Domainnamewire News：A U.S. District Court has found Chinese domain registrar Leascend Technology Co., Ltd, the operator behind 35.com, in civil contempt for failing to comply with a court order in an ongoing legal battle with Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
The case originally began with Meta’s 2020 lawsuit against registrar OnlineNic, accusing it of cybersquatting. In 2021, OnlineNic claimed it was shutting down instead of continuing to defend itself. However, it still appears to be operational. Meta later argued that 35.com was essentially an “alter ego” of OnlineNic and sought to enforce a $5 million judgment, including legal fees, against it.
After Meta discovered in late 2024 that 35.com was attempting to sell its business, the company suspected a move to evade the court’s financial judgment. Meta obtained a temporary restraining order to block the sale. However, Leascend claimed it was already too late.
Leascend later asserted that it tried to comply with the court’s demand by transferring the $5 million into escrow, but said Chinese banking laws prevented the transfer. The judge ruled that Leascend failed to take “every reasonable step” to comply with the order, and noted inconsistencies in explanations provided by Leascend’s legal counsel.
A hearing on potential contempt remedies is scheduled for May 16. Until then, the court has ordered Verisign, the U.S.-based domain registry, to maintain a freeze on multiple domain names associated with the registrar—including the valuable 35.com domain.
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