Circular No. 16/TT-BTTTT: New regulations on assignment of domain names
On June 28, 2016 the Ministry of Information and Communications (“MIC”) promulgated Circular No. 16/TT-BTTTT (“Circular 16/2016”) providing guidance for assignment of domain names granted without auction. Circular 16/2016 is effective as of August 15, 2016 and has the following main contents:
Condition for assignment of domain names
Pursuant to Circular 16/2016, from August 15, 2016, owners of national domain names “.vn” granted without auction shall have the right to assign them to other individuals/organizations. However, not all domain names “.vn” are allowed to be assigned. According to the Article 6, assignment of domain names shall be suspended or cancelled in one of the following cases: (i) The parties have violated regulations on management and use of Internet resources; (ii) It is detected that the assigned domain name is pending in a dispute resolution procedure or in an administrative action due to law violation; (iii) There is a written notification by a tax authority that the parties have committed frauds or failed to fulfil tax obligations; (iv) The assignee fails to pay fees and charges for registration of the domain name in accordance with the regulations; or (v) The assignor and the assignee request in writing to withdraw the application for assignment of domain name.
Process of domain name assignment
Pursuant to the Article 3, assignment of a domain name granted without auction must be proceeded with the following steps:
Step 1: Filing the dossier for registration of assignment of domain name
The dossier for registration of assignment of a domain name may be submitted directly at or by post to the address of the Registrar that is managing the assigned domain name. It must include (i) A written document which includes assignment offer and acceptance in the prescribed form; (ii) the assignee’s application for registration which includes necessary information in the prescribed form.
Upon receipt of the dossier, if the Registrar finds that the registration dossier meets all requirements, it shall approve the dossier and notify the parties about its approval in writing. In case requirements are not met, the Registrar shall reject the dossier and notify the parties of its refusal in writing. In the latter case, the notification must state the reason for refusal.
Step 2: Registration of assignment of domain names
Pursuant to the Article 5, after full payment by the parties of prescribed domain name assignment tax, the assignee may re-register the assigned domain name in his/her name with the Registrar that is managing the assigned domain name. The dossier for re-registration must include (i) the assignee’s application for registration of the domain name; (ii) documents proving that the parties have made full payment of tax imposed on domain name assignment.
The Registrar then shall carry out technical procedures to transfer the right to use the domain name from the assignor to the assignee within 5 working days from the date of receipt of complete dossier and full payment of fees and charges for registration of the assigned domain name.