities regarding any actions, accusations, claims or contradictions by any other parties claiming rights on any kind of domain name concerning its registration or transfer.

The possessor of a domain name is responsible for all payable damages caused by the Responsible Authority as a result of a conflict, legal process or any other procedure including legal charges, costs to protect its interests as well as costs involving the implementation of legal decisions and financial actions carried out by the Responsible Authority.

Legislation

This Regulation is administered in accordance with the laws in power in the Republic of Albania.

PROHIBITED LIST OF NAMES

The following is the list of categories of words that are prohibited for use as domain names under .AL and Sub-domains .gov.al, .mil.al, .edu.al, .com.al, .org.al and .net.al:
• Blasphemy (when used as kind of insult )
• homosexual
• sexual identity (as kind of insult)
• family insult
• human reproductive organs (as kind of insult)
• lashing
• insults with animal names
• prostitution (when used as kind of insult)
• contagion (when used to insult)
• racial insult
• ethnic insult
• insult due to mental illness
• religious-based insults
• political insults with Jewish, Nazi etc., terms
• personal insults
• insult to intelligence
• different word-categories of insults