The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) developer has reached a resolution in its legal battle with Manifold Finance concerning the eth.link domain. A $300,000 settlement was approved by the DAO, with an overwhelming 88% majority in favor of the agreement.

The settlement includes ENS Labs discontinuing the lawsuit and compensating Manifold Finance with $300,000 while retaining ownership of the domain name. Additionally, 84% of voters supported a $750,000 reimbursement to cover ENS Labs’ legal fees.

This settlement brings an end to an 18-month-long legal dispute that began with ENS Labs filing lawsuits against Manifold Finance and domain registrars GoDaddy and Dynadot. The court ruled in favor of ENS Labs, issuing an injunction to prevent the transfer of the eth.link domain.

ENS founder Nick Johnson outlined the settlement terms proposed by Manifold Finance, which required a $300,000 payment from ENS Labs along with confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses. In return, all disputes would be settled, leading to the dismissal of the lawsuit and allowing ENS Labs to maintain ownership of the eth.link domain.

Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and the eth.link Domain

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) assigns human-readable names to Ethereum wallet addresses. The eth.link domain acts as a bridge, enabling ENS domains to be accessible through traditional web browsers. This functionality is made possible through EthDNS and EthLink, facilitating the resolution of .eth domains in standard web browsers.

By appending .link to an ENS domain, users can access content associated with ENS addresses through conventional DNS pathways, making ENS domains function like standard internet addresses.

Legal Dispute Over the eth.link Domain

The dispute over the eth.link domain began when it expired in July 2022, leading to Manifold Finance acquiring it at an auction in September 2022. ENS Labs took legal action to halt the domain’s transfer, eventually securing a court order in its favor.

Following the court ruling, ENS and GoDaddy partnered to offer .eth ENS domain holders the option to link their domains with traditional domains for free.

In a related development, Nick Johnson raised concerns about Unstoppable Domains’ patent applications related to blockchain domain names, accusing them of leveraging ENS’s open-source innovations for their patents.

ENS remains committed to open source principles and global namespace governance as a public good.

For more news and updates on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, explore Global Crypto News.

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