The Regulation of Abusive Activity and Content: A Study of Registries’ Terms of Service

Internet Policy Review, 9(1). DOI: 10.14763/2020.1.1448, 2020

22 Pages Posted: 18 Feb 2020

See all articles by Sebastian Felix Schwemer

Sebastian Felix Schwemer

University of Copenhagen, Centre for Information and Innovation Law (CIIR); University of Oslo, Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law (NRCCL)

Date Written: January 31, 2020

Abstract

This paper studies the role of domain registries in relation to unlawful or unwanted use of a domain name or the underlying website content. It is an empirical and conceptual contribution to the online content regulation debate, with specific focus on European country code top-level (ccTLD) domain name registries. An analysis of the terms of service of 30 European ccTLD registries shows that one third of the registries contain some use-related provision, which corresponds to approximately 47% of registered domains. The analysis also turns towards examples of notice-and-takedown mechanisms, the emergence of proactive screening and the practice of data validation. Based on the analysis, it calls for more clarity and transparency regarding domain registries’ role in content- or use-related takedowns.

Keywords: Content regulation, Domain names, Terms of Service (ToS), Takedown, Abuse

Suggested Citation

Schwemer, Sebastian Felix, The Regulation of Abusive Activity and Content: A Study of Registries’ Terms of Service (January 31, 2020). Internet Policy Review, 9(1). DOI: 10.14763/2020.1.1448, 2020, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3530798

Sebastian Felix Schwemer (Contact Author)

University of Copenhagen, Centre for Information and Innovation Law (CIIR) ( email )

Karen Blixens Plads 16
Copenhagen, 2300
Denmark

HOME PAGE: http://jura.ku.dk/schwemer

University of Oslo, Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law (NRCCL) ( email )

Karl Johans gt. 47
Domus Academica
Oslo, Oslo 0130
Norway

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