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legal France seizes France.com from man who’s had it since ‘94, so he sues

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A French-born American has now sued his home country because, he claims, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has illegally seized a domain that he’s owned since 1994: France.com.

In the mid-1990s, Jean-Noël Frydman bought France.com from Web.com and set up a website to serve as a "digital kiosk" for Francophiles and Francophones in the United States.

For over 20 years, Frydman built up a business (also known as France.com)
Finally, on March 12, 2018, Web.com abruptly transferred ownership of the domain to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The company did so without any formal notification to Frydman and no compensation.

"I'm probably [one of Web.com's] oldest customers," Frydman told Ars.
Sources:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...com-from-man-whos-had-it-since-94-so-he-sues/
I also seen this on 1st page of Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/8frmzc/france_seizes_francecom_from_man_whos_had_it/

EDIT: I see people wondering who's crazy to use web.com/NetworkSolutions, this should answer your question: :)
https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/networksolutions.com#trafficstats
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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This might have been a test to see if they could get away with it.
 
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whatever .com is commercially, name of country is brand.. so france.co (colombia) is for sale ^^
 
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I am speaking three languages including French. But I must admit that I like France less and less and I less understand its policy. I like Monaco better.
 
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I am speaking three languages including French. But I must admit that I like France less and less and I less understand its policy. I like Monaco better.
Domain Name: FRANCE.COM
Registry Domain ID: 3388638_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.ovh.com Registrar (French Registrar)
URL: http://www.ovh.com
Updated Date: 2018-04-30T17:29:49Z
Creation Date: 1994-02-10T05:00:00Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2027-02-11T05:00:00Z
Registrar: OVH Registrar IANA ID: 433
 
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The guy should've moved his domain from web.com to some neutral registrar as soon as court proceedings began. Or he should've became his own registrar.

Aren't all web hosting companies registrars too? I mean, why do registrars like HostingDude who offer hosting packages also allow for domain reggae? He should've just shelled some of his earnings to create a web hosting company to become a registrar, then transferred his domain to literally himself.

I mean at the very least he could've transferred his domain to Uniregistry, because Frank wouldn't randomly transfer out a domainer's domain because he wouldn't dare go against his own kind LOL. If Frank did that, he'd meet the rage of all of NP.
 
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Himm.It is very interesting.I had to say good morning France Government ☺️
If they started a case against to them i have francé.com
What should i do if they open a case?
🤔
 
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France owns an entire TLD in .fr.. horrible precedent.

Does this mean America can seize America.com at any moment, or Canada can seize Canada.com, etc.?

Fork up a couple M's and call it good... or use your own TLD if the owner refuses to sell.

Hope this is resolved accordingly.
 
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Would Netsol have handed over Amazon dot com to any amazon 'country claimant' in this manner?
 
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In this case, Parvi.org, the Registrant won, and a judgement of $100,000 against city of Paris, France was awarded. Attorneys fees of 26,830.00 were included. Does anyone know if the Plaintiff collected? ( more details above on DNW)

http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/amc/en/docs/parvi-order.pdf

Amazing! I hope France.com comes back this easy to the owner! Nestsol behaved totally idiotic in handing over the name on the basis of a Court order from France without letting the owner US resident owner know. I hope they get stung!
 
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This story makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.. is there part of a story we’re missing here??? Absolutely wow, is all this can say!!!
 
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An asset that is global should be subject to global regulation, and a case of this nature absolutely should have multiple courts weigh in, and shouldn't have been transferred away so rapidly; unless, of course, (as someone earlier stated) there was something obviously shady being done on the domain that could cause legitimate concern for a nation's safety.
 
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This is going to be very interesting case. First I think the owner should receive the domain back. I personally think it was legally stolen from him by using the full force of the state of France to claim it. To me this is very interesting case. Its first time A Goverment has used its power to seize assett. We have seen city dusputes with Barcelona.com and legal presidence was established with that case.

First France does have its own correct domain its France.fr that is the legal aspect of the registry domain for the country as .fr abides with rules french court. France.com to me the domain was stolen and breaks lots laws think even competition laws broken and conflict of interest laws broken.

Everyone has the right to free trade this breaks free trade rules. there is lots at stake here for the whole domain industry. If they win this then every country domain will over timescale will be taken over by state asks for it then it will be major city and town domains. This will not only apply to domains but also all the other social platforms that run along side the domains.
 
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This is such a terrible situation. It's like having your government take half a million dollars from you with basis for doing so. I hope he continues to fight. Doesn't look good for Web.com either. I wonder if Web.com responded to this.
 
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This is such a terrible situation. It's like having your government take half a million dollars from you with basis for doing so. I hope he continues to fight. Doesn't look good for Web.com either. I wonder if Web.com responded to this.
I wonder what the legal requirements are for registrars to simply hand over domain names deemed in violation? Shouldn’t the domain just be ‘frozen’ in circumstances such as this, then sorted?
 
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Are we going to have to start calling them ‘Freedom Fries’ again?
 
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France owns an entire TLD in .fr.. horrible precedent.

Does this mean America can seize America.com at any moment, or Canada can seize Canada.com, etc.?

Fork up a couple M's and call it good... or use your own TLD if the owner refuses to sell.

Hope this is resolved accordingly.

At least with a .com, the owner can use American not French courts.
 
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And while they are it, why not go after the .net and .org and other extensions ?
Ironically, both the .net and .org are for sale, while the .com was developed and offering bona fide services.
 
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The LaFrance.App domain is available right now, anyone fancy registering it :)
 
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What is difficult to comprehend is that the domain in dispute is already being forwarded and used!, It’s email(s) potentially being forwarded/intercepted..

This domain needs to be frozen, icann landing page implemented or similar, notifying people of what’s happening.

Why can’t registries around the world adhere to a common law rule by icann forcing each registrar to force its name servers to be changed until proceedings have finished..
 
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What is difficult to comprehend is that the domain in dispute is already being forwarded and used!, It’s email(s) potentially being forwarded/intercepted..

This domain needs to be frozen, icann landing page implemented or similar, notifying people of what’s happening.

Why can’t registries around the world adhere to a common law rule by icann forcing each registrar to force its name servers to be changed until proceedings have finished..
Good point, I hope you don't have a map of France emoji Erwin?
 
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Why can’t registries around the world adhere to a common law rule by icann forcing each registrar to force its name servers to be changed until proceedings have finished..
It has nothing to do with Icann and UDRP here, it was a 'legal' process.
Domain disputes can be settled by courts too. UDRP and other arbitration procedures are optional, and do not exist in certain ccTLDs.
 
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