VeriSign wants to be granted website takedown powers

Most people who surf the Internet regularly are already familiar with the VeriSign logo, but few know or are aware of what the company actually does. VeriSign offers authentication services to enterprises and establishments to give clients and customers reassurance that they’re dealing with a site that can be trusted. On top of that, VeriSign also manages the databases of all Web site addresses ending in “.com.”

VeriSign has just recently made a request in a Registry Services Evaluation Process (RSEP) document that was filed with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The company asserted that it wanted to have the power to shut down “non-legitimate” sites when required by law  in order to enforce the “denial, cancellation or transfer of any registration” when a domain has been determined to be abusive.

The RSEP that VeriSign filed today read in part stated that they should be able to close .com or .net domains and their related Web sites and email address in order “to comply with any applicable court orders, laws, government rules or requirements, requests of law enforcement or other governmental or quasi-governmental agency, or any dispute resolution process.”

VeriSign has already assisted various law enforcement bodies in the United States, including the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. The ICE, having served court orders to VeriSign, has performed numerous crackdowns on online stores that have been selling and distributing counterfeit wares or pirated goods with the help of the latter. One such mission ran into legal disputes, as the domain that was shut down had earlier been deemed as legal by a court in its native Spain.

VeriSign’s application is not only requesting for authority to shut down .com sites based in the US, but also internationally. VeriSign said: “Various law enforcement personnel, around the globe, have asked us to mitigate domain name abuse, and have validated our approach to rapid suspension of malicious domain names.” The company has described its system as “an integrated response to criminal activities that utilize Verisign-managed [top-level domains] and DNS infrastructure.”

Aside from the power to suspend sites, VeriSign also requested to set up a malware scanning program that would allow them to perform a scan on all .com sites at least once every quarter. An “information only” report would then be generated afterwards so that the domain can take re-mediation action.

VeriSign is already anticipating criticism from users who may be “concerned about an improper takedown of a legitimate website.” To address such concerns preemptively, VeriSign has reassured ICANN that it has a “protest” plan in the works in case challenges arise to contest such decisions.

Source – The Register