GoDaddy, the biggest internet domain seller, has said that the crackdown on fake websites impersonating famous brands in India can make the internet less safe for legitimate businesses.
It added that this could carry global ramifications, Reuters reported.
The increasing usage of internet in the country has further worsened the problem of online fraud in the world’s most populated country. The report called it a “key challenge” for the Indian government, adding that it received 2.4 million complaints of alleged cyber fraud last year, amounting of $2.4 billion.
As per reports, the Delhi High Court had in December last year blocked over 1,100 websites. The decision was taken over lawsuits from dozens of Indian as well as global firms.
While the court ordered sweeping new measures, tech experts said these have rewritten rules of internet governance.
US-based GoDaddy has now challenged the directives before a larger bench of judges at the Delhi High Court. It has claimed that the court’s verdict will affect legitimate businesses that have names similar to big brands.
GoDaddy said that stopping privacy-by-default features could result in publicly disclosing name, address, telephone and email of legitimate website owners. It added that this would expose them to “foreseeable privacy and security risks” like stalking and harassment.
Further, it noted that the order could force it to regulate website addresses across the world, since domain names operate globally and not locally
Regarding the 72-hour deadline for companies to provide registration details to anyone with “legitimate interest,” GoDaddy has argued that this has no wherewithal to assess who has legitimate interest or not, Reuters reported.
The “commercially destabilising” directives may force domain name companies to “exit India”, read GoDaddy’s appeal documents that ran into 5,121 pages.