#ph domain seizure

The recent seizure of the KAT.PH domains have angered a lot of people who rely on the site for illegal downloads (see original story here). What is actually more chilling is the idea that this seizure can also happen to another PH domain as well, whether the allege offense is similar or otherwise. In this case, the PH domain was seized (re-pointed to a null destination) causing the site to be inaccessible via the original KAT.PH domain name. The action was taken against the PH domain because the registrar (dotPH) is under Philippine jurisdiction and thus can be compelled by the TRO. dotPH has posted a statement regarding this last June 14: The Philippine Intellectual Property Office (www.ipophil.gov.ph) recently issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) directing dotPH to suspend the domain kat.ph for a period of 72 hours. dotPH was initially contacted by the complainants' lawyers in December of 2011 with a demand to take down the domain, and dotPH agreed to cooperate if provided with an order from a court or appropriate authority. This is the reason why the domain was down but the site can still be accessed via other domain names. With this precedent, it is now clear that any similar TRO can be placed against any other PH domains that provide or link to illegal content. Read more in our articles including "Now that KAT.PH is down, which PH domain is next?" and "Email Accounts Your Parents Might Have Used Decades Ago".