Registrar blamed for domain names used for fake online pharmacies.
The U.S. government just released its “2014 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets” report (pdf), which calls out markets in which there is apparent widespread counterfeiting or privacy.
At the urging of Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP), domain name registrar Tucows has been placed on the list. According to the report:
Based in Canada, Tucows is reportedly an example of a registrar that fails to take action when notified of its clients’ infringing activity. Consistent with the discussion above, USTR encourages the operators of Tucows to work with relevant stakeholders to address complaints.
It’s not quite clear how Tucows was actually singled out. ASOP submitted this comment (pdf) to the U.S. government. The comment references a recent ranking by LegitScript, which can be found here.
That ranking places Tucows at #6. Perhaps Tucows was fingered “as an example” because it’s the largest on the list, but the government report doesn’t specify why it picked on Tucows specifically. The report is comment drive; the U.S. government doesn’t seem to independently verify claims in comments.
LegitScript has called out other registrars in the past, some of which have subsequently used the group’s free service for registrars to suspend domains connected with infringing sites. LegitScript’s business is verifying legitimate online pharmacies.
Update: Tucows Manager of Public Policy Graeme Bunton issued this statement to Domain Name Wire:
Unsurprisingly, there is plenty online that some find objectionable, sometimes even illegal. We end up in the middle, being judge, jury and executioner; balancing jurisdiction, due process and the rights of registrants.
When a site is challenged as objectionable, the easiest and most “rational” (self-serving) course of action by far for a registrar is to simply take it down. By doing that, we would be trading the risk of upsetting powerful, publicity-savvy entities like pharmaceutical companies (maybe even being called notorious in a public document!) for the risk of wronging a single domain name registrant. That is exactly what some of our largest competitors routinely choose to do.
But we take the rights and the potential harm to that single domain name registrant seriously. Wrongfully shutting down a legitimate business even temporarily can cost them significant short-term revenue and long-term credibility.
We believe it is our responsibility to be more thoughtful and diligent than that. Notorious for us would be to remove domains from the internet without careful consideration and due process.
(Hat tip: IP-watch)
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