ICANN Tells IP Community They Won’t Police Piracy Sites

The intellectual property community has been pressuring ICANN to do more to police content online and force registrars to prevent the use of domain names in distributing illegal content online such as for piracy websites.In a letter to Greg Shatan, President of the Intellectual Property Constituency [pdf], ICANN’s Chair Steve Crocker says ICANN will enforce contractual provisions that require registry operators to include a provision in their Registry-Registrar Agreement requiring registrars to include a provision prohibiting registrants “from distributing malware, abusively operating botnets, phishing, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement, fraudulent or deceptive practices, counterfeiting or otherwise engaging in activity contrary to applicable law, and providing (consistent with applicable law and any related procedures) consequences for such activities including suspension of the domain name.”The letter goes on to say that ICANN will bring enforcement actions against registries that fail to include the required prohibitions.”This does not mean, however, that ICANN is required or qualified to make factual and legal determinations as to whether a Registered Name Holder or a website operator is violating applicable laws and governmental regulations, and to assess that would constitute an appropriate remedy for such activities in any particular situation.”