Both .com and .org are generic top-level domains (gTLDs). Although both gTLDs are administered in a similar fashion, there may be an important legal distinction between them, at least in respect to whether a domain registered under them can be used to satisfy a judgment. For a creditor seeking to enforce a claim against a debtor, “debtor.com” may be attachable, but “debtor.org” is still off limits.
Why? Because .com is administered by VeriSign, which operates out of Mountain View, California, while .org is administered by Public Interest Registry (PIR), located in Reston, Virginia. And Virginia and California courts have differed in whether or not a domain name can be treated as “property.”
The Ninth Court handed down a decision last week in Office Depot v. Zuccarini, holding that domain names are intangible personal property, subject to execution by the court with jurisdiction over the applicable gTLD registrar. Because the registrar for both .com and both .net is located in Mountain View, California, the Northern District of California has type two quasi in rem jurisdiction over all .com and .net domain names. This means that if a judgment debtor happens to own a valuable .com domain name, such as “debtor.com”, then a creditor can attach the domain name as intangible property located in N.D. Cal., and have a receiver appointed to sell it off.
In Virginia, however, the story is different. Under Network Solutions, Inc. v. Umbro Int’l, Inc., 259 Va. 759, 770 (Va. 2000), domain names are “contract rights” rather than “property rights,” and therefore not subject to attachment. Because .org’s registrar operates out of Virginia, this means that if the same debtor happens to own both “debtor.com” and “debtor.org”, the creditor may be able to satisfy the judgment with the debtor.com address – but will not be able to do the same for debtor.org, which ‘lives’ in Reston.
[...] The Difference Between .Org and .Com [...]