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