Tags: linx, nominet, org, pceu, uk, website closure

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Police action to shut down websites that sell counterfeit goods has been criticised by web organisations. The internet bodies issued a joint statement that said police should obtain a court order to close a site. They also criticised Nominet, which can block the addresses of the sites ending in “.uk”.

“Nominet has to date been suspending domain names at the mere request of law enforcement in a variety of cases. We have no doubt that so far most of the domains have been worth removing. Some have been taken down incorrectly. But whatever the current practice - the scope of a criminality policy puts in place principles that will inevitably be used more widely in the future.”

The statement was signed by the Internet Service Providers Assosiation (ISPA), Open Rights Group (ORG) and London Internet Exchange (LINX). An operation to close a number of sites was run by Met Police’s Central E-Crime Unit (PCEU) in November. The aim was to protect Christmas shoppers from online scams. Following notification from police, Nominet, the .uk domain-name registry, worked with relevant .uk registrars to suspend the .uk domain names of concern.

The Met, along with Nominet, Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading, has carried out similar action against sites run by criminal gangs over the Christmas period in the past.

After the latest suspensions, Detective Inspector Paul Hoare of the unit said: “In the run-up to Christmas as the PCEU will continue to work with Nominet and other registries to disable as many such sites as possible.”

But the way this is being done has concerned the ISPA, ORG and LINX. Usually Nominet requires the police to have a court order before it takes action to suspend sites using .uk domains being used for crime, but getting these orders is seen as slowing down the process.

Nominet chief executive Lesley Cowley said: “The .uk domain deserves its reputation as a trusted online space for British consumers and we are committed to tackling cyber-crime to keep it that way”.

However, the ISPA, ORG and LINX still want the police to get court orders before, or soon after, having sites taken down.

Jim Killock or ORG told the press “Court orders can be quick, and in emergencies if a site is closed immediantly may only be required to continue with the suspension.”

Nominet said it was aware of the concerns and would work with the organisations in the New Year to find a solution to the problem