Facebook gets judge to halt 35.com domain registrar sale

Court issues temporary restraining order after Meta alleges the company is trying to sell assets to avoid paying judgment.

Facebook, Instagram, and their parent company Meta Platforms have gotten a temporary restraining order aimed at halting the sale of the domain registrar 35.com.

The companies won a cybersquatting case against the company for activities at OnlineNic, which is affiliated with 35.com. The registrar owes Meta $3.135 plus legal fees, estimated at $2.2 million.

35.com has yet to pay up, and Meta discovered that earlier this month, 35.com’s (aka 35.cn) board authorized the sale of the registrar business and accreditation to another company for approximately $6.6 million. The sale was due to be approved by a shareholder vote yesterday.

In a filing (pdf) with the U.S. District Court in California that oversaw the case, Meta argued:

Given that 35.CN is attempting to sell its valuable registrar business and accreditation, Plaintiffs fear that 35.CN is frustrating Plaintiffs’ ability to recover any judgment that the Court may enter. Consequently, Plaintiffs request that the Court enter a temporary restraining order freezing 35.CN’s assets to ensure that, among other things, 35.CN is prohibited from selling off its registrar business and accreditation.

On Friday, the judge approved the restraining order (pdf) stating that 35.com can’t sell or transfer its registrar business or accreditation until it deposits $5.5 million into an escrow account. 

It is unclear how this will affect the Chinese domain registrar; Meta has long argued that OnlineNic is an alter ego of 35.com and not a separate company.