World’s biggest domain seller warns India’s fake-site crackdown could put legitimate website owners at risk 

NEW DELHI: GoDaddy has warned that India’s crackdown on fake websites impersonating major brands could expose legitimate website owners to privacy and security risks and reshape how internet governance works globally.

The US-based company, the world’s largest internet domain seller, has challenged a December ruling of the Delhi High Court before a larger bench of judges, according to court filings reviewed by Reuters.

The dispute stems from lawsuits filed since 2019 by more than 20 Indian and global companies, including Amazon, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Xiaomi and Colgate-Palmolive, against websites accused of misusing their brands.

In December, an Indian court blocked more than 1,100 such websites and issued broader directions for domain sellers.

The court directed that domain sellers should not offer free privacy protection by default, should disclose buyer details to anyone with a “legitimate interest” within 72 hours, and should prevent registration of web addresses that are variations of protected brand names.

GoDaddy has argued that the directives could affect legitimate businesses with names similar to well-known brands.

It said removing privacy-by-default features could publicly expose the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of website owners, creating risks such as stalking and harassment.

The company also argued that because domain names operate globally, the Indian order could require it to regulate website addresses beyond India.

On the 72-hour disclosure requirement, GoDaddy said it does not have the capacity to determine who has a legitimate interest in accessing registration details.

In one appeal document, GoDaddy said the directives could be “commercially destabilising” and may force domain companies to exit India.

GoDaddy, which has annual revenue of $5 billion, manages 80 million domains and serves more than 20 million users. In 2024, its executives described India as the company’s biggest emerging-market region.

Rival domain companies Namecheap, based in Arizona, and Hosting Concepts, based in the Netherlands, have also challenged the Delhi ruling, according to court records.

The case comes as India faces rising cybercrime linked to rapid smartphone and internet adoption.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government received 2.4 million complaints of alleged cyber fraud last year, involving $2.4 billion.

Home Minister Amit Shah said earlier this year that one person in India falls victim to cybercrime every 37 seconds and warned that lack of action could turn the issue into a national crisis.

Although the December directives were issued by the court, filings show they followed government submissions.

A 59-page IT ministry document from 2023, included in GoDaddy’s latest appeal papers, said the government was concerned about domain name abuse and weak verification.

The home ministry also told the court that domain registration details should be readily available for investigations.

GoDaddy has argued that weakening privacy protections would conflict with India’s data protection law and the European Union’s GDPR framework, both of which emphasise privacy by default.

The company has also challenged the court’s approach to trademark variations.

In the McDonald’s case, the company sought action against 110 websites, including sites offering fake franchises and using its Golden Arches logo.

GoDaddy argued that a blanket bar on variations of a protected trademark would be difficult to implement and could affect legitimate use of common words or names.

It said “McDonald” has Scottish linguistic origins and that blocking all variations could effectively give one company control over a common name.

Reuters reported that a domain similar to McDonald’s India franchise wording was still available on GoDaddy India for around $10.

GoDaddy also submitted research from Merriam-Webster to argue that protecting variations of a trademark such as “HUL”, used by Unilever’s Indian unit, could overlap with 118 English words, including “hulk” and “moghul”.

The company said it would be nearly impossible to register ordinary English-word domains without overlapping with some registered trademark.

The Indian government and GoDaddy did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The larger bench of judges is scheduled to hear the appeals on July 16.