Freenom Halts Domain Name Registrations After Meta Lawsuit

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Freenom Halts Domain Name Registrations After Meta Lawsuit

By CircleID Reporter
March 08, 2023, 2:12 pm PST Views: 10,812 Add Comment

Freenom, the domain name registrar famous for offering free domain names, has stopped allowing new domain name registrations. This action comes just days after the Dutch registrar was sued by social media giant Meta for allegedly ignoring abuse complaints about phishing websites and monetizing the traffic to those domains. The lawsuit also seeks information about the identities of 20 different customers that Meta says have been particularly active in phishing attacks against Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp users.

The lawsuit points to a 2021 study that discovered that those ccTLDs operated by Freenom made up five of the Top Ten TLDs most abused by phishers. Meta has accused Freenom of cybersquatting violations and trademark infringement, as well as failing to take appropriate steps to investigate and respond to reports of abuse.

It is unclear why Freenom has stopped allowing domain registration, but it could be linked to the suspension of their services by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 2015. ICANN has not yet responded to requests for comment.

By CircleID Reporter — CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.
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