Less than two weeks ago, Facebook purchased the domain registrar RegistrarSEC. Observers found this step very strange, as the registration business does not seem to be a priority for Facebook. The Internet giant has long and successfully used the services of the large registrar MarkMonitor. Moreover, RegistrarSEC managed only 11 domain names. However, the mystery seems to have been solved and has the features of a detective story.
According to Domain Incite, Instagram.com, which belongs to Facebook, was transferred to RegistrarSEC two days ago. However, facebook.com, whatsapp.com, fb.com and all the other Facebook domains are still with MarkMonitor. Apparently, the move is related to a lawsuit filed by the Zhou family in China. Instagram.com was owned by Zhou Weiming, who bought it from a US domain investor and later died, leaving behind a wife and three daughters.
Instagram acquired the name for $100,000 from the Zhou family in January 2011. Perhaps, the family thinks they made a bad bargain. At the moment, they are suing each other, compromising the interests of millions of Instagram users. The widow and her two daughters are blaming the third daughter for selling the Instagram domain name and thus violating their rights to the inheritance. The case looks like typical cybersquatting, though the Chinese court may not go through all of the details and take a decision obliging the registrar to return the domain to its former owners, or, at least, to block it during the trial. This would clearly have a terrible impact on business.
However, the registrar can decide whether to heed the Chinese court’s decision. With the risk too great, Facebook opted to transfer the domain to a registrar subordinate to the social network, which is why RegistrarSEC was purchased. As further proof, Facebook could have created its own registrar and accredited it with ICANN, which would have been even cheaper, but doing so is a lengthy process, and since the lawsuit is underway, quick measures needed to be taken.
