Procedure for Receiving, Handling, and Tracking of Abuse Reports

Updated Date: May 05, 2025

This document outlines the procedure for receiving, processing, and tracking of abuse reports related to domain names under the management of METUnic in compliance with the 2013 ICANN Accreditation Agreement.

How to Report Abuse?

To report illegal activity or abuse related to a domain name registered through METUnic, please fill out the Abuse Report Form.

Please provide all the necessary information in your report to expedite the investigation of your complaint.

• Your full name and contact information
• The domain name causing the abuse report
• Detailed description of the abuse

Notes:

• Abuse reports are only accepted by this procedure when submitted with correct identifying information and a real, functional e-mail address.
• Please ensure that you provide as much detail as possible to speed up the review of your report.
• If documents need to be provided, please use the PDF format wherever possible to ensure all information is legible.
• Please submit your reports in English or Turkish only.
• Automated reports may be deleted without being viewed or responded to.

Reporting Abuse by Government Authorities:

Law enforcement, consumer protection, quasi-governmental, or other similar authorities can submit their abuse reports for illegal activity to the dedicated point of contact below:

1. Phone: +90-312-9881106( Abuse reports received by phone will be directed to email.)
2. Email address: abuse-resmi@metunic.com.tr

In both cases, you may be asked to provide your name, surname, organization name, and email address to process your request.

Well-founded reports of Illegal Activity will be reviewed within 24 hours by an individual who is empowered by METUnic and will take necessary and appropriate actions in response to the report.

Overall Process for Handling Abuse Reports:

1. The reports that comply with this procedure and are considered valid from a reliable source are taken into review.
2. The report is reviewed by our abuse team and the responsible customer representative. If the reported abuse is beyond our control and/or responsibility, the notifier will be informed appropriately.
3. If the report is deemed real and acceptable, the client account manager and the Reseller, if any, will coordinate with the Registered Name Holder (RNH) to begin the corresponding issue resolution process.
4. The Registered Name Holder (RNH) is continuously followed up to ensure that the reported issue is resolved.
5. If a resolution is not found within the specified time frame, further action is taken, and the RNH is continually monitored until the resolution is met.
6. We will take the necessary action if suspension or termination of the domain registration is needed.
7. Once the abuse report has been resolved, an incident report will be generated by section 3.18.3 of the 2013 ICANN Registry Operator Agreement, and records of the incident will be kept for at least two years.

Handling Process with Inaccurate WHOIS Information

1. We will send an email to the Registered Name Holder (RNH) and panel owner within 2 business days of receipt of the request and will begin to investigate the WHOIS data.
2. The RNH and panel owner are expected to send us all documents deemed acceptable to prove the accuracy of the WHOIS data within 7 days. WHOIS data includes the domain name holder and all persons.
3. If no response is given to our requests within the given time frame, it may lead to the failure of the resolution process.
4. After examining all documents received, a decision is made on one of the following:

• If the submitted documents confirm the accuracy of WHOIS data, the resolution process can be completed.
• If the submitted documents do not confirm the accuracy of WHOIS data, the resolution process can be completed after the information is updated.
• If the resolution process fails, the domain name can be suspended/deleted according to the domain name registration policy, and the RNH and panel owner is notified.

Notes:

Any incorrect information in the WHOIS records of a domain name should be updated in a timely manner. As the Registrar, it is our responsibility to maintain WHOIS for all domain names registered through us and to ensure that the information provided therein is current and accurate. Under our ICANN obligations, we are obligated to ensure that all allegations of inaccuracies are investigated.

Handling Process with Cyber Attacks and Trademark Infringement

Within 2 business days from the receipt of the report, the complaint is forwarded to the RNH and the panel owner by e-mail.

If you ask us to share the contact information of the domain owner:

• If this information is publicly available, we will send you the available WHOIS data.
• If this information is not disclosed in the WHOIS database and is only available through the registry, you will be notified on how to proceed.
• If the RNH is subject to the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), you are required to send us a formal request. It is expected that this request will be in writing and will comply with GDPR.

Notlar:

METUnic, as a Registrar, is only a technical and administrative intermediary between the domain name owner and the registry authority. As such, METUnic is not responsible for trademark infringement caused by domain names under our management and acquired by our customers.

Furthermore, based on a claim, METUnic does not have the authority and responsibility to legally take any action such as suspension, deletion, cancellation, or transfer of ownership. These actions may only be taken following a court judgment against the registrant or any other dispute resolution procedure relating to domain names, such as ICANN’s Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/help/dndr/udrp-en), or following alternative dispute resolution processes available to the relevant registration authority.

However, if we have sufficient evidence of phishing, malware, redirection of site traffic to an illegal site, or sending spam, we may suspend the relevant domain name.