In a lawsuit against GoDaddy, the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) finally claimed control of the eth.link domain name after winning a court order.
On Sunday came the news that ENS had won the domain provider.
Ethereum Name Service’s lawsuit
Earlier this month, True Names Ltd., the parent company of ENS, and former eth.link owner Virgil Griffith 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,” in violation of an agreement to recognize, protect, and honor the eth.link name.
ENS
The Ethereum naming service uses the eth.link domain to connect .eth names to DNS, or the domain naming system that connects web browsers to websites.
The service allows users of .eth domains to create self-displaying websites with ENS names, accessible through a standard browser.
The loss of eth.link’s access to ENS meant a disruption of service to its users.
However, the crisis was eventually resolved.
Injunction
The U.S. District Judge assigned to the case granted ENS’ request for an injunction.
They also ordered the return of the name eth.link and the restoration of the EthLink services.
“Our injunction was successful and the name has been returned to us,” ENS shared on Twitter Sunday night.
Purchase of the domain name
According to Domain Name Wire, Manifold Finance had previously purchased DynaDot’s eth.link domain name for $ 851,919.
In a closed thread on the ENS forums, Manifold co-founder Sam Bacha explained why the company had “cut” 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 executive director Khori Whittaker rejected 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
