Brand Protection

Every Agent Needs a Name, and the Domain Industry Would Like to Sell It

Competing DNS-based proposals seek to establish verifiable identities for AI agents, raising questions about accountability, interoperability, and the commercial interests of domain industry players positioning themselves to shape the emerging infrastructure for agent identity. more

Can an Open-Source Project Have Unregistered Trademark Rights? Lessons from LIBBITCOIN

A WIPO decision involving the LIBBITCOIN open-source project illustrates how community recognition can establish unregistered trademark rights and how documented stewardship can support a successor maintainer's standing in domain name disputes. more

The Phishing Domain You Missed Shares a Nameserver With the One You Caught

Nameserver-based searches can uncover related domains that conventional phishing monitoring misses. An investigation of shared DNS infrastructure reveals how registration patterns, nameserver pairs and timely zone data can help identify suspicious domain clusters. more

The Fight for a String: Understanding ICANN’s Objection Process in the 2026 New gTLD Application Round

ICANN's 2026 new gTLD objection process presents applicants and rights holders with four distinct mechanisms for challenging proposed strings, each carrying different legal standards, evidentiary requirements and consequences for delegation. more

From Apps to Agents: How the 2026 New gTLD Strings Mirror a Changed Internet

ICANN's 2026 new gTLD applications reveal a shift toward AI agents, developer infrastructure and digital trust, with .agent replacing .app as the most contested string amid growing competition and persistent geographic disparities. more

Big Brands, Bold Moves: The 2026 dotBrand Wave

ICANN's 2026 new gTLD round attracted 333 dotBrand applications, representing 20.6% of submissions. Participation across major industries reflects growing interest in controlling branded namespaces and strengthening enterprise digital identity. more

Two Years After His Arrest, Pavel Durov Wants to Run His Own Registry

Telegram says it has applied for .gram, potentially giving a billion users DNS addresses while putting its governance, abuse controls, legal exposure and infrastructure under scrutiny as ICANN prepares to reveal applications. more

How Domain Abuse, Social Media, and AI Fuel Brand Attacks

CISOs expect social media impersonation to become their leading cybersecurity threat as attackers increasingly combine AI-enabled deception, executive impersonation, and domain abuse across multiple channels to conduct fraud and steal sensitive information. more

From Forgotten to Exploited: How AI Changes the Dangling DNS Threat

Dangling DNS records can expose trusted corporate subdomains to takeover, while AI-assisted reconnaissance makes abandoned resources easier to find, increasing the need for continuous DNS monitoring rather than periodic audits. more

Beyond Protocol and Policy: Why Project Jake is Reshaping the Architecture of Internet Trust

Project Jake aims to bridge the divide between internet protocols and policy, offering registries, law enforcement and rights holders a decentralised framework for accessing domain-registration data securely while navigating privacy laws and institutional gridlock. more

After the Close: What the 2026 gTLD Round Has Already Revealed

ICANN's 2026 gTLD round drew more than 1,600 applications, led by ambitious portfolio investors. But scant brand disclosures and new rules banning private settlements could make contention costlier and reshape the economics of domain ownership. more

Now That You’ve Applied for a New gTLD, Should You Reveal?

With applications closed, new gTLD hopefuls face a changed calculation: revealing strings early could expose contention while information remains financially valuable, helping applicants make better decisions before fees are paid and withdrawal becomes increasingly costly. more

DNS Security Gets Fixed When Someone Notices - Not Before

A study of 309 universities, museums and sports brands finds DNS security follows visible threats rather than technical risk, leaving organisations well protected against familiar attacks while quieter weaknesses in critical infrastructure persist unnoticed. more

Public Data Is Not Public Infrastructure

Building infrastructure for public trademark data revealed a familiar lesson from Internet protocols: publishing information is only the beginning. The real challenge is engineering resilient systems that withstand inconsistent formats, unreliable sources, and organisational complexity. more

The 2026 New gTLD Round: A Strategic Framework for Risk Management

The 2026 new gTLD round is less a domain application than a high-stakes contest for digital territory. Contention, objections, opaque evaluations and information gaps can derail applicants long before launch, demanding rigorous strategic preparation. more