Domain name registries and registry service providers are being urged to join a trailblazing project which will allow them free access to child protection tools. A partnership between Public Interest Registry (PIR) and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) aims to prevent criminals exploiting ‘Domain Hopping’ to profit from the sexual abuse of children.

PIR will sponsor other registries and registry service providers with free access to two important IWF services, Domain Alerts and the TLD (Top-Level Domain) Hopping List.

IWF Hotline Director Chris Hughes said: “Top level domain hopping is a practice by which criminal sites are taken offline, only to reappear, often with the same content and same name, but under a different top-level domain. For example ‘BadAbuseSite[.]com’ is suspended, only for ‘BadAbuseSite[.]de’ to appear in its place.”

The new program makes the IWF’s TLD Hopping List available free of charge for the first time to all registries. With more registries having access to the lists, there will be fewer places for criminals running abuse “brands” to try to register their sites. The IWF Domain Alerts program provides real-time alerts to participating registries if child sexual abuse content is detected on a domain they operate to allow for fast removal of content before it is further spread online.

Currently, only a dozen registries receive IWF Domain Alerts. PIR’s sponsorship will extend access to Domain Alerts to over a thousand TLDs at no cost to participating registries. PIR is providing this sponsorship in furtherance of its non-profit mission to serve as an exemplary Domain Name Registry.


To learn more about how your business can get involved, click here. Interested Domain Name Registries can contact the membership team directly at members@iwf.org.uk.