ICANN says a registrar focused on “sensitive niches” has failed to handle DNS abuse properly.
ICANN issued a breach notice today to Fewmoretaps OU, which operates as TrustName.com, citing multiple failures in how the registrar handles domain abuse complaints.
TrustName presents itself as a registrar for privacy-conscious customers in “sensitive niches,” advertising a “bulletproof” approach to domain registration. The company’s website claims millions of customers, but public zone data suggests a much smaller presence: the latest Verisign report lists roughly 1,000 .com domains under the registrar’s control.
ICANN’s notice catalogs several concerns. The regulator says TrustName has improperly dismissed some abuse complaints on procedural grounds and failed to take adequate action on other reports of abuse. These shortcomings persist despite a remediation plan the registrar implemented in February aimed at improving its abuse-response processes.
In addition to operational deficiencies, ICANN says TrustName has used misleading language on its site and selectively quoted ICANN Contractual Compliance material in ways that could imply ICANN endorsed the registrar’s handling of abuse cases. The notice also points out missing information that registrars are required to make available to the public, such as the names of corporate officers and clear disclosure of redemption and restoration fees.
ICANN has given TrustName a deadline of July 1 to address the cited violations and bring its practices into compliance.
This action highlights continued scrutiny of registrars that market to customers seeking privacy or protection from takedown, and underlines ICANN’s expectation that all contracted parties follow abuse-handling and transparency requirements regardless of niche positioning.