Texas wins court order to suspend domain name for violating age-verification law
4 hours ago
- #Law Enforcement
- #Legal Precedent
- #Online Safety
- Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a court order to cut off the pornographic website motherless.com's domain name operation for failing to protect children from harmful sexual content, setting a precedent for enforcing age-verification laws.
- In April 2024, Paxton sued the site's owner, Kick Online Entertainment, for violating Texas age-verification law, obtaining a default judgment and permanent injunction, but the company ignored it and continued publishing material accessible to minors.
- A court-ordered writ now directs Verisign to lock the domain, allowing release only if a $9.14 million bond is posted and age verification compliant with Texas law is implemented, along with paying civil penalties.
- Paxton stated this establishes a precedent to strip websites of domains for ignoring laws that harm children with pornography, emphasizing protection involves shutting down non-compliant sites and ongoing action against such websites.
- The writ shows Texas can hold foreign operators accountable beyond borders and will use legal mechanisms like domain attachment writs to enforce laws and prevent companies from profiting by exposing children to harmful content.