ICANN will cooperate in taking down websites for copyright infringements
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During its 43rd international meeting that took place in San José, Costa
Rica between 11 and 16 March 2012, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers) expressed its intention to increase its
cooperation with global law enforcement agencies and governments, to combat
copyright infringements.
There are 22 registries containing domain names registered in a top-level
domain and over 700 registrars accredited by ICANN. During an open session
with the Government Advisory Committee (GAC), the ICANN board confirmed its
intention to meet the expectations included by GAC in a document with 12
recommendations. “There has been some agreement on 11 of the 12
recommendations made by law enforcement authorities to the registrar
accreditation agreement; we will work to ensure agreement meets expectations
and give registrars the incentive to accept recommendations right away,”
said Kurt Pritz, ICANN senior vice president in charge of stakeholder
relations.
Thus ICANN, not only isn’t taking position against abuses of the domain
system in order to preserve the basic structure and principles of the
Internet, but actually takes part in an increasing tendency of controlling
and censoring the Internet.
One of the12 recommendations was the inclusion of a clause in the
registrars’ agreements that would hold them responsible (by negligence) for
registering domains engaging in criminal activities. Another one was for
registrars to keep detailed information of domain buyers, (including their
source IP addresses and transaction information), and to validate the
contact information given by them.
ICANN was also urged to review the compliance of the registrars with
enforcement agreements before renewing their contracts. And ICANN has shown
its willingness to meet the requirement: “Complaints on compliance started
coming in the last six to nine months, a team of 12 is now in place and will
improve the quality of service,” said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN CEO and
president.
Furthermore, prior to its meeting, ICANN has even produced a “Thought Paper
on Domain Seizures and Takedowns” which is actually a guide for government
officials on how to seize, takedown and censor websites including sections
such as “guide for preparing domain name orders, seizures & takedowns” and
“checklist of information to submit with a legal or regulatory action.”
The paper “offers guidance for anyone who prepares an order that seeks to
seize or take down domain names. Its purpose is to help preparers of legal
or regulatory actions understand what information top level domain name
(TLD) registration providers such as registries and registrars will need to
respond promptly and effectively to a legal or regulatory order or action.
The paper explains how information about a domain name is managed and by
whom,” says ICANN about its own paper.
Domain seizures for copyright infringement likely to go global (14.03.2012)
http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=B2318066-9100-36AE-6DA668DCC8BE64C8
Thought Paper on Domain Seizures and Takedowns (8.03.2012)
http://blog.icann.org/2012/03/thought-paper-on-domain-seizures-and-takedowns/
Rather Than Speaking Out Against Domain Seizures, ICANN Provides A ‘How To’
Manual (12.03.2012)
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120312/01013718069/rather-than-speaking-out-against-domain-seizures-icann-provides-how-to-manual.shtml