The French expat snapped up France.com from Web.com and set up a “digital kiosk” website for French speakers in the US. However, the relationship had soured by 2015, with France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs launching a lawsuit to expropriate the domain from its owner. In 2017, Paris’s Court of Appeals ruled that France.com was violating French trademark law and by March 2018, Web.com had caved in and abruptly handed over ownership of France.com to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Frydman will be using VeriSign as defendants, an Internet company that has full licensing control over .com and .net domains. Currently if users type in France.com into their search browser they are redirected to France.fr, France's official brand website.

Source: The Local April 30, 2018 10:44 UTC