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Examples of illegal actions on the Internet?

There are many different manifestations. Here are some examples:

• Spam (i.e. the large-scale sending of unwanted e-mails)
  
  
• Phishing (forging of websites or e-mails of banking institutions in order to acquire confidential data from the Internet users – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing  )
  
  
• Fraud (e.g. goods ordered and paid online are not dispatched)
  
  
• Credit card fraud (forged or stolen credit card data is used, which results in financial loss for the credit card owners – see http://ezinearticles.com/?Credit-Card-Fraud---Part-I&id=123783  ),
  
  
• Illegal pornography
  
  
• Identity theft (see http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci801871,00.html  )
  
  
• Utterance offences like libel or defamation

Unfortunately, the list of examples seems almost endless.

What is the role of nic.at?

nic.at is the delegation office for .at-domains. The sole subject of the contractual relationship between the domain holder and nic.at is the domain. It does not include any further technical services that are relevant for the domain (especially e-mail, URLs etc.).

nic.at does not offer web space or name services and, thus, has no influence on the contents of a website. In addition, nic.at is not responsible for e-mails or URLs. These services are usually offered by an ISP (Inernet service provider), who is in another contractual relationship with the domain holder.

Which persons might be involved?

Above all, the holder of the relevant domain, the ISP, the registrar and the TechC should be mentioned here.

The domain holder bears the full power of disposal with regard to the domain. Thus, he is also responsible for services linked with the domain. The domain holder is usually the operator of a particular website, but the right of use can also be transferred to someone else.

An ISP (Internet service provider) provides different services (e.g. hosting, website, e-mail service etc.) for a domain. An ISP is not needed as long as the technical requirements (e.g. nameservers) are met for these services.

In the first instance, the registrar is the billing contact for the domain. Additionally, registrars often act as service providers, whereas this is not obligatory.

The technical contact (TechC) of a domain is specified as the person responsible for technical issues regarding the domain (e.g. nameservers, website). He can also be found in the Whois output of the relevant domain.

It must be noted that websites often become victims of attacks from unauthorised persons that hack into these websites and modify them for their own purpose (see further information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(computing) ). In this case the domain holders often don’t even realise that their websites have been misused.

What can you as an Internet user do against abusive actions?

Generally, you should keep your eyes open and not trust everyone. Just like in the “offline” world, you should be sceptical and not give your personal data (e.g. the pin-code of your cash card) or money to people you don’t know.

If you still become the victim of an offence, you have the possibility of reporting the offence to the law enforcement authorities. Further details would go beyond the scope of this document. Generally however, the operator of a website or the sender of e-mails is responsible and must therefore be held liable for possible offences.

Everything that is relevant outside of the Internet also applies for the “Internet world”. The Internet is not a lawless area!

These are some organisations that aim at creating awareness regarding illegal activities or contents on the Internet: www.internetombudsmann.at , www.saferinternet.at , www.cert.at , www.stopline.at , …

What can nic.at do with regard to these actions on the Internet?

It must be pointed out once more that the subject of the contract with nic.at is solely the .at-domain and not any further services (like website or e-mail). This also means that services relevant for Phishing or e-mails used for Spam are not provided by nic.at. Besides, nic.at is not an authority or court, which are generally entitled to decide whether there are prohibited (or even illegal) actions or not.

Due to this fact, several court decisions have already come to the conclusion that the basic precondition for a possible responsibility of nic.at is only given if the domain itself is subject to an infringement. In view of the situation that nic.at would have to decide about issues that are actually not within its field of responsibility, such an interference would not seem proper.

The role of nic.at is therefore especially limited to the task of informing. Beyond that, further domain data can be disclosed in certain cases. nic.at can also withdraw domains if we are given proof (by forwarding a copy of an undeliverable certified letter) that the data of the domain holder, as specified in the Whois database, is not correct.

It is of particular importance that nic.at is not authorised to assume the position of the executive or court.

In conclusion: Why does nic.at not simply withdraw the domain?

There might be several reasons for that:

• The sole subject of the contractual relationship between the domain holder and nic.at is the domain. It does not include further technical services that can be used for illegal actions (e.g. e-mail, URLs, website content etc.).
  
  
• The domain name itself is not subject to a legal infringement (e.g. trademark law, …).
  
  
• The illegal action is solely given by the content of the website, and it is in no way associated with the domain.
  
  
• Illegal contents on the Internet are often found via links with 5, 6 or even 7 sub-levels, which are not within the contractual range of nic.at (e.g. http://i.am.a.fraudulent-website.at).
  
  
• nic.at is not a court, authority or the like, and is therefore not in the position to judge whether a website is used for illegal activities or the infringement of rights of a third party. Besides, any form of censorship must be prevented by all means.
  
  
• Experience shows that websites are often hacked in order to use subsites for illegal activities. Thus, nic.at would have to assess facts that are not within its field of activity.