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Newfold settles Meta cybersquatting lawsuit

Kevin Murphy, September 3, 2026, 14:41:05 (UTC), Domain Registrars

Newfold Digital says it has settled a cybersquatting lawsuit with Facebook owner Meta, and will make an undisclosed payment to Meta as a result.

Judging by the registrar’s press release, it’s pretty much bent over for Meta without actually admitting any wrongdoing.

Meta is to get “trusted notifier” status at Newfold following the settlement, meaning it gets a fast-track to take down domains it believes infringe its trademark or are engaging in other nefarious schemes.

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 against New Venture Services, a subsidiary of Newfold, then known as Web.com.

Meta had claimed that NVS was in the business of registering expired domains, at least 78 of which infringed Meta’s trademarks, and then monetizing or trying to flip them.

All the domains at issue in the case will be transferred to Meta, and Newfold said it “recognizes Meta’s legitimate interest in enforcing Meta’s intellectual property rights”.

It further said it is “improving its processes for all DNS abuse and trademark abuse in the domain name aftermarket, including for trademark holders to report infringing domain names to stop abusive registration practices”.

One of the largest registrar groups, Newfold is the holding company for brands including Network Solutions, Register.com, and SnapNames.


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