The lawsuit was brought in August by Register.com against Verio Inc, accusing Verio of deceiving Register.com's customers with misleading marketing tactics and violating the terms of use for Register.com's WHOIS database.
Register.com sought a court order to halt Verio's activities, alleging that they constituted breach of contract, trespass to its computer database and violations under US legislation: the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Lanham Act. The Lanham Act covers liability for unfair competition and false designation of origin.
In a court injunction issued on 8th December, US District Judge Barbara S. Jones of the District Court for the Southern District of New York found Register.com likely to succeed on the merits of each of these claims which will be heard at a later date.
As a registrar, Register.com is required to maintain a WHOIS database to give public access to information for the purposes of resolving domain name disputes. Verio used a program to search the WHOIS database for newly registered domain names and then add the details of each registrant to its marketing list. Register.com was alerted to Verio’s actions by complaints from customers who had not opted-in to receive solicitations when registering with Register.com.
Judge Jones ruled that by submitting a WHOIS inquiry, Verio assented to the terms of use required by Register.com. It then breached these terms of use.