Home Support Legal Using us patent law to handle copyright, trademark or other intellectual property disputes

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Aplus.Net literally hosts millions of individual web pages. With that much content, it's inevitable that disputes or misunderstandings arise regarding the ownership of certain material. Aplus.Net is neither a lawyer nor a judge, and cannot make determinations regarding what should be done with regard to any individual challenge - but fortunately there are legal protections for both sides.

Aplus.Net is required to fully comply with a Federal Copyright Law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA for short, as well as a special provision within that law called the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act or OCILLA for short. This web page outlines how Aplus.Net will fully comply with these United States Public Laws and what the requirements and rights are for both the individual challenging web-based material (called the Complainant) and the owner of the website where the material appears (called the Respondent).

If content rightfully belonging to you, or a group you are fully authorized to represent, appears on a website that is hosted by Aplus.Net, and attempts to resolve the issue by contacting the website owner directly were not successful, you may invoke the protections provided by DMCA by following the process outlined in OCILLA.

Here is a step-by-step guide for Complainants:

A Complainant is required to deliver the following information to Aplus.Net:

1. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled.
2. Information reasonably sufficient to permit Aplus.Net to locate the material (website address, etc.).
3. Identification and location (website address, etc.). of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit Aplus.Net to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, fax number, and/or e-mail address.
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
7. A physical, faxed, or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

We understand a complaint may be time sensitive. You may mail this material via post or deliver by express courier to:

Vice President and General Counsel
Aplus.Net Internet Services
7500 W 110^th St., Suite 400
Overland Park, KS 66210
Tel: 913 890 7766

After we receive this material, Aplus.Net is required to inform the Respondent (our customer or via our customer) of your complaint, and in the instance Respondent does not voluntarily remove the material within a reasonable time, we must disable access to the website.

If the material is (a) not removed, and (b) we disable access to the site, and (c) our customer (Respondent) submits a counter-notification that the material was taken down mistakenly, Complainant is provided 10 days to file a lawsuit against our customer (Respondent) and provide proof of your filing. If you do not file the lawsuit, the website can be re-enabled.

Thereafter, Aplus.Net must comply with the directives of the court.

Here is a step-by-step guide for Respondents:

When a representative of Aplus.Net informs you that we are in receipt of a notification regarding material appearing on your website, hosted at Aplus.Net or on a dedicated server within any of Aplus.Net's datacenters, you may do either of the following:

A. You may voluntarily remove the material; the removal may be permanent or may be removed for the period of time necessary to resolve the dispute without risking a disruption in your service.

B. You may submit a counter-notification indicating that you intend to dispute the complaint in an appropriate court of law. The counter-notification must include all of the following:

1. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location before removal.
2. A statement under penalty of perjury that the alleged infringer has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.
3. Your full legal name, and/or that of the entity claiming to have legitimate access to the content, address, and telephone number, and a statement that they consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if the Respondent's address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that they will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) of the public law, or an agent of such person.
4. A physical signature of the alleged infringer. This counter-notification may be delivered electronically if the alleged infringer is the Aplus.Net account holder, or must be delivered physically by post or courier if the alleged infringer is not the Aplus.Net account holder (could be the case when a web design firm holds and maintains a website for another party.)

If the Respondent elects option "B" and completes the four steps, the Complainant has 10 days to file a lawsuit and/or obtain a restraining order preventing the alleged infringer from using the material.

Aplus.Net must then comply fully with the directives of the court. If the legal process is not engaged, or a restraining order is not granted, access to the website will be re-instated.

Aplus.Net's Legal Obligations and Corporate Policy:

Intellectual property is personal and often involves emotion, a sense of urgency, claims of lost revenue, business harm, and damage. Aplus.Net appreciates the nature of these concerns and in support of the rights of both parties MUST follow the processes outlined in DMCA and OCILLA.

Aplus.Net takes each notification we receive seriously. We expect the parties involved to do so as well. We encourage both Complainants and Respondents to consult legal counsel and become fully aware of your respective rights, obligations, penalties for filing false notifications, penalties for unauthorized use of copyrighted material, and any ramifications of non-response.

Though the dispute in question may involve a wide range of interpretation and opinion, the law and the procedures under which Aplus.Net must operate, and the rights, obligations and procedures the Complainant and the Respondent must follow are crystal clear. Under no circumstance will Aplus.Net sales or support personnel be permitted to deviate from the process, assess alternate courses of action, render opinions regarding the allegation, or take any sides in the matter. Our employees and our company are protected under the provisions of OCILLA only in the circumstance that we follow those procedures, which we will do in full.

Further information regarding DMCA and OCILLA can be found at www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf

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