Domain owners have accused RegisterFly of losing more than 75,000 domains as the company's founder has become embroiled in a courtroom power struggle for the company.
Accusations that company money has been spent on lavish Miami penthouse apartments, escort services and a $6,000 chihuahua have peppered a legal tussle for the company between owner Kevin Medina and John Naruzewicz, Medina's business and personal partner of 10 years.
At one point earlier this year two parallel RegisterFly sites were in operations, one at .com and one at .net. Naruzewicz controlled the .com site, but was ordered to hand control of it and the company back to Medina by a New Jersey court.
The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has won a temporary court order which instructs RegisterFly to transfer data to it so that it can be sent on to other registrars.
Thousands of domain names have lapsed because customers were unable to renew them through RegisterFly in recent weeks, and there is a long history of customer complaints against the firm.
ICANN has reportedly received complaints against the company dating back to 2005, including that customers were being overcharged or that customers who complained about overcharging to the company had their accounts suspended. Over 75,000 domain names were lost in January alone, according to reports.
ICANN had previously said that it could not hold RegisterFly to account over its responsibilities in ICANN's Registrar Accreditation Agreements, but did eventually file a lawsuit seeking an order that the company's domains be transferred.
The temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued by the US Federal Court for the Central District of California. A hearing will take place on 26th April to determine whether the order can be extended for a longer period.
The order instructs RegisterFly to supply ICANN with all customer data within 48 hours and to supply weekly updates of that information.
"With current and accurate registrant data, ICANN will be in a position to initiate a bulk transfer to another registrar, either with RegisterFly's cooperation while the company remains an ICANN-accredited registrar, or unilaterally if RegisterFly's accreditation is terminated," said an ICANN statement.
"In addition to seeking a Preliminary Injunction, ICANN will continue pursuing RegisterFly in the Central District of California for, among other things, breach of contract," it said.
RegisterFly is also being sued in a class action case by Anne Martinez, who alleges that the company systematically defrauded customers who tried to register or renew domain names. Martinez claims that the company is likely to cause her to lose the address GoCertify.com, which is attached to a business she claims supports herself and her children.
