The owner of a domain name that has been stolen relayed us the good news: the domain’s fate has been sealed, pending the Registrar’s compliance with a court decision.
Although at this point the domain is still showing the contact info of the domain thief, it has been ‘frozen‘ at the Registry.
Considering the time and amount of effort involved in this case, the implications for the thief are minimal, if any.
Despite effectively running the Internet, the US has limited to zero jurisdiction in other countries, infamous for harboring cyber criminals.
Beginning in January 2014, the requirement by ICANN for Registrars to verify the contact information of domain owners, has led to dozens of documented domain thefts, via the use of phishing emails.
Meanwhile, ICANN offers little to no help to victims of domain theft, allowing domain registrars such as Ename decide on the fate of valuable domain assets.
We will update the status of the stolen domain along with more details, as soon as the WHOIS changes.
Personally I’m for an Internet run by a non-profit independent supranational organization, equally participated by all countries worldwide, not just run by the US.
As a consequence, we should set up some specific supranational Internet laws/rules applicable worldwide.
And I’m sure also the US harbor cyber criminals, not only other nations (which are sovereign nations, not colonies …) … 🙂
Will we be using the term ‘too little too late’ ……down the road?