ICANN will cooperate in taking down websites for copyright infringements

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Urheberrecht: ICANN will bei der Verhängung von Netzsperren kollabori...


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-tak...

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-spea...