Microsoft has surrendered the 23 domain names it confiscated from dynamic domain hosting service No-IP.com, a move that begins the process of restoring millions of connections that went dark as a result of the highly controversial legal action.

At the time this post was being prepared, No-IP had recovered 18 of the domains and was in the process of reacquiring the remaining five from Public Interest Registry, the registry for Internet addresses ending in .org, No-IP spokeswoman Natalie Goguen told Ars. People who rely on No-IP subdomains that don't end in .org should already have service restored, as long as the domain name service (DNS) server they use has been updated to reflect Wednesday's transfer. Users who are still experiencing connectivity problems should try using DNS services from Google or OpenDNS, which have both updated their lookups to incorporate the transfers.

Swaths of the Internet broken

Microsoft confiscated the No-IP domains in late June through a secretive legal maneuver that didn't give the dynamic DNS provider an opportunity to oppose the motion in court. Microsoft's ex parte request was part of a legal action designed to dismantle two sprawling networks of infected Windows computers that were abusing No-IP in an attempt to evade takedown. As partial justification for the request, Microsoft lawyers argued No-IP didn't follow security best practices.

On Monday, Microsoft said it planned to use its Azure cloud platform to block malicious No-IP subdomains that were the subject of the court action while permitting legitimate subdomains to connect as normal. In practice, dynamic DNS hosting was wiped out for all, or virtually all, No-IP users. In the process, more than 4 million connections went dark, Reno, Nevada-based No-IP said.

Some defenders of Microsoft's actions have claimed that the consequences of the domain confiscations were limited to administrators who should know better than to rely on dynamic DNS hosting to make their networks work. In fact, large numbers of end users rely on such services from No-IP as well as other providers. Home routers, video surveillance, and security systems, for example, often benefit from having an Internet-connected address that updates each time an IP address changes, making them perfect for No-IP. Players of the online game Minecraft often use dynamic DNS to host servers that allow people to play in real time. The Microsoft seizure reportedly also took down playing of Chess 2: The Sequel.

In fairness to Microsoft, aggressive legal actions that confiscate domain names have played a key role in ridding the Internet of some of the most abusive and resilient botnets. The company's legal department deserves credit for innovating a maneuver that has made the Internet a safer place. These draconian actions, however, should be taken only as a last resort. Microsoft has yet to respond to No-IP allegations that no one at Microsoft ever privately complained of the abuse. It that's true, it's hard to conclude this episode wasn't an overreach and a gross abuse of the legal process.