Terms and Conditions

Price for extra service

By applying to register a .ST domain name or other services offered by us, or by asking
us to maintain or renew a .ST domain name registration, you agree to the policies and
rules stated below. In addition you agree to the price and payment terms stated
on our web-site www.nic.st.

Policy and Rules

You agree that, if your agent (e.g. an Internet Service Provider, domain portal, employee, etc.) purchased our service(s) on your behalf, you are nonetheless bound as a principal by all terms and conditions below.

Who can register a .ST domain?

Anybody in the world can register a .ST domain.
Although the .ST domain is the country code top-level domain for Sao Tome and Principe,
any corporation or individual in the world can register a domain ending with .ST.
The global consensus of the use of ST domains varies - e.g. .ST used for street address, words ending with .ST or as a new standard for registering telephone numbers as domain names. Those and similar interpretations of .ST is already well established among thousands of users all over the world and we see no reason to change this in the future.
ST also offers domestic services for residents - local support, reserved address space, education for students, etc. in co-operation with the authorities of Sao Tome and Principe.

Which domain can I register?

The ST Domain Registry operates on a first come, first served basis. You can register almost any domain ending with .ST as long as it is available. Please observe our rules for reserved domain names stated below.

What characters and how many characters can a ST domain have?

You can register domain names with as few as one (except for the reserved address space - characters A - Z) and as many as 23 characters are permitted. Names may not begin or end with a dash. Upper case and lower case are treated as lower case only. Spaces and any other characters in a name will not be accepted. Accented names are not accepted.

Are there any special domains that are reserved?

Yes. The reserved address space maintains the integrity of the .ST domain on a specific country basis for residents of Sao Tome and Principe.
The purpose is also to establish a solid framework for any future use of the ST top-level domain for Sao Tome and Principe.
Which specific .ST addresses are reserved?

SAOTOME.ST (Island of Säo Tome')
PRINCIPE.ST (Island of Principe)
CONSULADO.ST (Säo Tome' and Principe consulates)
EMBAIXADA.ST (Säo Tome' and Principe embassys)
GOV.ST, ORG.ST, EDU.ST, NET.ST, COM.ST, STORE.ST, MIL.ST, CO.ST

One characters A-Z are reserved (Please note that figures are not reserved). A small number of addresses are also reserved for the international duty free zone in Sao Tome. Certain addresses originating before June 11, 1999 could collide with the policy of reserved address space.

Our goal is to meet your needs as flexible as possible. We will allow a fair amount of time pass before any reallocation.

What rights do I have to the domain name that I have registered?

You are solely responsible for the domain name selected and applied for.
Registration of a domain name does not confer any legal rights to that name. By registering a domain name, we do not determine the legality of the domain name registration, or otherwise evaluate whether that registration or use may infringe upon a third party.

What are my responsibilities as a .ST domain holder?

We believe in free speech and the freedom of the Internet.
In order to help preserve these rights for you, other .ST domain holders and the Internet Community, we must ask you to comply with certain obligations.
By applying to register a domain name, or by asking us to maintain or renew a domain name registration, you therefore represent and warrant us that:

1. The statement that you made in the registration process are complete and accurate and that you will maintain and update this information as needed to keep it current, complete and accurate. ST Registry may contact account holder or domain registrant in case of any issues or news/highlights about services provided on nic.st website. You as a customer are free to cancel your account and/or service at any time.
2. To your knowledge, the registration of domain name will not infringe upon or otherwise violate the rights of any third party according to the laws of Sao Tome and Principe or any other applicable jurisdiction.
3. You are not registering the domain name for an unlawful purpose.
4. You will not knowingly use the domain name or any other connected service in violation of any applicable laws or regulations, including, but not limited the sending of unsolicited bulk E-mail ("spamming"), flooding, or other abuse of free search engine services.
5. Please bear in mind that it is solely your own responsibility to determine whether your domain name registration infringes or violates someone else's rights.
6. You are not registering the domain for unsolicited email (spam) and you are not registering the name for marketing of adult content (porn) or illegal gambling activities.
Please note that .ST Registry is not responsible for the content - nor do we actively monitor content - but that we can remove domains without warning and refund.

How about renewal, modification cancellation and VAT of the domain name?

You are free to renew or modify your registration in accordance with the prices and procedures stated on our web site. Of course you are also free to cancel your registration at any time.
However, we will not be able to refund you any fees in such case.

What is expiration procedure for the domain?

We have made as much as it possible to secure our customers from "accidental" domain expiration.
For this we have multiple levels of notifications for domains that going to expire soon.
Here how procedure looks like:

1. 30 days before domain going to expire ST Registry send renewal reminder.
2. 14 days before domain going to expire ST Registry send secondary renewal reminder.
3. 7 days before domain going to expire ST Registry send third renewal reminder.
4. 1 day before domain going to expire ST Registry send expiration notice that domain expiring today.
5. 1 day after domain expired ST Registry send confirmation of expiration. At this moment domain gain status serverHold and become offline/stop resolving.
6. 40 days after domain expired it will enter into redemption period. You are unable to renew domain directly but restoration is still possible through your registrar. Domain is held in redemption period for 30 days. During redemption period ST Registry may use domain for own purposes, sell it through auctions or any other way. EUR 90 fee is applied for any operation over domain in redemption period (renewalb or registration).
7. When Redemption Period is finished - domain gain pending Delete status and stay with this status for 5 days.
This is a final stage in domain life cycle. Within 5 days it will be removed from the registry entirely and then anyone can register it. Its completely impossible to renew and/or restore domain with pending Delete status.

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