It further argued that the directives may be “commercially destabilising” and could compel companies to reconsider operations in India: Reports
NEW DELHI: GoDaddy has challenged an Indian court order tightening rules on domain registration, warning that the measures could affect legitimate businesses and have global implications for internet governance.
The dispute follows a December ruling by a New Delhi court that blocked over 1,100 websites accused of impersonating well-known brands and ordered stricter norms for domain sellers. The case arose from lawsuits filed by several companies, including Amazon, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Xiaomi and Colgate-Palmolive, against fraudulent websites.
The court directed domain sellers to end default privacy protection for buyers, disclose registrant details to parties with “legitimate interest” within 72 hours, and restrict registration of domain names resembling protected trademarks.
GoDaddy, which manages about 80 million domains globally, has approached a larger bench of the Delhi High Court against the directives. In its filings, the company said removing privacy-by-default could expose legitimate users’ personal information, including names, addresses and contact details, to risks such as harassment.
The company also said the requirement to assess “legitimate interest” for disclosure requests is difficult to implement and that the rules could force domain providers to regulate registrations globally, as domain systems are not country-specific.
It further argued that the directives may be “commercially destabilising” and could compel companies to reconsider operations in India.
Other domain providers, including Namecheap and Hosting Concepts, have also challenged the ruling.
The court, in its order, described fraudulent websites as “engines for large scale deception” and said masking registrant details acts as a “cloak” for illegal activities. It directed that privacy protection be offered as a paid service instead of a default feature.
Experts have raised concerns over the impact on privacy. Farzaneh Badii, a researcher on internet governance, said removing privacy safeguards could expose individuals such as journalists, activists and small business owners, while not necessarily deterring fraudulent operators.
The case comes amid rising cyber fraud in India, with official data indicating 2.4 million complaints involving $2.4 billion in losses last year.
The Centre has argued for stricter verification of domain ownership, stating in submissions that registration details should be readily available for investigations into cybercrime.
GoDaddy has also raised concerns over restrictions on domain names similar to trademarks, arguing that such provisions could act as blanket bans and affect common words with linguistic or historical significance.
The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear the appeals on July 16
