Domain Names

RDRS: Calling All Registrars!

Calling all registrars! ICANN is set to launch the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS), and the Registrar Stakeholder Group encourages ICANN registrars to participate. For those who haven't been closely following ICANN policy, the RDRS is a step on the path of policy development working to bring our registration data processing requirements into line with data protection laws. more

Domain Name Association Supports IANA Transition, Petitions Congress to Move Forward

I recently sent a letter to congressional leaders including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid expressing the Domain Name Association's support of the U.S. Administration's planned transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to the global multi-stakeholder community under the stewardship of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). more

Why the Dot Org Sale Is Failing and How Brooks, Nevett and Sullivan Could Have Wired It

When ISOC, PIR and Ethos announced the sale in November they hoped for a quick transaction. PIR CEO Jon Nevett announced the same week that PIR would be going on a buying spree. This was optimistic. Six months, if at all, is now the more likely outcome. How many times in recent history have companies surprised stakeholders with their best-laid plans, only to discover we no longer live in a world where business has free reign. The glory days of the 2000s died with Lehman Brothers. more

Fake Domains, Real Damage: What the Latest Data Reveals

Third-party domains exploiting brand names are proliferating, with 88% of homoglyphs externally owned. Many remain dormant yet email-enabled, creating scalable phishing risks as attackers increasingly target trust rather than infrastructure. more

ICANN67 Round-Up

This past meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), ICANN67, was intended to be held in person in Cancun, Mexico, but was actually the first meeting to be held entirely online and virtually. It was a well-managed affair with fewer sessions than the in-person meetings and less opportunity for the community to convene and meet as individuals. The last-minute change from an in-person to a virtual meeting impacted ICANN's ability to provide translation services for the full set of UN-supported languages, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. more

UPU to Become First UN Body to Obtain Its Own Top-Level Domain

The Universal Postal Union (UPU), one of the world’s oldest international organizations, has concluded negotiations with ICANN for the launch of the .POST Top-Level Domain. Paul Donohoe, e-business manager at UPU headquarters, responsible for the domain application and ICANN negotiations said: “A top-level domain for a service-oriented industry such as ours is an opportunity to develop a trusted space on the Internet for integrating physical and electronic postal services ... .POST will be a unique and focused Internet domain with the potential to connect the entire postal community and its customers. The domain will enable the UPU and the postal sector at large to work on delivering new innovative Internet-based international postal services, such as hybrid mail, e-commerce, e-identity, e-communication and e-government, and built on UPU standards.” more

The 2026 String Similarity Guidelines: Automating the Mistakes of the Past

The draft String Similarity Evaluation Guidelines risk entrenching past failures of Internet governance. With opaque algorithms and no right of appeal, ICANN's credibility hangs on whether transparency and fairness are restored before final adoption. more

Letter Urges ICANN to Implement New TLDs Without Further Delay

An open letter signed by various members of the domain name industry, including heads of some of the top domain name registries and registrars, was sent today to ICANN CEO and Board of Directors urging them to direct their staff to implement the introduction of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) without further delay. "The time to act is now," says the letter for "many reason" including: Consumer Demand; Safety Considerations; Internet Stability; Innovation; ICANN’s own credibility more

Domain Name Registrations Up 22% from Last Year, Totaling 168 Million

VeriSign today released the Domain Report for the second quarter of 2008, highlighting a continued growth of the Internet globally. At the midpoint of 2008, according to the report, there were 168 million domain name registrations across all Top Level Domain Names (TLDs) -- repersenting a four percent increase over the first quarter of 2008 and 22 percent growth over the same quarter last year. The base of Country Code Top Level Domain Names (ccTLDs) totaled 65 million domain names, a four percent increase quarter over quarter and a 27 percent increase year over year. VeriSign also reports on processing peak loads of more than 48 billion Domain Name System (DNS) queries per day in the second quarter of 2008. more

Good Internet Hygiene During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We are all aware of the steps for mitigating the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19): Wash your hands; Practice social distancing; Report exposure.But these are not the only activities to practice right now. Cyber-criminals are taking advantage of this health crisis and the emotional upheaval it creates to perpetrate their crimes. Therefore, we also need to exercise good internet hygiene. In a time of crisis or tragedy, bad actors don't slow down; their efforts amplify. more

Euro 2020 Part Three: Domains (Revisited) and Other Channels

In this final article in the series of studies looking at Euro 2020-related infringements, we revisit domain name infringements and consider activity across other online channels, with a focus on social media and mobile apps. Following the original study, which looked at domains registered before May 2020 with names containing "euro2020" or "euro2021," we analyzed daily activity levels in the period immediately preceding and during the competition. more

EPDP Team Marches Toward Major Milestone

If it feels like the work of the latest group addressing registration data within ICANN has been going on forever, try participating in it! Since the summer of 2018, the team has regularly been meeting for several hours each week, participating in numerous face-to-face meetings and exchanging thousands of emails. Last week in Los Angeles, the team got together once again to continue our Phase 2 work creating policy that will (among other issues) govern the disclosure of non-public registration data to third parties. more

ICANN SSAD Proposal Poised to Fail?

After years of work on a proposed standardized system of WHOIS data disclosures (referred to as SSAD), and over a year of operational assessment of the proposal by ICANN itself, the ICANN Board seems poised to reject the proposal. And rightly so. The proposed SSAD is entirely watered down, fractured, and affords no oversight powers to ICANN regarding disclosure decisions that would continue to be left to the complete discretion of individual registrars (the very parties ICANN oversees).  more

Securing Digital Brand Borders in a Fragmented World

GlobalBlock's expansion into China and Germany signals a shift from reactive brand protection to centralized prevention, as firms seek scalable, cost efficient defences against proliferating AI driven domain abuse worldwide amid a fragmented digital landscape. more

Moving Beyond Associated Domain Checks: The Urgent Need to Ban Short-Term Domain Leasing

ICANN's new DNS abuse rules mark progress, yet short-term domain leasing enables fleeting, hard-to-detect attacks. A proposed 30-day minimum lease could curb cybercrime by undermining the economics of weaponised parked domains. more