ICANN Contractual Compliance Metrics October 2025 to September 2026
Registrar Obligations: Abuse Complaint Type Detail
The chart below provides details concerning the complaints submitted to ICANN Contractual Compliance under Section 3.18 of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement. This chart includes the number of complaints received and the type of abusive activity allegedly associated with the domain name(s) subject to the complaint (the “Complaint Categories”). The complaint categories are selected by the complainant with the submission and are not determined by ICANN Contractual Compliance. One single complaint can include more than one complaint category (e.g., one abuse complaint that involves a domain name that is allegedly used for phishing and to support a botnet infrastructure may result in two complaint categories). Therefore, the sum of all selected complaint categories will not necessarily equal the total number of abuse complaints received within the month. Where the alleged abusive activity does not correspond to any of the specific complaint categories in the chart, the complainant may select the option “Other” (e.g., complaints involving alleged illegal or offensive website content).
| OCT 25 | NOV 25 | DEC 25 | JAN 26 | FEB 26 | MAR 26 | APR 26 | MAY 26 | JUN 26 | JUL 26 | AUG 26 | SEP 26 | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Received Abuse Complaints | 1246 | 1162 | 1438 | 750 | 912 | 1598 | 4376 | 909 | 935 | 750 | 673 | 782 | 1,294 |
| Complaint Categories | |||||||||||||
| Counterfeiting | 76 | 70 | 58 | 42 | 45 | 60 | 75 | 82 | 320 | 142 | 101 | 85 | 96 |
| Fraudulent, deceptive practices | 661 | 317 | 345 | 298 | 530 | 1069 | 3890 | 616 | 465 | 382 | 348 | 371 | 774 |
| Pharmaceutical | 69 | 57 | 114 | 28 | 25 | 52 | 56 | 48 | 163 | 114 | 77 | 50 | 71 |
| Trademark or copyright infringement | 575 | 436 | 470 | 398 | 585 | 1018 | 3923 | 523 | 482 | 316 | 221 | 261 | 767 |
| Abuse contact / procedures information | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 151 | 189 | 229 | 130 | 102 | 261 | 189 | 155 | 268 | 160 | 156 | 134 | 177 |
Registrar Abuse Complaint Type Detail for Invalid/Out-of-scope Closed Complaints vs. Complaints sent to Registrars
The chart below provides details concerning invalid complaints received and closed under Section 3.18 of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement during the reporting period, as well as those closed after obtaining evidence of compliance from the relevant registrar. The chart breaks down these closed complaints by complaint category. The complaint categories are selected by the complainant with the submission and are not determined by ICANN Contractual Compliance. One single complaint can include more than one complaint category (e.g., one abuse complaint involving one domain name that is allegedly used for phishing and to support a botnet infrastructure may result in two complaint categories). Therefore, the sum of all selected complaint categories will not necessarily equal the total number of abuse complaints received within the month. Where the alleged abusive activity does not correspond to any of the specific complaint categories in the chart, the complainant may select the option “Other” (e.g., complaints involving alleged illegal or offensive website content). ICANN Contractual Compliance does not review the validity of the reported activity (e.g., whether the domain name is, in fact, being used to conduct the reported activity botnet, phishing, etc.). Rather, ICANN Contractual Compliance validates whether the complaint itself falls within ICANN’s contractual scope to address and if so, whether the registrar complied with its obligations under 3.18 of the RAA.
| OCT 25 | NOV 25 | DEC 25 | JAN 26 | FEB 26 | MAR 26 | APR 26 | MAY 26 | JUN 26 | JUL 26 | AUG 26 | SEP 26 | Average | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closed Abuse Complaints | 769 | 433 | 530 | 634 | 782 | 1,099 | 573 | 6,045 | 396 | 459 | 349 | 365 | 1,036 | 100% |
| Closed as Invalid | 729 | 403 | 504 | 599 | 745 | 1,055 | 537 | 6,000 | 372 | 418 | 300 | 309 | 998 | 96% |
| Sent to Registrar | 40 | 30 | 26 | 35 | 37 | 44 | 36 | 45 | 24 | 41 | 49 | 56 | 39 | 4% |
| By Complaint Category | ||||||||||||||
| Counterfeiting | ||||||||||||||
| Closed as Invalid | 79 | 33 | 36 | 21 | 50 | 54 | 23 | 25 | 61 | 42 | 32 | 29 | 40 | 95% |
| Sent to Registrar | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5% |
| Fraudulent, deceptive practices | ||||||||||||||
| Closed as Invalid | 356 | 267 | 172 | 200 | 356 | 363 | 199 | 4828 | 168 | 193 | 135 | 138 | 615 | 98% |
| Sent to Registrar | 21 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 13 | 11 | 19 | 6 | 11 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 2% |
| Pharmaceutical | ||||||||||||||
| Closed as Invalid | 26 | 23 | 31 | 39 | 19 | 35 | 28 | 50 | 33 | 45 | 20 | 20 | 31 | 89% |
| Sent to Registrar | 4 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11% |
| Trademark or copyright infringement | ||||||||||||||
| Closed as Invalid | 262 | 241 | 152 | 126 | 310 | 493 | 184 | 5590 | 133 | 129 | 86 | 87 | 649 | 98% |
| Sent to Registrar | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 2% |
| Abuse contact / procedures information | ||||||||||||||
| Closed as Invalid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Sent to Registrar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Other | ||||||||||||||
| Closed as Invalid | 147 | 98 | 73 | 73 | 86 | 159 | 119 | 94 | 80 | 83 | 63 | 42 | 93 | 95% |
| Sent to Registrar | 4 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5% |