Control of domain registrar’s 35.com domain name — Meta demands
Firm wants domain name frozen following registrar fails to make $5.5 million deposit.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), the parent firm of Facebook and Instagram, is asking a court to give it control of the 35.com domain name.
The request comes following the domain name registrar 35.cn/35.com failed to deposit $5.5 million in an escrow as demanded by a judge overseeing a cybersquatting lawsuit.
Meta won a cybersquatting case against the firm for activities at OnlineNic, which is affiliated with 35.com. The registrar owes Meta $3.135 plus legal fees, estimated at $2.2 million.
Meta discovered that 35.com’s board authorized the sale of its registrar business and accreditation to another firm. The U.S. court issued a restraining order demanding that the Chinese domain firm not sell or transfer its registrar business until it deposited $5.5 million into an escrow account. The restraining order was a bit confusing; it both required 35.com to deposit $5.5 million by January 31 and to not sell its registrar assets until it deposited $5.5 million.
In a filing on Friday, Meta stated it was unsure if the firm went through with the asset sale, but it seized on the requirement that 35.com make the deposit by January 31. Meta has not received notice that the money was deposited into an escrow account.
Meta is requesting that the court:
- Seize the 35.com domain name through the U.S.-based .com registry Verisign (while allowing 35.com to continue using it)
- Freeze assets
- Get an accounting for 35.coms’s possible sale of its registrar business
- Order ICANN to withhold consent for a registrar change of control
- Award Meta more legal fees
The latest court filing is here (pdf).
