Fight over France.com
The owner of France.com has filed a lawsuit against France after the domain name, which he has used for over two decades, was expropriated.
Jean-Noel Frydman, who was born in France and moved to New York in the eighties, registered the domain name France.com on 10 February 1994.
He launched the first website on the domain on 18 June 1995, and since then formed numerous partnerships – which included branches of the French government.
Frydman said the French government was aware of France.com’s existence, and consistently encouraged and supported its initiatives and activities.
However, in April 2015, France launched a legal battle in France to expropriate the domain name.
France claimed that Frydman’s company had registered the domain name in bad faith and had not been authorised by the state to use it.
“This assertion is not only groundless and absurd, it’s entirely dishonest,” said Frydman.
After a legal battle in France, France.com was transferred by its host Web.com to France’s ministry of Foreign Affairs in March 2018.
Frydman is now fighting back and has filed a lawsuit against the ministry of foreign affairs and its minister.
Frydman aims to recover ownership of France.com, which he says he rightfully obtained.
The France.com domain currently redirects to the English version of the France.fr website.
Now read: CIPC and ZADNA officially launch new domain registration system
Loading ...