Texas Court Orders Registry Lock on motherless.com for Age‑Verification Law Violation

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a court‑ordered writ that forces Verisign to place motherless.com under a registry lock. The order follows a default judgment against Kick Online Entertainment for violating the state's age‑verification statute. The lock can be lifted only if the operator posts a $9.14 million bond and complies with the mandated verification measures. This is the first time a state court has used a domain‑registry writ to enforce content‑age rules, raising new compliance questions for web operators.

What happened

In April 2024 the Texas Attorney General sued Kick Online Entertainment, the operator of motherless.com, alleging that the site failed to implement reasonable age‑verification for minors. A default judgment and permanent injunction required the company to stop publishing harmful sexual material to Texas minors and to adopt age‑verification mechanisms.

When Kick ignored the order, Paxton obtained a writ directing Verisign, the .com registry operator, to place the domain on a registry lock, hold, or similar status. The writ specifies that the domain can be reclaimed only by posting a $9.14 million bond conditioned on compliance with Texas law and payment of prior civil penalties.

Why it matters

The order demonstrates that state authorities can leverage domain‑registry mechanisms to enforce local content laws, extending their reach beyond physical borders. For developers and builders, the precedent means that compliance with age‑verification statutes may now be enforced at the DNS level, not just through on‑site controls. Registrars and hosting providers must be prepared to respond to similar writs, and businesses that rely on a .com address need to assess jurisdictional risk.

How to think about it

Treat domain‑registry compliance as an extension of your content‑policy workflow. First, map the jurisdictions where your users reside and identify any age‑verification statutes that apply. Second, implement a verifiable age‑check that can be audited and that meets the strictest state requirements you encounter. Third, consider registering critical services under alternative TLDs or using multi‑domain strategies to reduce single‑point‑of‑failure risk. Finally, maintain open channels with your registrar and monitor legal developments so you can respond quickly to writs or lock notices.

FAQ