News & Updates
The Latest on Internet Pharmacies, Supplements, Designer Drugs,
and Other High-Risk Merchants
Registrar Gransy, Confused About What a “Blog” Is, Still Too Close to Online Criminals
Czech Republic-based Gransy, a registrar previously identified as being in our top tier of registrars friendly to pharmaceutical-related cybercrime, has made some progress, but is still allowing a back door to online criminals engaged in the illegal sale of substandard medicines. First things first: we appreciate the progress that Gransy has made. They’ve squelched about…
Chinese Registrar BizCN Taking Stand Against Dangerous Fake Drug Sites
As we’ve noted before, rogue Internet pharmacies put a premium on finding a registrar who will provide them safe haven. Failing that, they’ll attempt to trick their registrar into believing that the Internet pharmacies aren’t doing anything wrong — or, perhaps, aren’t even online at all. BizCN, a China-based registrar that previously ranked in our…
The Strange WHOIS Saga of OzPills
Question: Can dead people register domain names? Answer: Yes, if you run the OzPills Internet pharmacy network. On the Internet, there aren’t many rules. One of the few, however, is that domain name registration (WHOIS) records are not supposed to be falsified. Engaging in WHOIS falsification to the extreme is ozpills.com, a website classified by LegitScript…
The Story Behind ICANN’s Breach Notice Against NetLynx
Last week, ICANN’s Compliance team sent a breach notice to NetLynx, an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar operating out of India. As with most ICANN breach notices, it’s hard to tell the context of what happened just from ICANN’s announcement. We’re happy to fill in the blanks based on our correspondence with key players in the…
BizCN: A Hand in the Rogue Internet Pharmacy Cookie Jar
LegitScript’s undercover investigation shows how one registrar’s anti-abuse chief solicits rogue Internet pharmacy business in the back door.
Top 10 Rogue Internet Pharmacy Registrars (October 2014)
It’s been a while since we published our data identifying the domain name registrars where rogue Internet pharmacies cluster. As we’ve mentioned before, rogue Internet pharmacies are rational economic actors, and choose registrars that they believe will keep them safe from anti-abuse complaints. Interestingly, there have been significant changes in our Top 10 Rogue Internet…
Fake drugs, falsified WHOIS, and UDRPs
Apparently in retaliation, he registered the domain names in my name. Which is a little like a toddler throwing a tantrum, throwing a stuffed animal at me and calling me a poopy-pants.
LegitScript fights Internet merchant anonymity policy
In addition to the work we do for Google, Microsoft, the US FDA and others, LegitScript is involved in various Internet policy initiatives through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees most of the Internet’s infrastructure. One group we’re involved in is looking at this question: in what situations should domain…
Top 10 Rogue Registrars (August 2013)
Our latest available data for the domain name registrars that sponsor rogue Internet pharmacies shows only some shuffling of the usual suspects, with no new companies making the Top 10. Most notably this month, Japanese registrar Onamae/GMO Internet continues its ascent toward the upper half of the list after entering the Top 10 in the…
Rogues and Registrars: Top 10 List (July 2013)
If you’ve been following our monthly updates on the “safe haven” domain name registrars where rogue Internet pharmacies cluster, you’ll recognize all of the companies on the list below. Although our most recent data shows slight changes in the rankings of the top 10 safe havens since the June list, all the usual registrars are represented this month. We…