Porn site domain suspended for violating age verification requirements — Texas gets
Domain owner must post $9.14 million bond to get domain back.
The State of Texas has successfully used its age verification law to get .com registry Verisign to suspend a domain used for a porn site.
Texas has a law that requires sites with “sexual material harmful to minors” to verify a user’s age, and it goes well beyond just having the person click a box affirming their age. Users must provide a government-issued ID, or the site has to use a verification service or similar mechanism.
In April 2024, Attorney General Paxton sued Kick Online Entertainment over one of its sites. The firm did not respond to the lawsuit.
Now, Texas has obtained a court-ordered writ directing Verisign to suspend the domain associated with the site. It can only petition to get it back by posting a $9.14 million bond conditioned on implementing age verification that complies with Texas law and satisfying the civil penalties previously awarded in the case.
The Attorney General’s office disclosed the win while Paxton is apparently vacationing in Iceland.
