Change of fees
DK Hostmaster is owned by the Danish Internet Forum, which is a non-profit organisation. Therefore, although DK Hostmaster’s operations are non-profit-making, DK Hostmaster is required by law to maintain a sound equity base. This is necessary to offset unforeseen costs or a decline in earnings, but it may also be needed to cover costs in the event of a transition to a new administrator.
Section 4.6 of DK Hostmaster’s terms and conditions for the right of use to a .dk domain name state that DK Hostmaster may unilaterally introduce or adjust fees if necessary to cover the cost of supply and operation of services associated with the administration of .dk domain names. The sections below outline the circumstances which may justify new or adjusted fees.
If adjustments are made to fees and customers do not have an option to opt out, DK Hostmaster will always notify customers individually at least one month prior to the adjustment. Furthermore, customers will always be able to terminate their agreement.
Maintaining and updating user interfaces, IT systems and administrative procedures
DK Hostmaster regularly maintains and updates user interfaces, IT systems and administrative procedures. This is necessary in order to ensure that operations are up-to-date, reliable, secure, etc. If costs are associated with administration of a specific domain name, an administration fee may be imposed on the customer in question. If the costs affect DK Hostmaster’s administration in general, collection of registration fees, transfer fees and renewal fees may be adjusted.
Product development
DK Hostmaster continually develops its existing products and also designs new products. This may result in adjustments to the fees for existing products, to keep pace with changing R&D costs. Development of new products may also induce DK Hostmaster to introduce new fees for using these products. Waiting list fees and VID fees are examples of fees charged for using a specific product.
Modifications to products may result in changes to certain features, with corresponding changes to the payment model. Modifications may be due to customer requests, technological developments, changes in demand, new industry conditions, amended legal and regulatory requirements, competitive circumstances or similar conditions.
Expenses relating to suppliers or other external parties
DK Hostmaster makes use of a number of suppliers of IT systems, advisory services, auditing and legal advice. Expenses relating to these suppliers and external parties may change if they increase their prices or if DK Hostmaster requires further services. Expenses may also reach a level that makes it necessary for DK Hostmaster to adjust its fees. One example of this is the fee DK Hostmaster pays for customers’ use of Betalingsservice, e-Boks and other methods of invoice delivery and payment.
Amendments to legislative requirements or standards
DK Hostmaster’s business is separately regulated by the Danish Domain Names Act. In addition, DK Hostmaster is subject to a number of other legal requirements. DK Hostmaster is also certified according to ISO 27001 to ensure a high level of information security.
Amendments to legislation, legal practice or information security standards may result in increased costs for DK Hostmaster. For instance, there may be an amendment to the Domain Names Act, requiring DK Hostmaster to perform new duties or to change the way it performs current duties. Another scenario could be replacement of the ISO 27001 standard by other standards, requiring considerable resources to implement the necessary changes. Since information security measures relate to administration in general, a fee may be charged for this which will have a broad impact on customers.
Inflation and indexation
If the national economy experiences a general rise in prices, this may affect DK Hostmaster’s costs, creating a need to adjust fees in line with inflation. Any adjustment of fees due to inflation will be based on one or more of the commonly used price indices.
Offsetting costs of litigation
With a very large customer base and a wide circle of stakeholders, it is inevitable that DK Hostmaster will need to defend its rights in court from time to time. If, contrary to expectation, this need increases, the costs involved may be so high that DK Hostmaster may find it necessary to adjust its fees to offset these costs.
