A Belgian online marketing company is asking for at least €25,000 to hand over the .fr domain name to French convicted far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
The website Marinelepen.fr had been used by the former Front National party (now Rassemblement National) since 2007 for Le Pen's presidential election campaigns, and redirected visitors to the party's official website, which expired in 2021 after it was not renewed.
It was subsequently registered by Antwerp-based SEO company Score Worldwide, which specialises in acquiring internet domain names linked to topics or personalities likely to attract online traffic before offering them for resale.
According to French media Libération, Le Pen's team only recently attempted to recover the address after launching her latest and controversial presidential campaign website under the marinelepen.com domain rather than the more familiar .fr extension.
The Belgian company told the French newspaper it had contacted Le Pen's team more than two years ago after realising who she was, but received no response. The domain now displays a message stating that offers above €25,000, excluding VAT, will be considered.
Last week, lawyers representing Le Pen reportedly contacted Score Worldwide, offering to drop legal action if the domain were transferred free of charge. Score Worldwide declined the request.
"We'll see if they decide to take legal action, but it would probably cost them more in legal fees than simply paying us," a company representative told Libération.
The representative added that the company would also consider selling the domain to another buyer.
The company insisted the move was purely commercial, not political.
"We're not gangsters," the representative reportedly said, before joking: "Besides, we don't steal money from the European Union."
Le Pen was sentenced by the Paris Court of Appeal to three years in prison last Tuesday, with one year suspended and an electronic ankle bracelet, in the embezzlement case against her and eleven other defendants linked to the French far-right party.
She is also barred from running for office for 45 months, with 30 months suspended. However, by filing an appeal, she’ll be able to campaign, as she announced on French television later that day.
The offences took place over 11 years across three parliamentary terms, despite warnings from the European Parliament.
They involved the misappropriation of €2.8m, which had been intended for hiring staff.
