Hossain v. Limited

Background

Plaintiffs Muzakkir Hossain and Shakhawat Hassan brought a proposed class action alleging that Mediastar Limited, doing business as Chorki, and Transcom Limited violated the Video Privacy Protection Act. The defendants were served in 2024 but remained in default. After defendants’ new counsel appeared, the parties disputed the court’s jurisdiction and whether defendants were moving digital assets and payment-processing funds outside the United States.

In February 2025, the court temporarily restrained the defendants and others acting with them from moving the chorki.com domain outside the United States, switching Chorki’s U.S. payment processors to foreign companies, or depositing funds processed by U.S. payment processors into accounts outside the United States. At a March 2025 hearing, the court granted plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction. The court understood defense counsel to agree that money generated through U.S. payment processing would go to a U.S. bank account and remain there, although the funds could be used for expenses such as payments to Facebook or Google.

The defendants later sought reconsideration, asserting that Chorki did not directly contract with U.S. payment processors and did not maintain U.S. bank accounts. The court denied that motion because defendants had provided no supporting evidence and had not explained why they failed to raise those issues earlier. During later proceedings, defense counsel stated that defendants could not comply with the injunction because funds were processed through entities in India or deposited into a Bangladeshi bank account. Plaintiffs disputed defendants’ explanations and described differing responses from Stripe, PayPal, Apple, and Google.

Court’s analysis

The court stated that preliminary injunctive relief requires a showing of likely success on the merits, likely irreparable harm without relief, a favorable balance of equities, and consistency with the public interest. The court found that plaintiffs had shown likely success based on the complaint and defendants’ merits-related responses, with defendants’ continued default further supporting that factor.

The court also found irreparable harm. It relied on defendants’ alleged movement of digital assets from the United States during the lawsuit and on what it characterized as shifting, inconsistent, and unsworn explanations about defendants’ assets in the United States and abroad. The court concluded that without an injunction, plaintiffs could obtain a substantial judgment but have no practical way to enforce it. The court found that the balance of equities and public interest also favored plaintiffs.

Ruling

The court reaffirmed the March injunction. It enjoined the defendants, their affiliates, and others acting in concert with them from moving the chorki.com domain outside the United States; switching the current U.S. payment processors for Chorki’s website and mobile applications to foreign companies; or depositing funds processed by U.S. payment processors into accounts outside the United States.

The court clarified that any funds processed by payment processors in the United States must remain in the United States. It directed all four payment processors—not only Stripe and Apple—to segregate and withhold those funds rather than transfer them abroad. The parties were ordered to meet and confer about creating an attorney escrow account for the withheld funds and to report the status of those discussions by September 19, 2025.

The court declined to appoint a receiver at that time, while noting that plaintiffs might be allowed to renew that request depending on the parties’ discussions and the court’s resolution of defendants’ pending motions. The court separately ordered GoDaddy, the current U.S. registrar for Chorki’s domain, not to transfer or relinquish control over www.chorki.com until further order. The Clerk was directed to terminate plaintiffs’ motion concerning GoDaddy. Defendants’ motions to drop parties and dismiss were noted as pending for resolution in a later order.