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Since 1997, the Tonga Network Information Center (Tonic) has been responsible for the .to top-level domain

This country-specific extension is linked to the Kingdom of Tonga but the Tonic registry is incorporated in the United States and operating from the California city of Burlingame.

Compared to more than 160 million .com registrations, use of .to is relatively modest with just over 60,000. Interestingly, however, .to domain names appear to be somewhat of a magnet for pirate site operators.

This unusual attraction is a thorn in the side of rightsholders. Earlier this month, the MPA listed the registry in its overview of notorious piracy markets submitted to the U.S. Government, highlighting Tonic’s alleged inaction over piracy-related issues.

Warezio Sees Tonic as a Piracy Haven

Today, the .to registry is again at the center of a complaint. The Czech anti-piracy firm Warezio, which works on behalf of many local rightsholders, wrote a letter to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), urging it to take action, or else.

“As an anti-piracy company, we frequently encounter .to domains in our enforcement activities, which has given us firsthand insight into the registry’s problematic practices. This is not a coincidence but a direct result of the registry’s operational approach that prioritizes anonymity over accountability,” Warezio writes.

Warezio’s letter complains that the Tonic registry lacks basic transparency and accountability mechanisms. For example, there is no public Whois database and no formal terms and conditions for domain owners, which frustrates anti-piracy actions.

The letter adds that the .to registry also lacks a dispute-resolution mechanism, does not publish sufficient contact information, and fails to comply with European privacy legislation.

Warezio Threatens ICANN with Legal Action

While complaints about Tonic are not new, Warezio addresses ICANN directly and suggests that the organization can be held legally responsible under the Czech Republic’s unfair competition law.

Warezio argues that by “knowingly tolerating a registry operator that facilitates unlawful commercial activities,” ICANN risks being regarded as an “auxiliary participant” in the alleged unfair competition that takes place through the .to domain ecosystem.

“Should ICANN continue to remain inactive despite having been duly informed of these facts, it would expose itself to potential legal actions for unfair competition before the competent Czech courts,” Warezio writes.

“Such proceedings could seek injunctive relief, corrective measures, and compensation for the ongoing market distortion and harm suffered by Czech rights holders and legitimate businesses.”

Warezio calls on ICANN to require domain registry operators to provide Whois data and take additional measures to guarantee transparency and accountability. This applies to Tonic, but also more generally to other registries that have similar shortcomings.

“The internet community deserves domain registries that balance legitimate privacy concerns with the need for accountability and legal compliance. We trust that ICANN will take swift and decisive action to address these critical issues.”

The anti-piracy outfit demands a response within seven days. If no action is taken, it reserves the right to follow up on the unfair competition claims.

ICANN’s Limited Authority Over ccTLDs

ICANN has yet to respond to the letter, but Warezio’s allegations appear to go beyond how the organization sees its own role in the domain name ecosystem.

Warezio wants ICANN to enforce new standards on the .to registry but ICANN has repeatedly stated that it lacks the authority to do so. According to ICANN, its compliance department “does not have contract authority to take compliance action against ccTLD operators.”

ICANN has significant influence over generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as .com and .net, accrediting registrars and overseeing relevant policies for these domains. In contrast, country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) operate differently.

These ccTLDs and their registries operate under local laws and regulations. This also applies to the implementation of policies concerning Whois requirements and domain name disputes.

“The ccTLD policies regarding registration, accreditation of registrars and Whois are managed according to the relevant oversight and governance mechanisms within the country, with no role for ICANN’s Compliance department in these areas,” ICANN writes.

Notably, the anti-piracy outfit is not threatening to take legal action against Tonic directly. At least, there is no mention of any direct threats against the registry or Tonga’s authorities.

Instead, Warezio’s letter appears to challenge ICANN’s policy, suggesting that it can be held liable for ccTLD-related issues under the Czech Republic’s unfair competition law. Whether this approach will work is unclear, but if it results in a legal battle, that would certainly be one to watch.

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A copy of the letter, sent by Warezio’s CEO Jakub Hájek to ICANN’s legal department, is available here (pdf). This also includes more detail on a potential claim against ICANN.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Over the years, we’ve witnessed dozens of anti-piracy campaigns. Despite these efforts, reported piracy rates appear to increase, seemingly undeterred.

Research has indicated that piracy is a complex phenomenon that’s not always easy to grasp. However, understanding the motivations of pirates can be key to changing their behavior, new research suggests.

Piracy Study: Social Risks & Norms

An academic study recently published in Frontiers in Behavioral Economics, explores the social drivers of digital piracy, focusing on gender differences. The research, conducted by Kate M. Whitman and Joe Cox, looked at how perceptions of social norms and risks can impact people’s intention to pirate.

The researchers tackled the issue from two different angles, using an online survey of 684 participants.

First, they looked for a link between participants’ personal feelings and their past piracy consumption. They then checked if this was linked to people’s perceived “social risk,” including concerns that pirating would make them look cheap or unethical.

For the second angle, the researchers tested if they could change people’s minds about their future behavior. The respondents had to guess how common piracy is, and some of them were then shown the real piracy rate, taken from a large UK government survey.

This setup effectively created two experimental groups. One was explicitly told that their estimate of the piracy rate among their peers was “too high”, while the others were informed that theirs was “too low”. Finally, a control group received no comparison message at all.

Men Pirate More

The results of the study confirm the existing perceptions on gender differences. Men use pirate sources more often when they consume music or live sports, which are the two content categories addressed in the research.

In the music category, the rate was 3% for women versus 7% for men. The gender gap was even more pronounced for live sports, where men say that 21% of their consumption comes from pirate sources, compared to 8% for women.

“These results show that even when controlling for legal demand, men tend to pirate more than women. They also show that live sport consumers derive more of their consumption from illegal sources than music consumers,” the researchers conclude.

“Social Risk” & The Fear of Looking “Cheap”

The study also examined the link between perceived social risk and piracy. This was measured by asking to what degree friends and family would think the respondent was “unethical,” a “criminal,” or “couldn’t afford legal content” if they knew they pirated.

The perceived social risk score was not correlated with music piracy for men and women. Whether they pirated a lot or barely at all was not linked to these social drawbacks.

For live sports piracy, however, higher perceived social risk was associated with a lower piracy rate, particularly among men. While this is a correlational finding, the researchers suggest that it may be due to male sports culture.

“This aligns with masculine norms that emphasize status, independence, and financial competence, especially within male-dominated, group-oriented social contexts like sports fandom.

“In these settings, the reputational cost of appearing “cheap” or socially deviant may be particularly salient,” the researchers add.

Experiment: Piracy Statistics Can Backfire

The second part of the study was an experiment. It examined whether explicitly pointing out that people over- or underestimate the piracy statistics of their peers, would change their intention to pirate in the future. This led to some key results.

Those who overestimated the official Government data, thinking that piracy was more common among their peers, did not change their future piracy plans. That was true for both men and women.

Intriguingly, however, men who had underestimated how common piracy was increased their willingness to pirate in the future after they were informed that piracy is more prevalent than they thought. On women, this had little effect.

This means that campaigns, studies, and other reports that highlight how widespread piracy is, can actually backfire. Some men may see this as a justification to pirate more themselves.

“These findings highlight the risks of campaigns that emphasize how common piracy is, particularly among men, without considering how such information may inadvertently normalize and license the behavior,” the researchers write.

Limitations and Future Research

While these findings are new and noteworthy, this type of research, which relies on self-reported intentions and behavior, always comes with caveats. The authors of the paper realize this and mention it as one of the limitations.

For example, the social risk questions were asked before participants reported their past piracy behavior. This may have primed participants, influencing their own piracy score.

While not directly mentioned in the paper, the experimental part of the study could also be impacted. By putting participants in a “social risk” mindset, it may have influenced how they estimated peer piracy rates, systematically affecting who was placed in the “underestimator” and “overestimator” groups.

All in all, the study presents a clear takeaway for anti-piracy organizations. For decades, campaigns have focused on highlighting the massive scale of the piracy problem, but this research suggests that revealing how common piracy is could actually backfire.

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Whitman KM and Cox J (2025) The rising tide of piracy: the influence of social roles, risks and norms on illegal consumption. Front. Behav. Econ. 4:1631329. doi: 10.3389/frbhe.2025.1631329

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.