<p>GoDaddy has challenged a Delhi High Court ruling that introduced sweeping new rules to tackle fake websites impersonating well-known brands. The company argues the order goes far beyond blocking fraudulent websites and could affect internet privacy, domain registration practices and even global internet governance.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The appeal has drawn attention because GoDaddy says the directions could force some domain registrars to reconsider operating in India if they remain unchanged. The case will now be heard by a larger bench of the Delhi High Court on July 16.</p><h2><strong>What started the dispute?</strong></h2><p>The case began after more than 20 companies, including Amazon, McDonald's, Microsoft, Xiaomi and Colgate-Palmolive, approached the court over fake websites that copied their names, logos and branding to deceive customers. In December 2025, the Delhi High Court ordered more than 1,100 fraudulent websites to be blocked. However, the court also introduced 14 wider directions for domain registrars to prevent similar abuse in future.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Among the key directions are:</p><p>Registrars should stop offering free privacy protection by default.</p><p>Domain owner details should be disclosed within 72 hours to anyone with a "legitimate interest".</p><p>Registrars should prevent registration of domain names that closely resemble protected trademarks.</p><h2><strong>Why is GoDaddy objecting?</strong></h2><p>GoDaddy says these rules could expose the personal details of legitimate website owners, including their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. According to the company, removing privacy-by-default protections could increase risks such as stalking, harassment and phishing attacks. It also argues that the requirement conflicts with privacy principles under India's data protection framework and the European Union's GDPR, both of which support "privacy by default".</p><p>The company also says domain registrars are not equipped to decide who has a "legitimate interest" in requesting customer information within the court's 72-hour deadline.</p><h2><strong>Trademark rules raise practical concerns</strong></h2><p>Another major objection relates to trademark-based restrictions. GoDaddy argues that many trademarks contain common surnames or dictionary words. For example, it says "McDonald" is a widely used surname and preventing all variations could effectively give one company exclusive rights over a common name.</p><p>Similarly, it argues that protecting trademarks such as HUL could unintentionally restrict many ordinary English words that contain the same letters.</p><h2><strong>How to stop cyber fraud without weakening online privacy</strong></h2><p>India has seen a sharp rise in cybercrime. According to government figures cited by Reuters, authorities received 2.4 million cyber fraud complaints last year involving losses of around $2.4 billion. Home Minister Amit Shah recently said one person falls victim to cybercrime every 37 seconds.</p><p>While the court's directions aim to make it harder for fraudsters to hide behind anonymous domain registrations, GoDaddy argue the measures could disproportionately affect journalists, activists, small businesses and legitimate website owners.</p>

GoDaddy, the world's largest domain registrar, has challenged a Delhi High Court order aimed at tackling fake websites, arguing that the directions could expose legitimate website owners, conflict with global privacy rules and make it difficult for domain registrars to operate in India.

GoDaddy has challenged a Delhi High Court ruling that introduced sweeping new rules to tackle fake websites impersonating well-known brands. The company argues the order goes far beyond blocking fraudulent websites and could affect internet privacy, domain registration practices and even global internet governance. The appeal has drawn attention because GoDaddy says the directions could force some domain registrars to reconsider operating in India if they remain unchanged. The case will now be heard by a larger bench of the Delhi High Court on July 16. What started the dispute? The case began after more than 20 companies, including Amazon, McDonald's, Microsoft, Xiaomi and Colgate-Palmolive, approached the court over fake websites that copied their names, logos and branding to deceive customers. In December 2025, the Delhi High Court ordered more than 1,100 fraudulent websites to be blocked. However, the court also introduced 14 wider directions for domain registrars to prevent similar abuse in future. Among the key directions are: Registrars should stop offering free privacy protection by default. Domain owner details should be disclosed within 72 hours to anyone with a "legitimate interest". Registrars should prevent registration of domain names that closely resemble protected trademarks. Why is GoDaddy objecting? GoDaddy says these rules could expose the personal details of legitimate website owners, including their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. According to the company, removing privacy-by-default protections could increase risks such as stalking, harassment and phishing attacks. It also argues that the requirement conflicts with privacy principles under India's data protection framework and the European Union's GDPR, both of which support "privacy by default". The company also says domain registrars are not equipped to decide who has a "legitimate interest" in requesting customer information within the court's 72-hour deadline. Trademark rules raise practical concerns Another major objection relates to trademark-based restrictions. GoDaddy argues that many trademarks contain common surnames or dictionary words. For example, it says "McDonald" is a widely used surname and preventing all variations could effectively give one company exclusive rights over a common name. Similarly, it argues that protecting trademarks such as HUL could unintentionally restrict many ordinary English words that contain the same letters. How to stop cyber fraud without weakening online privacy India has seen a sharp rise in cybercrime. According to government figures cited by Reuters, authorities received 2.4 million cyber fraud complaints last year involving losses of around $2.4 billion. Home Minister Amit Shah recently said one person falls victim to cybercrime every 37 seconds. While the court's directions aim to make it harder for fraudsters to hide behind anonymous domain registrations, GoDaddy argue the measures could disproportionately affect journalists, activists, small businesses and legitimate website owners.

<p>GoDaddy, the world's largest domain registrar, has challenged a Delhi High Court order aimed at tackling fake websites, arguing that the directions could expose legitimate website owners, conflict with global privacy rules and make it difficult for domain registrars to operate in India.</p>

GoDaddy challenges Delhi High Court's anti-fake website rules: Here's what's at stake

Web hosting company GoDaddy said email addresses of up to 1.2 million active and inactive Managed WordPress customers had been exposed in an unauthorized third-party access.

Global web hosting company GoDaddy's security breach exposes WordPress users' data

<p>GoDaddy, the largest internet domain management company in the world, on Friday, issued an apology to its employees that&nbsp;after an email that promised them&nbsp;a Christmas bonus in the midst of the economic crisis turned out to be a computer security test.</p>

<p>The Arizona-based company said&nbsp;"GoDaddy takes the security of our platform extremely seriously. We understand some employees were upset by the phishing attempt and felt it was insensitive, for which we have apologised."</p>

<p>A spokesman for GoDaddy&nbsp;added, "While the test mimicked real attempts in play today, we need to do better and be more sensitive to our employees."</p>

<p>In December, around 500 employees of GoDaddy clicked on an email from the company offering a Christmas bonus of $650 and asking them to fill out a form with their personal details.</p>

<p>Two days later, a different message appeared in their inboxes.</p>

<p>"You are receiving this email because you failed our recent phishing test," the email from GoDaddy's security chief read, according to Arizona's Copper Courier newspaper.</p>

<p>The technique of phishing, widely used by computer hackers, sees emails pretending to be a person known to the intended target, with the objective of obtaining information to infiltrate their computer systems.</p>

<p>The test email sparked uproar on social media as millions of Americans have been hit hard by the economic crisis linked to the coronavirus pandemic.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I’ll be cancelling my services tonight <a href="https://twitter.com/GoDaddy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GoDaddy</a> this was beyond deplorable <a href="https://t.co/Mghmla2QnJ">https://t.co/Mghmla2QnJ</a></p>
— Tinch of Grinch 🌱 (@Tati_spu_mati) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tati_spu_mati/status/1342179565133828096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">very insensitive of them. the company is trash to begin with so this wasn't surprising <a href="https://twitter.com/GoDaddy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GoDaddy</a></p>
— Limmidy (@Limmidy) <a href="https://twitter.com/Limmidy/status/1342278009273921541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">What a way to close out 2020. Gross.</p>
— Melissa Marie (@MelissaMarie_) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelissaMarie_/status/1342268986369732609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<p>Some observers pushed back on those condemning the company as a Scrooge, however, calling the move&nbsp;<em>“</em>smart<em>”</em>&nbsp;from a security standpoint. Some also argued that employees who fell for the trick were among&nbsp;“the most gullible user[s] on the planet.”</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">remember when all of twitter got hacked/infiltrated by TEENAGERS a few months ago? that happened because employees with access to the info, fell for a social engineering/phishing scam.<br />
<br />
godaddy was smart. as long as they didn't fire anyone, this is best way to teach employees.</p>
— Melvin McShay (@JonBlocksHIV69) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonBlocksHIV69/status/1342293369041657858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2020</a></blockquote>
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GoDaddy, the largest internet domain management company in the world, on Friday, issued an apology to its employees that after an email that promised them a Christmas bonus in the midst of the economic crisis turned out to be a computer security test.

GoDaddy, the largest internet domain management company in the world, on Friday, issued an apology to its employees that after an email that promised them a Christmas bonus in the midst of the economic crisis turned out to be a computer security test. The Arizona-based company said "GoDaddy takes the security of our platform extremely seriously. We understand some employees were upset by the phishing attempt and felt it was insensitive, for which we have apologised." A spokesman for GoDaddy added, "While the test mimicked real attempts in play today, we need to do better and be more sensitive to our employees." In December, around 500 employees of GoDaddy clicked on an email from the company offering a Christmas bonus of $650 and asking them to fill out a form with their personal details. Two days later, a different message appeared in their inboxes. "You are receiving this email because you failed our recent phishing test," the email from GoDaddy's security chief read, according to Arizona's Copper Courier newspaper. The technique of phishing, widely used by computer hackers, sees emails pretending to be a person known to the intended target, with the objective of obtaining information to infiltrate their computer systems. The test email sparked uproar on social media as millions of Americans have been hit hard by the economic crisis linked to the coronavirus pandemic. I’ll be cancelling my services tonight @GoDaddy this was beyond deplorable https://t.co/Mghmla2QnJ — Tinch of Grinch 🌱 (@Tati_spu_mati) December 24, 2020 × very insensitive of them. the company is trash to begin with so this wasn't surprising @GoDaddy — Limmidy (@Limmidy) December 25, 2020 × What a way to close out 2020. Gross. — Melissa Marie (@MelissaMarie_) December 25, 2020 × Some observers pushed back on those condemning the company as a Scrooge, however, calling the move “smart” from a security standpoint. Some also argued that employees who fell for the trick were among “the most gullible user[s] on the planet.” remember when all of twitter got hacked/infiltrated by TEENAGERS a few months ago? that happened because employees with access to the info, fell for a social engineering/phishing scam. godaddy was smart. as long as they didn't fire anyone, this is best way to teach employees. — Melvin McShay (@JonBlocksHIV69) December 25, 2020 ×

GoDaddy apologises to employees after Christmas bonus email turned out to be security test

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