DNS Abuse and Other Types of Abuse (Registrars)
If the registrar of a domain name receives an abuse report of a domain name, the registrar is required by its agreement with ICANN to take:
- Mitigation action(s) if the registrar has actionable evidence of the use of the domain name for DNS Abuse. DNS Abuse means malware, botnets, phishing, pharming, and spam when spam is used to deliver any of the other four types of DNS Abuse.
- Steps to reasonably investigate and appropriately respond to the report if it alleges an abusive and/or illegal activity not included in the five types of DNS Abuse above.
These obligations are generally triggered when a registrar receives a report of abuse. To assess compliance, ICANN evaluates all available information and records, including copies of the report submitted to the registrar, and considers the specific circumstances of each complaint. For details about the enforcement of DNS Abuse obligations and examples of who may be the most appropriate actor to detect, assess, verify, and stop an abusive activity depending on the circumstances of each case, see ICANN’s Advisory: Compliance With DNS Abuse Obligations in the Registrar Accreditation Agreement and the Registry Agreement.
To submit a complaint to ICANN concerning the requirements above, you must have the following ready:
- The second-level gTLD domain name(s) subject to your complaint (e.g., example.example)
- Evidence of the communications sent to and received from the registrar regarding the abuse report(s). This includes bounce-back messages and auto-responses.
- Any available information regarding the gTLD domain name, the activity reported in connection with the gTLD domain name, and the abuse report.
You will not be able to submit a complaint without entering at least one gTLD domain name and evidence as attachments in the designated fields. Please read the explanatory text next to each required field for details.
By submitting your complaint, you agree that ICANN may share the information and evidence you provide to ICANN with the registrar, registry operator and/or any third party with whom ICANN may consult if needed to fully address your complaint. If you have any concerns about this practice, please include them with your submission in the “description of problem” text box. Additionally, this complaint type allows “anonymous submission” to be selected. More details regarding this option are in the next screen.
By submitting your personal data, you agree that your personal data will be processed in accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy and ICANN Cookies Policy, and agree to abide by the electronic Terms of Service.