Principles / Charter of the Austrian domain administration

The organization and provision of the .at domain service is managed according to the principle of self-administration within the context of the Austrian internet community and in compliance with Austrian legal system.
The responsibility for self-administration lies with the non-profit Internet Foundation Austria (IPA), along with the affiliated Domain Name Council, Supervisory Board and operative units such as nic.at GmbH (registry).
All individuals and legal entities are equally entitled to register domain names below the .at top-level domain. It is not mandatory to be an Austrian citizen or an organisation located in Austria. The registration agreement is a contract under Austrian civil law concluded by the domain holder and nic.at GmbH.
Fundamental delegation policy guidelines are defined by the Domain Name Council, which consists of various members of the Austrian internet community. In particular, the Domain Name Council represents specific groups which are professionally involved in the development of the internet, such as Internet service providers (ISPs), user groups, registrars, experts from the international domain name community and representatives of institutions responsible for handling telecommunications administration and interpreting Austrian law.
Delegation policy guidelines are defined in accordance with the relevant legislation in Austria and in line with the requirements of the global Domain Name System, internationally accepted best practices and standards as well as the requirements of the Austrian internet community.
Beyond domain administration and delegation policy, the Internet Foundation Austria (IPA) also cooperates both nationally and internationally in developing the social and legal environment in the interest of the internet community. This includes measures such as launching and moderating opinion discussions and legislative initiatives, providing mechanisms of alternative dispute resolution, developing and describing best practices in the industry as well as public relations work and other suitable measures. nic.at is a member of organizations such as CENTR and ICANN, which define best practices in domain administration and deal with the legal bases of domain delegation.
The main duty of nic.at is to provide domain administration services based on the delegation policy defined by the Domain Name Council in a professional, timely, low-cost, technically reliable and customer-friendly manner. nic.at is required to serve domain name holders as well as registrars, as well as providing advice and acting as a mediator in disputes. The Austrian domain registry does not offer services which could also be provided by other organisations. The registry does not assume responsibility for the content accessible under the domain names in the .at name space, nor does it practice any form of censorship with regard to such content. The domain holders themselves are exclusively liable for illegal contents and violations of rights (e.g. trademark right).
The top priority in domain administration is to ensure the technical stability of the domain name system. nic.at's benchmark and target price for registrations lies in the bottom third of a reasonably defined peer group of registries.