Need Advice: NiceNIC Pending ClientHold After User-Uploaded Content Was Removed

Hi guys,

Looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with NiceNIC abuse cases, clientHold, or transfer restrictions before.

I manage a website for a client. It is a legal adult website that allows users to submit/upload content.

Recently NiceNIC received a complaint regarding one piece of user-uploaded content alleging that it was non-consensual intimate/adult material.

As soon as we became aware of the complaint:

• The reported page was completely removed.
• The reported image was deleted from the origin server.
• The cached CDN copy was also removed.
• The user responsible for uploading it was permanently banned.
• All URLs mentioned by the complainant are now inaccessible.

There has never been any phishing, malware, botnet activity, pharming or malicious spam associated with the domain.

The website is not hosted by NiceNIC and DNS is also handled by a third-party provider. NiceNIC is only the registrar.

The strange part is that NiceNIC's abuse dashboard has classified the case under its "DNS Abuse" handling path and moved it to:

Pending ClientHold

There is a deadline after which they say clientHold may be applied.

I have replied to them multiple times with proof that everything reported has been removed and have requested a re-review. I also asked them to extend the deadline if they require any additional evidence.

NiceNic are the worst and should be avoided at all costs.
It's pure bingo if they'll put the domain on ClientHold or not, even if you have removed the content and replied.
Next time they'll receive an "abuse" for the domian, you might be permanetly suspended.
Good luck though.

@nicenic always have standard AI answers when answering someone here on the forum, it's basically impossible to get some concrete answers, but I'd still be interested to hear why you're treating adult content as DNS abuse?

Hello @hahayesfuku, to protect your privacy, we’ve contacted you by PM as recommended by the BHW moderator.

Please reply to our private message so we can continue reviewing the case with you there. Thank you!

Hello @anotherjohndoe, we've now reviewed the 2024 case using the ticket number you provided and replied to you by PM. We'll keep the case details there out of respect for your privacy. Thank you for your time!