Hub Name Policy.

1. What a Hub name request means

A Hub name is the display name proposed for a community on Hubly. An @handle is the shorter unique identifier used in a future Hubly address. Hubly may automatically suggest a handle from the display name.

A pre-launch request records your interest and may give you priority while we review and prepare for Beta. It does not:

• create a live Hub or platform account;
• guarantee that the name or exact handle will be allocated;
• give ownership of a word, phrase, trade mark, domain, company name or social-media username;
• prevent a person with stronger legal or legitimate rights from making a claim; or
• amount to Hubly endorsement or verification.

Reserving a Hub name is free. Paid verification is optional and separate. Paying for verification will never buy priority over another person's legitimate rights or guarantee approval.

2. Who may request a name

A person aged 13 or over may submit a personal Hub name request using a working email address. A parent or guardian must submit for someone under 13. A person requesting a name for a business, organisation or rights holder must be at least 18 and authorised to act for it. Information supplied must be accurate and kept up to date.

Hubly treats names that identify or closely resemble an established brand, registered trade mark, public body, school, university, charity, sports organisation or other official body as protected names. A protected-name request must be confirmed through an email address controlled by that organisation before it can be approved.

A request started with a personal or agency email may be recorded but will remain on hold until official organisational confirmation is received. Agencies and other representatives may also be asked for written authority from the rights holder. An official email address assists verification but does not, by itself, establish entitlement to a name.

We may request reasonable evidence of identity, employment, authority, trade mark ownership, official status, public profile, organisation registration or the intended purpose of a Hub. Failure to provide requested evidence may result in a hold, decline or release.

3. Name rules

Hub names and handles must be suitable for a diverse, age-appropriate community. A name may be declined, restricted or changed if it:

• is unlawful or promotes violence, terrorism, hatred, abuse, self-harm, sexual exploitation or other serious harm;
• contains targeted slurs, threats, explicit sexual language or gratuitously offensive wording;
• impersonates or misleadingly suggests affiliation with a person, brand, public body, charity, school, club or organisation;
• infringes or is likely to infringe intellectual property, privacy, publicity or other legal rights;
• is designed for name squatting, ransom, resale, misleading redirection or blocking a legitimate user;
• uses reserved Hubly terms, system labels, staff titles, emergency-service names or wording that could create security or public-safety confusion;
• reveals another person's private information;
• is technically confusing, excessively similar to an existing handle or uses unsupported characters; or
• otherwise creates a material risk to users, Hubly or the integrity of the name system.

Context matters. Educational, news, historical, artistic or support purposes may be treated differently from praise or promotion of harm, but we may require a clearer name or category label.

4. Checks and allocation

1. Server availability probe. When you click Check name, the website asks the reservation service to run the same normalisation, reserved-prefix, Hub-uniqueness, active-reservation and Shield / OpenAI safety rules the final reservation step uses. The probe does not store a record, send email or mint a verification token. We do not ask for your email until this check passes.
2. Email and request record. Once the probe clears the name, you may be asked to verify your email so we can record your request. The reservation step that follows re-runs the same rules before persisting anything.
3. Availability and policy review. Hubly may check for duplicates, confusing similarity, reserved terms, public rights and safety risks.
4. Evidence where needed. Protected, sensitive, official, famous or disputed names require official organisational email confirmation and may require additional proof.
5. Conditional allocation. If approved for Beta, the allocation remains subject to completing account setup, accepting platform terms and maintaining compliance.

We may offer an alternative display name or handle. Handles are normally allocated on a first eligible request basis, but timing is not decisive where another applicant has stronger legal rights, clear official status, a well-established identity or a materially lower risk of confusion or harm.

5. Competing claims and rights holders

If you believe a requested or allocated name infringes your rights or impersonates you, email [email protected] with “Hub name claim” in the subject line and include:

• your full name, organisation and contact details;
• the Hub name or handle concerned;
• the nature and territory of the rights or legitimate interest claimed;
• official registration numbers or links where relevant;
• an explanation of likely confusion, impersonation or harm;
• the outcome you request; and
• a statement that the information is accurate and you are authorised to make the claim.

We may share the substance of a claim and your identity with the other applicant where necessary to assess it fairly, unless there is a safety or legal reason not to. Each side may be asked for evidence.

Hubly may consider registered and unregistered rights, genuine public use, official authority, request timing, intended use, likelihood of confusion, bad faith, user safety and proportional alternatives. We may retain the name, add a label, modify the handle, transfer or release it, suspend use while a dispute is reviewed, or require the parties to resolve a legal question elsewhere.

6. Expiry, inactivity and release

To keep the name system useful and fair, we may release a request or allocation where:

• the email cannot be verified or we cannot contact the requester;
• a stated setup, evidence or response deadline is missed after a reasonable opportunity to act;
• the request is abandoned, duplicated, fraudulent or made for resale;
• a Hub remains materially inactive after launch and the platform terms allow release;
• a stronger rights claim succeeds; or
• retaining the name would breach law, these rules or create a significant safety or integrity risk.

Where practical and safe, we will give notice to the email on record before releasing an otherwise valid request. Urgent action may be taken without advance notice where necessary to prevent harm, fraud or legal exposure.

7. Review and appeal

You may ask us to review a declined, changed, transferred or released name by emailing [email protected] with “Hub name appeal” in the subject line. Identify the decision, explain why it should change and include any new evidence.

Where reasonably practicable, a person not responsible for the original decision will consider the appeal. We may maintain a temporary hold during review, but cannot promise that a name will remain unavailable indefinitely. We will explain the outcome unless doing so would expose confidential information, undermine security or breach law.

This internal process does not prevent either party from seeking independent legal advice or using any court, tribunal or dispute process available by law.

8. Policy changes and contact

We may update this policy as the name system and Beta service develop. Material changes affecting an active request will be communicated where appropriate. Platform rules accepted at Beta may add requirements for active Hubs and handles.