On March 26, 2020, the government of South Africa issued its “Electronic Communications, Postal and Broadcasting Directions Issued Under Regulation 10(8) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (ACT No. 57 of 2002)” (the directions). 

While much of the directions deal with telecommunication issues, it also requires immediate action by owners of .za top-level domain names that have active websites associated with the domain names. Specifically, Section 5.1.4 of the directions require “All Internet sites operating within .za DNA top-level domain name must have a landing page with a visible link to www.sacoronavirus.co.za.”

Taft’s domain name/ICANN practice is led by Paul McGrady, who has been recognized nationally by World Trademark Review for a number of years for his gTLD practice. If you have questions regarding your obligations under the directions or if you would like to review your domain name portfolio and strategy to ensure best practices, please contact Paul McGrady or your usual Taft attorney.

Please visit our COVID-19 Toolkit for all of Taft’s updates on the coronavirus.