Introduction

With the development of the Internet, more and more enterprises attach importance to the promotion of enterprises by building their own official websites. In order to ensure the compliance of website operations, enterprises generally purchase a domain name from a domain name service provider as their official website and complete ICP registration.

But when a company decides to no longer use its original website due to various reasons, it usually forgets to handle the cancellation registration of the website's ICP and only stops renewing, and may not manage the original official website again afterwards. I always think that I haven't paid or used this website anymore, so it definitely has nothing to do with myself in the future. Little do I know, one day it may be a disaster. Recently, one of my clients suffered such an 'unjust injustice'.

1、 Summary of the case

Company A is mainly engaged in the sales of specialized equipment and accessories. In 2016, the company established its official website through a third-party service company and completed ICP registration with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The daily operation, maintenance and management of this website, as well as the annual renewal of website domain usage fees and hosting fees, are all carried out by third-party service companies.

In 2020, Company A stopped using the website and did not renew it. However, Company A has not processed the ICP cancellation registration of the website, and the website has actually been operating normally. In April 2022, Company A received a subpoena from the court, and a cultural company sued it for alleged copyright infringement of multiple film and television works, and demanded nearly 100000 yuan in compensation.

Originally, the official website of Company A was used by criminals and turned into a video website. The website is full of various film and television works, which can be played online. Although Company A has not renewed the domain name of the website or converted it into a video website to provide video playback services, according to the ICP filing information query, Company A is still the filing entity of the website. Therefore, the above-mentioned cultural companies will sue Company A and claim compensation for infringement damages.

2、 Agency Situation

After taking over the above-mentioned case, the author found that although the legal relationship and situation of this case are relatively clear, there are many difficulties in proving the burden of proof in this case:

1. According to the provisions of relevant laws and regulations such as the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services and the Measures for the Administration of Filing of Non operational Internet Information Services, the registration subject of the website is the operator of the website. Due to A company's failure to promptly handle the ICP cancellation procedures, in terms of burden of proof and legal form, A company is still the subject of the website's registration and filing, and is formally the operator of the website;

2. How to prove that Company A was no longer the actual operator of the video website involved in the case when the infringement occurred, and what evidence can be used to prove it.

Based on the above difficulties, the author consulted professional technical personnel on domain names, domain name management, website filing related rules and technical knowledge, communicated with the court multiple times, and searched for actual domain name service providers. Several pieces of evidence and explanations were submitted to the court, ultimately forcing the cultural company to voluntarily withdraw the lawsuit and resolve the legal risks faced by Company A.

3、 Legal Advice

According to the international domain name management rules, after the domain name ceases to be renewed, it will be released into the public market after a short period of security, and other entities can purchase and use it again, leaving an opportunity for some criminals to take advantage of.

Therefore, in accordance with the current ICP registration system in China, when a company abandons or ceases to use its own website, it must not only stop renewing its use, but also promptly handle the ICP cancellation registration of the website, in order to avoid becoming a "scapegoat" and "scapegoat" for others and bringing unnecessary trouble and losses to itself.