New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court on Friday warned domain name registrars (DNRs) against disobeying court orders and said if they want to do business in India, they should follow its instructions and take action against those who indulge in illegal activities online or flee the risk , being “blocked” by MEITY.

A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan said that DNRs cannot “become tools for syndicating frauds” and asked them to “remain vigilant” over misuse of well-known trademarks to register websites to carry out illegal and fraudulent activities. .

“If you need to do business in India, we set guidelines and you have to follow them. We will establish a mechanism. These (DNR’s) people have to comply. We cannot allow millions to be defrauded. A serious matter.” “Here we go,” said the bench, which also included Justice Mini Pushkarna.

The court noted that there is a huge business in DNRs in the country, which must not become “fraud entities”.

“We cannot change the international system, but if you operate in India, we will ask you to adhere to certain (norms). We will order MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) to suspend the DNR if you do not comply,” it said.

The court’s comments came in the context of a case initiated by itself related to the issue of misuse of trademarks by several companies through fraudulent websites and the role of DNRs in such situations.

The court said that the repeated filing of lawsuits by aggrieved parties whose trademarks are being illegally used by perpetrators to register their websites must stop and that DNRs should first consider whether to prevent the registration of such infringing domains.

The court made GoDaddy and the Home Office parties to the proceedings and listed the matter for further hearing on January 9.

“You are an important player. “You know when fraud is taking place,” the court told GoDadday’s lawyer, adding that the company should “reconsider” the concerns it raised during the hearing from the “proper perspective.”