Nominet, the body responsible for running the .UK domain name Registry, announced earlier this month that it plans to introduce law enforcement landing pages for domains suspended due to criminal activity.
Nominet will initially work in collaboration with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the City of London’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) to redirect web users to a secure site providing consumer advice and education for potential victims of sales of counterfeit medicines and other branded goods.
In its press release dated 24 March 2020, Nominet pointed out that this was the “first time a national registry will facilitate the provision of trusted information and guidance from law enforcement agencies following the suspension of domain names for criminal activity.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US regularly uses landing pages for domain names it has seized, but Nominet emphasises that “this is the first registry-led initiative to provide informative landing pages.”
The introduction of the landing page comes on the back of a 2019 policy consultation with industry experts, law enforcement agencies and consumer advice bodies. The consultation invited feedback on the following three issues:
1. Reducing the use of .UK domain names for phishing attacks;
2. Implementing law enforcement landing pages following suspensions for criminal activity; and
3. Implementing a .UK drop list to provide a transparent and orderly process for the re-registration of expired domains.
Nominet notes that 64 respondents shared feedback on how to improve consumer safety online, including the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), law enforcement agencies, consumer interest organizations, the financial sector and civil society groups.
Eleanor Bradley, MD of Registry Solutions and Public Benefit at Nominet, comments in the press release that: “We see this as a great opportunity to help alert people to dangerous scams, and point them in the direction of organisations, such as MHRA, that can help.”
She goes on to emphasize the collaborative nature of the changes, saying that:
"Nominet has a responsibility to ensure .UK is a safe and trusted namespace. Introducing landing pages with valuable advice and guidance is the latest example of Nominet working alongside law enforcement to identify and address common challenges. Developing .UK policy is a process of continuous improvement, we look forward to engaging further with stakeholders as we implement our next steps."
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