Domain owners have accused RegisterFly of losing more than
75,000 domains as the company's founder has become embroiled in a
courtroom power struggle for the company.
Accusations that company money has been spent on lavish Miami
penthouse apartments, escort services and a $6,000 chihuahua have
peppered a legal tussle for the company between owner Kevin Medina
and John Naruzewicz, Medina's business and personal partner of 10
years.
At one point earlier this year two parallel RegisterFly sites
were in operations, one at .com and one at .net. Naruzewicz
controlled the .com site, but was ordered to hand control of it and
the company back to Medina by a New Jersey court.
The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) has won a temporary court order which instructs RegisterFly
to transfer data to it so that it can be sent on to other
registrars.
Thousands of domain names have lapsed because customers were
unable to renew them through RegisterFly in recent weeks, and there
is a long history of customer complaints against the firm.
ICANN has reportedly received complaints against the company
dating back to 2005, including that customers were being
overcharged or that customers who complained about overcharging to
the company had their accounts suspended. Over 75,000 domain names
were lost in January alone, according to reports.
ICANN had previously said that it could not hold RegisterFly to
account over its responsibilities in ICANN's Registrar
Accreditation Agreements, but did eventually file a lawsuit seeking
an order that the company's domains be transferred.
The temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued by the US
Federal Court for the Central District of California. A hearing
will take place on 26th April to determine whether the order can be
extended for a longer period.
The order instructs RegisterFly to supply ICANN with all
customer data within 48 hours and to supply weekly updates of that
information.
"With current and accurate registrant data, ICANN will be in a
position to initiate a bulk transfer to another registrar, either
with RegisterFly's cooperation while the company remains an
ICANN-accredited registrar, or unilaterally if RegisterFly's
accreditation is terminated," said an ICANN statement.
"In addition to seeking a Preliminary Injunction, ICANN will
continue pursuing RegisterFly in the Central District of California
for, among other things, breach of contract," it said.
RegisterFly is also being sued in a class action case by Anne
Martinez, who alleges that the company systematically defrauded
customers who tried to register or renew domain names. Martinez
claims that the company is likely to cause her to lose the address
GoCertify.com, which is attached to a business she claims supports
herself and her children.
