Texas wins court order to suspend domain name for violating age-verification law

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he secured a court order directing Verisign to suspend the domain name motherless.com for violating the state's age-verification law. Paxton said the writ requires the registry operator to place the domain on a registry lock or hold. The owner, Kick Online Entertainment, may seek to replevy the domain by posting a $9.14 million bond conditioned on implementing compliant age verification and satisfying previously awarded civil penalties. Paxton sued Kick Online Entertainment in April 2024 for violating the age-verification law. He obtained a default judgment and permanent injunction requiring the company to stop publishing harmful sexual material to minors and implement reasonable age-verification measures. The company ignored the lawsuit and refused to comply with the court's order, continuing to publish material accessible to minors in Texas. Paxton said the court order establishes a precedent that websites can be stripped of their domain if they ignore the law and harm children with pornographic content. He said protecting children is not only about collecting a penalty but also shutting down websites that refuse to obey the law. The office said the writ demonstrates Texas has the legal authority to reach beyond its borders and hold foreign operators accountable.