Last week Microsoft took control of a number of websites that were being managed by No-IP. Despite the fact that a court order had been obtained, the action widely condemned as being too heavy-handed. In total, 23 domains had been seized by Microsoft, but today the domains have been placed back in the hands of the dynamic DNS company.
A statement on the No-IP website explains the current state of play:
“We would like to give you an update and announce that ALL of the 23 domains that were seized by Microsoft on June 30 are now back in our control. Please realize that it may take up to 24 hours for the DNS to fully propagate, but everything should be fully functioning within the next day. One of the domains, noip.me, took longer to get back online, but it should be fully restored within the next day.”
Microsoft had previously obtained a court order that enabled the company to seize domains believed to be used by cybercriminals to distribute malware. The court was convinced that Vitalwerks Internet Solutions, the company behind No-IP, was not doing enough to monitor and control the use of the domains. Many people have question what compelled Microsoft to get involved, and it’s not yet clear what has changed. Full details of what has happened to bring about the handover of domains have not yet been released, but there is a promise that more information is to come:
“We are so sorry for the inconvenience that this takedown has caused our customers. Thank you so much for the support and for sticking with us through the entire process this week. More information surrounding this event will be released within the next few days, so stay tuned.”
We have reached out to Microsoft for comment, and we’ll update this post when we hear back.
