Freenom, a domain name registrar that has attracted spammers and phishers with its free domain names, no longer accepts new domain name registrations. The action was taken just days after Meta filed a lawsuit against the Netherlands registrar, alleging that the latter ignored abuse reports concerning phishing websites while generating revenue from visitors to such abusive domains, according to Brian Krebs.
Five so-called "country code top level domains" (ccTLDs) are managed by Freenom, including.cf for the Central African Republic,.ga for Gabon,.gq for Equatorial Guinea,.ml for Mali, and.tk for Tokelau.
Freenom has never charged for the registration of domains in these country-code extensions, likely to entice consumers to pay for services that are related to them, such as registering a.com or.net domain, for which Freenom does charge a fee.
Social media giant Meta filed a lawsuit against Freenom in Northern California on March 3, 2023, citing trademark infringement and violations of cybersquatting. The lawsuit also demands information on the names of 20 separate "John Does" — Freenom customers that Meta says have been particularly active in phishing assaults against Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp users.
The lawsuit makes reference to a 2021 study on domain abuse done for the European Commission, which found that those ccTLDs run by Freenom comprised five of the Top Ten TLDs most frequently utilised by phishers.
As per Brian Krebs, the complaint asserts that the five ccTLDs to which Freenom offers its services are the TLDs of choice for cybercriminals because Freenom offers cost-free domain name registration services and hides the identities of its customers even after being shown proof that the domain names are being used for unlawful purposes. Freenom keeps granting those same clients additional infringing domain names even after getting complaints from them about infringement or phishing.
Meta further claims that "Freenom has repeatedly failed to take appropriate steps to investigate and respond appropriately to reports of abuse," and that it monetizes traffic from infringing domains by reselling them and by including "parking pages" that direct visitors to other commercial websites, pornographic websites, and websites used for malicious activities like phishing.
Requests for comment have not yet received a response from Freenom. However, as at the time of writing, attempts to register a domain via the business' website resulted in the following error message:
“Because of technical issues the Freenom application for new registrations is temporarily out-of-order. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. We are working on a solution and hope to resume operations shortly. Thank you for your understanding.”
Freenom has its headquarters in The Netherlands, but the case also names a few of its other sister firms as defendants, some of which are established in the US.
When Meta first filed this action in December 2022, it requested that the case be sealed in order to limit the public's access to court records related to the case. Following the denial of that request, Meta modified and re-filed the case last week.
According to Meta, this isn't just an instance of another domain name registrar ignoring abuse concerns because it's bad for business. According to the lawsuit, Freenom's proprietors "are a part of a web of businesses established to promote cybersquatting, all for the advantage of Freenom."
“On information and belief, one or more of the ccTLD Service Providers, ID Shield, Yoursafe, Freedom Registry, Fintag, Cervesia, VTL, Joost Zuurbier Management Services B.V., and Doe Defendants were created to hide assets, ensure unlawful activity including cybersquatting and phishing goes undetected, and to further the goals of Freenom,” Meta claimed.
Brian further explained that although the reason for Freenom's decision to stop offering domain registration is yet unknown, it's possible that the company has recently been the target of disciplinary action by the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which regulates domain registrars.
In June 2015, ICANN put a 90-day hold on Freenom's ability to register new domain names or start inbound transfers of existing ones. ICANN's conclusion that Freenom "has engaged in a pattern and practise of trafficking in or use of domain names identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark of a third party in which the Registered Name Holder has no rights or legitimate interest" is the basis for the suspension, according to Meta.