Suspension Request Guidance

Summary

As a TLD operator are receiving increasing numbers of requests from third parties who ask that we suspend or cancel domain registrations, or ask we “take down” content that is claimed to be unlawfully infringing third party rights or is otherwise harmful.

This guidance applies to domain names ending in .GG or .JE only. (.AS have their own procedures).

Background

We often are contacted by commercial entities from all over the world, on behalf of their clients.

Often, such requests have been sent out automatically, and lacking substantive evidence or proof other than a bare allegation.

Less frequently we might receive reasoned requests from lawyers for a specific Claimant (known in many jurisdictions as ‘Complainant’ or ‘Plaintiff’) in respect of actual or potential court proceedings or in the course of investigations by recognised law enforcement agencies, but these are rarer.

As a responsible registry operator we have taken advice from external counsel in developing this guidance for the assistance of all parties having an interest in such matters, including rightsholders, parties in civil proceedings, their agents, law enforcement, registrars and registrants as well as the general public.

So, if you are considering asking us to suspend a domain’s functioning, or cancel a registration please take careful note of this advice in order that your request will be able to be dealt with quickly and will be more likely to be effective. Requests that are outwith this guidance may not be considered.

Preamble​

As a Registry, we do have reserve powers in our Registration Agreement (the contract we have with every domain holder) to suspend, or in extreme cases, cancel a domain registration. We would only be able to do this where it is reasonable and proportionate. In fact, we were one of the very first registries to include such provisions in domain registration agreements, back in the mid-1990s. Before we can exercise these contractual powers, we need to be sure that request is both lawful and is warranted by the circumstances.

As a potentially interested party, you need to fully understand that suspension or termination of DNS resolution for an entire domain is a blunt instrument with possibly major consequences.

Domain suspension can very easily become disproportionate – if we were to suspend a domain name without reasonable cause, this might injure the interests of innocent third parties, such as lawful users of email accounts or web pages that rely on the domain to work.

It is also important that you understand that suspending DNS resolution for a domain name does not actually remove troubling content from the Internet – the content may remain accessible by other routes, such as through a numeric address (IP addressing), or from an alternative domain name in a different TLD that resolves to the same internet resources (“domain hopping”).

So whoever you may be, please be aware that before we can consider a suspension or 'takedown' demand, you must have addressed the following matters, and deal with them in a considered way when making your request.

1. Identity of complainant.

Please provide your name, business (or other) address, telephone number and email address when you contact us.

Anonymous complaints cannot be considered. (If you are at all concerned about your personal safety please ask us for advice.)

2. Full details of your complaint

Do you (as Complainant) have an actual or potential direct civil Claim against the registrant of the problematic domain? If so, please be specific. Otherwise please set out your complaint in detail.

3. What actions have been, or are being taken?

If administrative or court proceedings are afoot, please provide full details of the relevant filings and interim decisions. If the complainant is not pursuing legal action against the respondent at the time of the request, please explain why not.

4. Allegations of criminal offences

Is the complained-about domain registration apparently being used in connection with a criminal offence? If the answer to this is ‘yes’, has the alleged crime been reported to the appropriate law-enforcement agency or agencies? Please provide the crime reference number.

Is the alleged offence a ‘serious criminal offence’? We consider a serious offence to be one that on conviction has a maximum penalty greater than six months in prison. (This may be termed ‘felony’ in some jurisdictions).

5. Necessity and Proportionality

Why is it necessary and proportionate that resolution of the entire domain be suspended instead of having the operator of the website, their registrar or hosting company take action to remove the complained-of content?

IMPORTANT: Please note that we have been advised by external counsel that if you represent a British (or other European ) public authority, such as law-enforcement or government body, you are legally required to give sufficient regard to this point.

6. Have you contacted the operator of the website, or other internet service?​

​What was the response?

Many countries including the UK and Germany have a legal requirement for commercial websites to publish full  contact details for the site operator, often done through what is known as an ‘imprint’ or ‘Impressum’. UK requirements in this regard are found in the Companies’ Acts. Registrants of .GG and .JE domains are also required to follow UK practice by virtue of a contractual requirement.

5. Registrant identity

Have you confirmed the registrant’s identity and contact details by making a Legitimate Interest Data Disclosure request from the registrar of record, or failing that, from ourselves at the Registry? In the event that the registrar has declined such a request, have you considered making a Norwich Pharmacal application?

6. Position of website operator

Has the website owner or operator (who may be someone else to the registrant) refused to remove the complained-of content, or failed to respond within a reasonable time?

7. Legal Proceedings

Has the complainant sought normal legal redress (including emergency or injunctive relief against the party appearing to be responsible? If so, what was the outcome. If not, please explain why not.

8. Position of Registrar

Please explain why you are making the request of the registry rather than the registrar, who has s more direct relationship with the registrant?

Please note that a person registering a domain name (the registrar’s customer) may be different to the registrant as listed on the Register, as third parties such as web-designers may be involved. They may also be different from the operator of the website where the complained-of content appears, so it is strongly recommended you obtain accurate, verifiable information on all parties at the earliest opportunity and address your (or your client’s) complaint to the person(s) or organisation(s) most closely connected to the complained-of content. This is very much in your interest in terms of wasted costs and time as well as everyone else’s.

You are recommended to confirm with the registrar at the earliest opportunity: they should be your first port of call in this regard as they are likely to have more information.

However, if the registrar will not, or cannot help with this, or if you require historical information that is not likely to be held by the current registrar, you may contact the registry and request disclosure of Registration Data from the Register in accordance with our Privacy Policy and GDPR.

Be prepared to provide a ‘legitimate interest justification’ in detail.

 

SPECIAL NOTE: CSAM/CSAI

IMPORTANT: For legal reasons, we cannot under any circumstance accept or act upon reports of the use of a domain name connected to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or images (CSAI) directly -- you must follow the CSAM procedure below if your concern relates to such material.

The procedure is that you should report all such matters involving any of the TLDs that we manage, via the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and/or law enforcement.

Of course, we take all reports involving CSAM/CSAI very seriously indeed. We are members of the IWF’s alerting and notification schemes (see www.iwf.org.uk), with thanks to the kind assistance of the Public Interest Registry organisation (www.pir.org).

The IWF are, accordingly, a trusted reporter and are able lawfully to verify specific incidents and have a stellar record in getting such content removed.

We respond with alacrity to all reports received via this route.

 

Indemnity

We have, unfortunately, in recent years received quite a number of negligent takedown requests from apparently credible reporters acting for rights holders and which are withdrawn as “false positives” soon after. This is most problematic as these incidents potentially expose the registry to possible Claims for breach of contract from the Registrant so in all cases where it appears at first sight that registry action is appropriate, we require an indemnity from the Complainant.

This means, before any action can be taken, you will be asked to confirm that the Complainant agrees to indemnify the Registry fully in respect of any claim or dispute (including legal, management and incidental costs) arising from acting on a requested suspension of a domain name, and, where you act as agent for another party, you confirm that you are authorised, as agent, to agree that the party you act for has agreed to be jointly and severally liable with yourselves in respect of any Claim or dispute (including legal, management and incidental costs) that may arise as a result. (Security is likely to be required.)

If you have any questions regarding form of indemnity, we will be happy to provide additional information in order to assist you further.