The Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP Global) presented its annual Internet Pharmacy Safety E-Commerce Leadership Award to .DK Hostmaster, which was announced at ICANN63 Tuesday.
DK Hostmaster, the Danish country code top level domain (ccTLD) manager, won the award based on their commitment to ensuring citizen safety by maintaining transparent WHOIS data, proactively enforcing identity accuracy policies to increase consumer trust and safety online.
DK Hostmaster has increased identity checks for Danish and foreign customers and deleted over 3,000 domain names of suspected fake stores since November 2017. In addition, DK Hostmaster supports an open WHOIS, which is helping to create transparency so it continuously is possible to see who is behind a .dk domain name.
âASOP Global is pleased to recognise DK Hostmaster for their outstanding efforts to prevent the illegal use of domain names for online drug sales and rapidly responding to any complaints,â said Libby Baney, Principal at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting and senior advisor to ASOP Global.
ASOP Global is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organisation headquartered in Washington, D.C. with activities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, India, Latin America and Asia. Itâs dedicated to protecting consumers around the world, ensuring safe access to medications, and combating illegal online drug sellers.
âDK Hostmaster is honoured to receive this award for our continued efforts to ensure a safe and trustworthy .dk zone through transparency and focus on ensuring the identity of the owners of a .dk domain nameâ said DK Hostmaster CEO, Jakob Truelsen.
âDK Hostmasterâs policy to keep WHOIS data open and transparent creates a more secure, trustworthy environment in the .dk namespace,â Baney commented. As a member of the Coalition for a Secure and Transparent Internet, ASOP Global further commends DK Hostmaster for their policy on transparent WHOIS and encourages other registries and registrars to follow thier lead.
âTransparency has shown to be an effective tool to prevent abuse. Sunlight has proven to an effective disinfectantâ said DK Hostmaster CEO, Jakob Truelsen.
Nominations for ASOP Globalâs third Internet Pharmacy E-Commerce Safety Award are now open. Award recipients will be announced during ICANN66 in November 2019 in Montreal, Canada.