[Ncsg-discuss] Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Statement of the Noncommercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG) on the Suspension of Domain Services

[Daniel Kahn Gillmor]

I'm also pretty disappointed in this response.

There are other actors in the US jurisdiction that publish NS records 
for sanctioned entities and don't seem to have the same read on their 
legal obligations.  Indeed, if all the actors in the US jurisdiction 
were to interpret their legal obligations as PIR is doing here, it would 
strike a serious blow to the DNS as a global consensus namespace 😬

I'm not a lawyer, but PIR's interpretation of the wind-down period also 
strikes me as disappointing, and their excuse that "other folks are 
doing it too" is a good reminder that rapid compliance with 
authoritarian demands has impact beyond the specific action taken.  I 
mean, Paypal and Banca Etica could each justify their actions by saying 
"PIR did it too".

That said, i don't think PIR is deliberately playing the villain here, 
it sounds like they're operating from a place of fear.  I'd really like 
to figure out how we can help them re-prioritize their public interest 
responsibilities.

	--dkg

On 10/20/26 8:23 AM, Niels ten Oever wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I think it is quite telling that PIR is not responding whatsoever to the
> questions regarding the human rights impact assessment framework and
> appeal process.
> 
> PIR is pretty much saying that they have no space to maneuver
> whatsoever, which I think is very much underplaying their actual
> responsibilities as a public interest actor. Also because they pass on
> the impact to much less resourced civil society actors.
> 
> I think we should follow-up to this as well as the statement by ISOC on
> this:
> 
> https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/2026/10/why-internet-infrastructure-decisions-rarely-stay-localized/
> 
> Curious to hear what other people think about this.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Niels
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 10/15/26 16:34, Rafik Dammak wrote:
>> Hi all
>>
>>
>> Please find PIR response to our letter.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Rafik
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
>>
>>
>>
>> Hello Rafik - Thank you for your letter. Public Interest Registry (PIR)
>> is a U.S.-based organization and is required to comply with U.S. law,
>> including applicable sanctions. In this case, the affected .ORG domain
>> name was identified on the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign
>> Asset Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Global Terrorist List.
>> Therefore, PIR is legally mandated to suspend it. The registrant of the
>> domain has a right to challenge the designation determination. PIR has
>> no involvement in that process. Should the registrant be successful in
>> such a proceeding, the suspension would be lifted. This was not a
>> discretionary suspension under our Anti-Abuse Policy; this was a
>> compulsory compliance action.
>>
>>
>> Regarding the referenced General License, that specific License strictly
>> covers transactions that are "ordinarily incident and necessary to the
>> wind down of any transaction," and because suspension of a domain name
>> does not require any “wind-down,” this situation falls outside of the
>> covered scope of the license. While some OFAC General Licenses permit
>> transactions that cover “the maintenance of operations” in their scope,
>> this License does not. As OFAC has clarified in its guidance in other
>> wind-down situations (_see_ OFAC Frequently Asked Questions, Question
>> 975), wind-down authorizations without this maintenance of operations
>> coverage are not grace periods to continue ongoing business activities
>> but are applicable only where a transaction genuinely requires a process
>> to unwind rather than where the service can be stopped immediately.
>> Evidently, other service providers, including Paypal and the
>> registrant’s bank, interpreted the License the same way.
>>
>>
>> We are not in a position to assess the validity of, or override, OFAC’s
>> determination of a terrorist organization. We understand the concerns,
>> but they are best directed towards the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>>
>> Brian
>>
>>
>> Brian Cimbolic
>> Chief Legal and Industry Affairs Officer
>>
>>
> 

-- 
Daniel Kahn Gillmor
Senior Staff Technologist
Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project
American Civil Liberties Union
Signal Private Messenger: @dkg_aclu.01
OpenPGP fingerprint: 888E6BEAC41959269EAA177F138F5AB68615C560
Pronouns: he or they