In a lawsuit against GoDaddy, Ethereum Name Service (ENS) eventually regained control of the eth.link domain name and won a court order.
On Sunday came the message that ENS had won the domain provider.
The lawsuit
Earlier this month, GoDaddy, Daynadot, and Manifold Finance filed a lawsuit against GoDaddy, Dynadot, and Manifold Finance.
The lawsuit came after GoDaddy transferred the eth.link domain name to domain name registrar Dynadot before its expiration date.
They also sold the name at auction, in what ENS called a “breach of contract,” violating an agreement to recognize, protect, and respect the eth.link name.
ENS
The Ethereum name service uses the eth.link domain to connect .eth names to DNS, or the domain name system that connects web browsers to websites.
The service allows users of .eth domains to create self-viewing websites with ENS names, making them accessible through a standard browser.
The loss of eth.link access to the ENS and the disrupted service to its users
However, the crisis was resolved.
Injunction
The U.S. District Judge assigned to the case granted ENS’s request for an injunction.
They also ordered the return of the eth.link name and the restoration of EthLink services.
“Our injunction was successful and the name has been returned to us,” ENS said on Twitter on Sunday evening.
Domain name purchase
According to Domain Name Wire, Manifold Finance previously purchased the eth.link domain name from DynaDot for $851,919.
In a closed thread on the ENS forums, Manifold co-founder Sam Bacha explained why the company “broke” the name.
“We wanted the domain name because we had intentions of establishing a special purpose trust to provide the legal entity for which key pieces of some of our own infrastructure could have been held,” he explained.
Bacha suggested that ENS could buy Manifold’s domain name. True Names CEO Khori Whittaker dismissed the idea.
“By court order, the eth.link domain does not belong to Manifold Finance, and it has no current right to sell the domain,” said Whittaker.
ENS lead developer nick.eth previously said he was disappointed and misled by GoDaddy’s actions.
Reference:
Ethereum Name Service regains control of EthLink domain in lawsuit against GoDaddy
