Internet titans Strato and Network Solutions are battling over the fate of more than 200,000 .com, .net and .org domains registered by Strato through a reseller agreement with Network Solutions, which manages those top-level domains. Strato, one of the largest hosting companies with more than 1.9 million hostnames, wants to relocate the domains to its own subsidiary at a reduced rate. Network Solutions responded with e-mails to the domain owners – who registered their domains through Strato – asserting they needed to deal directly with Network Solutions.

A German court intervened, ordering NSI to stop soliciting Strato’s domain clients. Strato said it would pursue legal action in the US as well, and alleged that Network Solutions “has begun manipulating data to the disadvantage of STRATO clients. NSI is trying to prevent the legitimate relocation of the domains with newer and ever-changing technical hurdles,” Strato said in a press statement.