We get a lot of questions from policymakers, companies and everyday Internet users: How many Internet pharmacies are there? What percentage are legitimate? LegitScript’s database is, as far as we know, the largest database of Internet pharmacies (non-spam ones in particular) in the world, so we think we have some pretty good market data. One of the things we’re going to try to do this year is roll out interesting market data and statistics.

Why did the numbers change?

On an ongoing basis, we try to continually review our data to make sure it’s as accurate as possible. This usually results in changes in the numbers of pharmacies as displayed on our homepage. But this year, we implemented some new methodology. Under the old system, some Internet pharmacies that had recently gone offline (e.g., those we notified a Registrar about, or that were taken offline for another reason) were counted in our total number of Internet pharmacies. But this led to a sort of philosophical tree-falling-in-a-forest question: after an Internet pharmacy goes offline, is it still an Internet pharmacy? Well, no — it isn’t anything, since there’s no content. But yes, it still is, if it’s registered to the same person or company. So how should the numbers be displayed on our home page?

We figured it was time to come up with a better way to reflect the data in our database. As of today, we have just over 215,000 current or former Internet pharmacies in our database; of those, about 40,000 are online and actively selling prescription drugs. (The rest are inactive: offline, parked, or deleted from the registry.) Of those, 96.7% fail to comply with legal requirements. Only about 3% are legitimate.

Ultimately, we think that at any one time, excluding spam Internet pharmacies, there are between 40,000 and 50,000 active Internet pharmacy websites operating on the Internet. (That figure rises quite a bit if you include spam, but it also fluctuates enormously based on spammers’ activities.) So what’s the margin of error? Well, that depends on what Donald Rumseld (former US Defense Secretary) famously called “unknown unknowns” — that is, the number of Internet pharmacies that aren’t in our database. (Those are “unknown unknowns” because if we knew about the Internet pharmacies, then we’d add them to our database…natch.) Unknown unknowns are pretty difficult to estimate, but LegitScript’s staff reviews hundreds of websites every day from multiple sources, and that gives us a pretty good sense of how much we’re missing and why. Based on that, we feel pretty confident that at any one time, we generally have at least 95% of Internet pharmacies in our database. Our sense is that those we miss we eventually get, it might just take a few days. (For example, if you registered a new online pharmacy today, we might not identify and classify it until next week.)

One other helpful thing to know is that not all Internet pharmacies (current or former) are “published” — that is, made public via our “Is It Legit?” search box. Many are, and you can search for them in the “Is It Legit?” box. There are a variety of reasons that some aren’t, but one reason is that it still may be under review for legitimacy. We always want to stand by our “rogue” classifications in particular, and if LegitScript’s staff is still analyzing the website, we might hold off on publicly declaring it to be illicit. Quite a few former Internet pharmacies, or those that are now offline, won’t return any results.

Over the coming months, expect to see some more data about the Internet pharmacy market, available both at legitscript.com and legitscriptblog.com.

It’s been a busy year here at LegitScript, and we wanted to take this opportunity to slow down and think about some of the non-profit, open source organizations that have an impact on what we do. Whether that impact is to facilitate our work by providing free software or knowledge, or a cause that’s working toward similar goals, we wanted to give back to a few of these worthy organizations to show our appreciation.

We turned it over to LegitScript staff and took a vote. This year, the LegitScript team decided to support three organizations that work toward values we share:

• Free Software Foundation (FSF): An organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the right to use free software.
• Oregon Partnership: A non-profit here in Oregon that promotes healthy kids and communities through increased awareness of the dangers of substance abuse, including prescription drug abuse.
• Wikimedia: The parent company of one of the web’s best free information resources, Wikipedia.

All three of these organizations offer valuable services and work toward noble missions. LegitScript is proud to support these causes that have a direct impact on our daily work.

Happy New Year from LegitScript!

While we can understand the temptation to buy unregulated drugs online from foreign sources at a cheaper price, is it worth it if eventually you pay the price with your health?

Note: The OpEd referenced in this blog was written by a member of the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP). LegitScript is also a member of ASOP.

The market for prescription drugs is no exception: as with any industry, competition among pharmacies helps to keep prices as low as possible. (Of course, pharmacies don’t have full say over their pricing — it’s a complex market and manufacturers and wholesalers affect pricing as well, which accounts for the high prices of some drugs. But competition among pharmacies is one among several factors that helps to put downward pressure on pricing.)

With this as background, LegitScript’s president and founder, John Horton, recently blogged on the Huffington Post about a possible merger between two pharmacy benefit management (PBM) mail-order companies, Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions. John notes:

…if you’re on a regimen of prescription drugs, you already know how expensive prescription drugs can be — and you may have found yourself comparing prices among pharmacies, looking for the cheapest deal, or trying to figure out which healthcare plan is least expensive for your needs. Here too, basic antitrust principles hold true: anti-monopolistic competition among America’s diverse pharmacies and healthcare plans is a good thing, and serves to drive down prescription drug prices, making medicines more affordable — and thus, available — to millions nationwide.

Why might the proposed merger between Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions potentially implicate antitrust laws? As John argues in his blog,

Some analysts estimate that the new entity would control 60 percent of the private sector mail order pharmacy market, and an estimated 30 percent of all prescription drug volume. (A well-settled principle of antitrust law is that you don’t need 100 percent market share to engage in monopolistic behavior — just a big enough chunk that, by throwing your weight around, you end up with an unfair advantage over legitimate competitors.)

Both Express Scripts’ and Medco’s profitability relies heavily on their online pharmacy and mail order business — but the merged company would also supply the local, community pharmacies that they already compete against. That could give the post-merger company the leverage to raise prices to the community pharmacies it supplies, while reducing the costs of their mail-order services. The result could lead to health care plans mandating use of the post-merger company’s mail-order services instead of community pharmacies.

Express Scripts (express-scripts.com) and Medco Health Solutions (medcohealth.com) are both in LegitScript’s database as legitimate Internet pharmacies. They provide a valuable service to consumers who choose to fill a prescription online, and are a great solution for some people, but not everyone. Indeed, LegitScript has consistently adopted the position that brick-and-mortar pharmacies, and the ability to consult with a pharmacist in person, tends to be a superior option for most people. In fact, that’s the point…

…of antitrust laws: (monopolistic behavior) denies people a choice due to artificial price constraints. And, it’s critical to understand that mail-order pharmacies aren’t right for everyone: the adolescent with type-two diabetes or senior with high blood pressure who benefits from continuing consults, in person, with a pharmacist who they know and trust may be better served by a community pharmacy.

Antitrust can sound dry and academic, but it’s one of those things that can have a big effect on your everyday pocketbook. Whether or not the merger proceeds, it’s worth having the Federal Trade Commission (which reviews big mergers) take a close look at the potential effects on prescription drug prices.

The background. AtlanticDrugs.com, which has long been a highly visible Internet pharmacy, initially was an affiliate of Health Express, an unapproved affiliate pharmacy network operating primarily out of the EU. However, as we described in our blog, atlanticdrugs.com had claimed to use a prescribing physician who, it turned out, wasn’t even licensed any longer (and ultimately went to prison). Then, a few months ago, LegitScript notified atlanticdrugs.com‘s Registrar about our rogue designation. Quickly following that, the website claimed to have become an affiliate of Secure Medical, an affiliate pharmacy network that is unapproved (but not rogue) in LegitScript’s database, probably in an attempt to convince the Registrar that atlanticdrugs.com should stay online. However, chantix-buy.com then appeared, claiming to be an “affiliate” of atlantic-drugs.com, yet was definitely under the control of Health Express.

This raised two possibilities: either atlanticdrugs.com was never really a Secure Medical affiliate (and lied on its website), or Arizona-based Secure Medical and Health Express now have a business relationship of some sort.

So what happened after our blog about atlanticdrugs.com? For one thing, consider the “WhoIs” information, and how it changed last week, raising additional questions about who was really behind the website — and also who is really behind Health Express. As of October 13th, 2011, the day of our blog, atlanticdrugs.com‘s WhoIs information was that of Secure Medical’s:

Carvalho, Rei  domains@atlanticdrugs.com
1155 West Rio Salado parkway
Suite # 201
Tempe, Arizona 85281
US
+14805055746

But by October 15th, the day of our blog, someone changed the domain name registration to a South African address:

Marsh, Amy  domains@atlanticdrugs.com
65B New Street
Grahamstown, Grahamstown 6139
ZA
0466228729

That address, according to open source information, is a coffee shop in Grahamstown, South Africa.

So what’s really going on here – was atlanticdrugs.com really being run out of South Africa the whole time, or is this just another fraudulent WhoIs? (It’s simply implausible to believe that Secure Medical — or, for that matter, Health Express — simply gave the domain name away.) And what’s the connection between Secure Medical and Health Express? And what is the connection of Health Express, which claims to be operating out of the UK, to South Africa?

LegitScript will continue to do its own digging. In the meantime, we encourage Health Express, Secure Medical, and specifically Minesh Pattni, the CEO of Health Express, to help us clear up this information for our readers.

Editor’s note: Secure Medical provided LegitScript with the following statement, indicating that the company was in negotiations with HExpress to acquire atlanticdrugs.com (and, for approximately two months, did operate the website); however, upon becoming aware of “past history” concerning the website’s reputation the sale was aborted.

It’s not hard. You just need to be in compliance with the laws and regulations where you operate, and anywhere that you offer to ship prescription drugs to.

Let’s say that you are licensed as a pharmacy and operating legally in the United Kingdom, India, China or wherever, but not in the United States and Italy. If the US and Italy are provided as shipping options, you will be either unapproved or rogue. All you have to do is remove the US and Italy (and anywhere else where you aren’t in compliance with the law) from the possible shipping destinations, and let us know. We’re always happy to take another look!

However, we do not accept the argument that a pharmacy is outside of the jurisdiction of the countries they offer to ship to, and therefore don’t have to comply with those countries’  laws and regulations. As long as the destination country has laws requiring, for example, that a prescription be based on a prior in-person examination, then any pharmacy website offering to ship prescription drugs to that country must comply with those regulations.

If your website is listed as “rogue” or “unapproved” in our database, and you want to get off that list, the first step is to remove any countries as a shipping destination option where you aren’t fully in compliance with the laws and regulations. If you aren’t willing to do that, then we won’t reconsider the “rogue” or “unapproved” designation.

Note, however, that this opportunity only applies when you take those actions voluntarily and without a notice from your Registrar that your domain name has been suspended. Once we notify Registrars or ISPs about a rogue Internet pharmacy, under no circumstances do we permit the registrant to simply remove (or promise to remove) the illicit content and thereafter modify our classification. That’s because in every circumstance (without exception) that that’s happened, the rogue Internet pharmacy operator simply transfers the domain name to a “safe haven” registrar (there are one or two Registrars who welcome illegally operating domain names) and then reposts the illicit content. Consequently, under no circumstances will LegitScript modify an Internet pharmacy’s “rogue” designation once the notification has been made to a Registrar or ISP.

Remember, if you are operating a website that facilitates the sale of pharmaceuticals, its your responsibility to be aware of the laws and regulations that govern the sale of prescription drugs online.

We’re looking for creative (quirky, even) people to help us make sense of the murky and fascinating world of pharmaceutical and drug-related cybercrime. Right now, we’re hiring for four positions, three of which are software engineer/developer types, and one of which is an entry-level analyst position.

About LegitScript

LegitScript is based in Portland, Oregon, which is known for its overall livability; great coffee and local microbrews; nearly year-around outdoor sports (kayaking, paddle boarding, skiing, hiking); and being eternally sunny and warm. (Okay, that last part isn’t exactly true.)

LegitScript offers a full benefits package. We have a collaborative and fun work environment. We have a wheatgrass juicer. We have an office dog. Many of us bike into work. We’re a small company (about 15 people at present) but work hard and love what we do. And it’s a no-drama work environment.

You can read more about us here or here.

About the positions

All of the four positions below are based out of our headquarters in Portland. You should not mind rain; should like dogs; and (please!) should not be involved yourself in any type of international organized cybercrime networks or prescription drug cartels. If you think you meet any of the criteria below, drop us a note at jobs[at]legitscript.com.

Anyway, LegitScript is hiring for a:

1. Data-mining software engineer. We’re looking for an experienced developer/statistician/researcher/computer scientist with a strong recent focus on writing data-mining software. Skills in the techniques of data-mining are more important than any specific language. An ideal candidate would be someone who gets excited about solving complex data-mining problems, and who is expert at and up-to-date with modern data-mining techniques including vector support machines, Bayesian techniques, neural networks, decision trees, etc.

Also important: a strong background in statistics; familiarity with the basic techniques of artificial intelligence; expert in at least one relevant language such as Ruby, Java, R, C, C++, or Python; familiarity with and willingness to write unit, functional, and integration tests; and proficiency with SQL.

What about education?: You should have an advanced degree in Computer Science, Statistics, or related field. Masters/Ph.D. is required or equivalent experience.

Bonus skills: Experience with Ruby, Rails, and ActiveRecord; Experience with scaling databases.

2. Index/search software developer. We’re also looking for an experienced developer/statistician/researcher/computer scientist who has a strong recent focus on writing software to index and search massive quantities of data. Skills in the techniques of search are more important than any specific language. An ideal candidate would be someone who gets excited about solving problems of scaling and who is expert at writing database-backed applications, and in at least one relevant language such as Ruby, Java, R, C, C++, or Python, as well as in dealing with large databases and ensuring quick access.

Also important: We’d like someone who is expert in text analysis (e.g. Bayesian methods, natural language processing) and who has familiarity with the basic techniques of artificial intelligence, as well as with scalable database/search solutions such as Lucene, Sphinx, MySQL Cluster, etc. Also important is familiarity with and willingness to write unit, functional and integration tests, and proficiency in SQL.

What about education? You should also have an advanced degree in Computer Science, Statistics, or related field and have experience in search engine relevance metrics.

Bonus Skills: Experience with Ruby, Rails, and ActiveRecord, and experience with data-mining.

3. Ruby on Rails developer. Our ideal candidate would be an experienced Ruby on Rails 3 developer with strong core Ruby skills. But, we also welcome applications from self-driven individuals who have at least 2 years work experience with another dynamic language and Rails-inspired frameworks such as Django or CakePHP.

Required Skills: Experience writing web applications in Ruby on Rails or Rails-inspired frameworks such as Django or CakePHP; Strong in MySQL; Comfortable at the command line; Use of JavaScript frameworks; preferably jQuery. (CoffeeScript is a plus) Web design/front-end skills are a big plus, particularly standards-based clean, maintainable markup utilizing HTML5 and CSS3.

Other Requirements: Experience writing unit, functional, and integration tests; especially with RSpec and perhaps Cucumber (we test all our code), Server administration (Linux/Apache), Scaling (database and front-end), Information security knowledge, AI knowledge, Github account or similar. US Citizen required.

4. Junior Investigative Analyst. We’re looking for an analyst to help us classify and organize data on a large scale. This is an entry level position that would provide opportunity for growth and a lot of autonomy.

Required skills: Demonstrated research skills, ability to analyze data and draw conclusions from data sets, insatiable curiosity and a love for problem solving, rigorous attention to detail; extremely organized; good communication skills, both verbal and written; Internet/computer-savvy, and must be a US citizen.

Required Education: Bachelor’s degree or background in military intelligence, criminal justice or a similar field.

Bonus skills: Knowledge of Internet investigative techniques; familiarity with the pharmaceutical sector; familiarity with internet infrastructure (registrars, ISPs, ICANN); and foreign language skills. (Oh, and US citizen is required.)

If you think you’d be a good fit, drop us a note at jobs[at]legitscript.com and tell us about yourself. We’d love to hear from you.

The NABP is the impartial organization that represents pharmacy regulators (Boards and Colleges of Pharmacy) in the US, Canada and their counterparts in some Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions. The NABP operates the gold-standard for Internet pharmacy verification, the VIPPS (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites) program.

False Claims

Among other problems, chantix-buy.com makes the following claim:

The use of the word “follow” falsely implies that this website is compliant with NABP standards. It is not.

Chantix, No Prescription Required

Among other problems, chantix-buy.com indicates that it is an affiliate of Atlantic Drugs (atlanticdrugs.com). Last year, atlanticdrugs.com contacted us to complain about its “rogue” designation; we asked them to provide the name of the physician they use to prescribe the drugs. They did, one Jim D’Amico. It turned out that the “physician” had lost his license (and DEA registration) years before, making Atlantic Drugs’ claims that they were using a licensed physician to issue prescriptions untrue.

Earlier this year, that (former) physician — actually, a former dentist  – was sentenced to prison.

What’s more, atlanticdrugs.com doesn’t require you to see a physician in person — all you have to do is fill out a form, which isn’t considered the basis for a valid prescription by the NABP.

If they are willing to lie about those things…

…what’s to make you think they wouldn’t lie about other things as well, like the source or authenticity of the drugs?

These are all reasons why chantix-buy.com is “rogue”: it operates untruthfully; it dispense prescription drugs without a valid prescription; and the drugs are not regulated for safety or effectiveness.

chantix-buy.com is registered to:

Administrative Contact:
Pattni, Minesh
Hexpress Limited
Sydney Vane House
Admiral Park
St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 2HU
United Kingdom
08712230322      Fax – 08712231177

“…a representative from one U.K. and Canadian-based online pharmacy, BestCDS.info, maintained its products were legitimate, and said it required faxed prescriptions from consumers. The manager, who said his name was Carl, said customers were mainly concerned about whether they would receive their order and not whether the order was counterfeit. He noted that the controversy over counterfeit drugs was overhyped and was intended to “spoil” his business.

Carl also derided online pharmacies for selling “sugar pills” to consumers, a practice his website had been accused of, although he said that these accusations were without merit and his company had not sold any fake medications.”

Hey Carl, you know full well that bestcds.info is part of the 33 Drugs (aka DrugRevenue) criminal network. Most of the network’s activity is out of Russia, and when we’ve conducted test buys in the past from 33 Drugs affiliates, the drugs come from India in a plain brown envelope, without a prescription, and don’t even look like the real thing.

LegitScript added a comment to the USAToday article. In it, we said:

LegitScript.com, which identifies rogue Internet pharmacies and is endorsed by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, has identified the online pharmacy referenced in this article, bestcds.info, as a rogue Internet pharmacy. The website is a “marketing affiliate” of a criminal network called “33 Drugs,” which is headquartered in Russia.

Websites like bestcds.info that are affiliated with 33 Drugs do not require a valid prescription and ship drugs that are not regulated for safety or authenticity (“not FDA-approved”) from entities or locations that are not validly licensed pharmacies. LegitScript.com has conducted test buys in the past from 33 Drugs affiliates, and the drugs come from India in plain brown envelopes. A prescription was not required, and the drugs were not even sent from a pharmacy.

This article highlights the interest that online drug criminals have in convincing members of the public that they are legal, licensed pharmacies, when in fact they are neither licensed or operating in accordance with pharmacy and drug safety laws and regulations.

In the wake of Google’s settlement with the Department of Justice for permitting advertising by illegal online pharmacies, what are the legal implications for Domain Name Registrars and ISPs in the US and elsewhere?

In short, if you’re a Registrar or ISP, it’s a new ballgame. Here’s why it’s critical for you to steer clear of criminal and civil liability by making sure your registration services aren’t used by rogue online pharmacy criminals. (And, here’s how to do it.)

Defining Internet Drug Dealers

First, what is a “rogue Internet pharmacy”? The vast majority of websites that facilitate the sale of prescription drugs are illegal: the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has consistently found, as has LegitScript, that about 96% of all Internet pharmacies don’t require a prescription, aren’t appropriately licensed, and sell unregulated drugs — that is, drugs that are not part of the “closed supply chain” required by most countries’ laws, thus raising the risk that the drugs are counterfeit or adulterated.

In other words, these are Internet drug dealers. And, their websites are dangerous.

A drug is classified as “prescription-only” for the simple reason that it requires medical supervision to be used safely. Similarly, unregulated drugs may be genuine or fake. LegitScript has received numerous reports of individuals who have been hospitalized or sickened — or even died — as a result of fake or counterfeit drugs shipped from rogue online pharmacies.

In contrast to other forms of cybercrime like phishing and identity theft, online pharmaceutical crime is in a category of its own for a very simple reason: victims can die.

Welcome to the New Ballgame
The Google-DOJ settlement signals changing expectations by law enforcement as to how Internet platforms (ISPs, Registrars, payment service providers, etc.) should respond when put on notice about rogue online pharmacies.

So what do Registrars need to know — and do?

Registrars that knowingly permit their registration services to be used by rogue Internet pharmacies, including accepting registration or re-registration fees for domain names that they have been put on notice are being used in facilitation of illegal conduct, may be subject to criminal or civil liability for facilitating and/or profiting from criminal activity. For Registrars, reducing your liability and disallowing the use of your services by these illegal websites means suspending and locking rogue online pharmacy domain names once you are put on notice.

If you’re an ICANN-accredited Registrar, you have the sanctioned ability, and arguably responsibility, to do this. The Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), by which all ICANN-accredited Registrars are bound, requires Registrars to prohibit the use of their domain names in furtherance of unlawful activity (see Paragraph 2). That’s important because it gives Registrars the explicit authority to suspend online pharmacies operating illegally. Indeed, as a contractual matter, there’s a solid argument that you’re bound to act — not ignore the notification.

But how far do you have to go? DOJ’s recent actions signal an expectation that online platforms will take “reasonable steps” to avoid facilitating criminal activity — but that doesn’t mean you have to be clairvoyant. After all, no Registrar can know what every customer or website is doing. But if a Registrar is put on notice by a credible source as to rogue online pharmacy domain names using its registration services, a continued pattern of non-responsiveness may be viewed as the turning of a blind eye to, or even willfully profiting from, criminal behavior.

A Letter to Registrars on Behalf of Regulators

So what’s a credible source of information, and how can you know if an Internet pharmacy is legal or not? The NABP, which represents the government agencies that license and regulate pharmacies in the US and elsewhere, has issued a letter to Registrars endorsing LegitScript’s listing of rogue online pharmacies as accurate and reliable, and requesting that Registrars suspend and lock rogue online pharmacy domain names LegitScript notifies Registrars about. LegitScript currently offers this notification as a complimentary service, and regularly submits information to several registrars including GoDaddy, eNom, Dynadot, DomainContext, Directi and others.

Liability may be Criminal…or Civil

The risk of liability isn’t just criminal — it’s potentially civil as well. One of these days, an enterprising civil attorney is going to ask if a Registrar (who failed to act) was notified prior to her client’s overdose or wrongful death from drugs ordered online. In multiple cases, the answer would be Yes. And it’s not clear that the US Communications Decency Act would protect a Registrar from a multi-million dollar wrongful-death claim.

Locking, Not Transferring

Most Registrars we work with on this issue typically suspend and lock the domain names, effectively shutting down the website and killing the illegal business. However, we’ve seen a few situations where a Registrar suspends the domain name, then lets it transfer to another Registrar and continue selling drugs. Could a Registrar who does this be criminally or civilly liable?

Our answer is Yes, for several reasons. First, permitting the transfer to another Registrar, when you are on notice of the website’s illegal activity, is an affirmative step that helps the criminal continue their behavior. Second, Registrars can’t claim that ICANN requires them to permit the transfer: after all, most Registrars do NOT permit the transfer. And third, of course, the legitimacy of an online pharmacy doesn’t depend on where the Registrar is; rather, the key question is what the website is doing. (Would you permit a child pornography site’s domain name to transfer?) A rogue online pharmacy doesn’t magically become safe by being transferred to an “offshore” Registrar.

In an effort to get the Registrar to permit the transfer, we’ve seen it all — bad-actor Registrants who promise to remove the content; provide a (genuine) pharmacy license; or argue that they are in fact operating legally where they are physically located, and don’t need to adhere to the laws in the jurisdictions where they are shipping the prescription drugs.

But remember, rogue online pharmacies are a multi-billion dollar business: some affiliate pharmacy marketers pull in five- or even low-six-figures (USD) a month. They are highly motivated to continue their illegal business: if they are willing to sell prescription drugs without requiring a prescription, it should come as no surprise that they’ll be willing to lie about it. Moreover, a pharmacy license alone is not proof of legitimacy: the drugs that these websites sell have to come from somewhere, and an extra-jurisdictional (but real) pharmacy is often the source — or pass through point. Put another way, “fake” online pharmacies and “rogue” online pharmacies are different problems. The former just takes your money and doesn’t send you anything. The latter sends unregulated medicines with or without a prescription, putting the customer’s health at risk.

Wrapping It Up

While it’s true that Registrars and ISPs can’t be expected to be the “Internet police,” the US Justice Department’s recent actions indicate that when it comes to illegal online pharmacies, Internet companies can’t turn a blind eye to criminals using their services. It doesn’t mean that Registrars need to monitor every single domain name, or be telepathic about what their customers are doing. It does mean that they need to have clear policies and procedures prohibiting illegal activity, and more than that, enforce those policies.

If a Registrar or ISP is put on notice about such illegal websites, it should take reasonable steps to enforce its Terms and Conditions and act in accordance with ICANN’s UDRP. In the online pharmacy sphere, where roughly 95% of websites are accurately described as criminal entities, this means suspending and locking the domain name, not turning a blind eye to the activity or facilitating the transfer of the domain name to another Registrar.