Tucows 2014 Annual Report Download - page 45

●obtaining telephone numbers;
●maintenance of interconnection agreements; and
●compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Ting competes with our Network Operators’ products.
We compete with several of our Network Operators’ products. In addition, our Network Operators may from
time to time create products or acquire interests in businesses that directly or indirectly compete with us. As a result, their
interests may be different from, or adverse to, ours.
Our business and financial performance could be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by disasters, by
terrorist activities or by international hostilities.
Neither the occurrence nor the potential impact of disasters, terrorist activities or international hostilities can be
predicted. However, these occurrences could impact us directly as a result of damage to our facilities or by preventing us
from conducting our business in the ordinary course, or indirectly as a result of their impact on our customers, suppliers
or other counterparties. We could also suffer adverse consequences to the extent that disasters, terrorist activities or
international hostilities affect the financial markets or the economy in general or in any particular region. For example, a
significant earthquake could impact us directly by disrupting our business operations.
Our ability to mitigate the adverse consequences of such occurrences is in part dependent on the quality of our
resiliency planning, and our ability, if any, to anticipate the nature of any such event that occurs. The adverse impact of
disasters or terrorist activities or international hostilities also could be increased to the extent that there is a lack of
preparedness on the part of national or regional emergency responders or on the part of other organizations and
businesses that we deal with, particularly those that we depend upon but have no control over
Risks Related To the Internet and Our Technology
Our business could be materially harmed if the administration and operation of the Internet no longer rely upon the
existing domain system.
The domain registration industry continues to develop and adapt to changing technology. This development may
include changes in the administration or operation of the Internet, including the creation and institution of alternate
systems for directing Internet traffic without the use of the existing domain system. Some of our competitors have begun
registering domains with extensions that rely on such alternate systems. These competitors are not subject to ICANN
accreditation requirements and restrictions. Other competitors have attempted to introduce naming systems that use
keywords rather than traditional domains. The widespread acceptance of any alternative systems could eliminate the need
to register a domain to establish an online presence and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition
and results of operations.
The law relating to the use of and ownership in intellectual property on the Internet is currently unsettled and may
expose us to unforeseen liabilities.
There have been ongoing legislative developments and judicial decisions concerning trademark infringement
claims, unfair competition claims and dispute resolution policies relating to the registration of domains. To help protect
ourselves from liability in the face of these ongoing legal developments, we have taken the following precautions:
• our standard registration agreement requires that each registrant indemnify, defend and hold us harmless for
any dispute arising from the registration or use of a domain registered in that person’s name; and
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