Domain Names |
Sponsored by |
|
The legitimacy of the ICANN multistakeholder model and its governance framework are facing an existential threat requiring immediate attention. The recently announced results of the ICANN Nominating Committee highlight how the ICANN Board is captured by "affiliated" directors, which threatens its independence and ability to act for the public interest. more
The credibility of ICANN's much-vaunted programme to expand internet domains is under strain. Governments and user representatives have warned that the Applicant Support Program (ASP) - a scheme offering fee discounts to poorer or non-profit applicants for new top-level domains (gTLDs) - is failing to reach its intended beneficiaries. more
Cybercriminals live by the tenet "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." They'll use the same tactics repeatedly until they no longer work, then switch things up. That's why CISOs and their security teams maintain constant vigilance. Underscoring this, recent analysis of global DNS activity found that new domains continue to be a major tactic for bad actors. more
Many previous pieces of research have focused on the desirability of a comprehensive scoring system, to be used for ranking results identified as part of a brand-protection solution, according to their potential level of threat. Such scoring systems offer the capability for identifying prioritised targets for further analysis, content tracking or enforcement actions. more
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has issued a stern open letter to the Government of Mauritius and the court-appointed receiver of AFRINIC, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa and the Indian Ocean. The letter, dated July 16th, expresses grave concern over AFRINIC’s governance failures, opaque election practices, and recent attempts by a controversial resource member to dissolve the organization. more
The European Union is increasingly wielding domain name deletions as a tool of financial enforcement - a trend sparked by the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and now spreading across other legislative efforts such as the Financial Data Access Framework (FiDA) and the Payment Services Regulation (PSR). more
Afnic, the French association in charge of the .fr domain and several other Internet Top Level Domains, has published the 2024 edition of its annual analysis "The Global Domain Name Market". Here is a summary of the overarching trends and key figures. more
This study analyzes the differences in domain name and IP address strategies among a number of current mainstream artificial intelligence (AI) service providers. We find that these technical choices not only reflect deployment decisions but also deep-seated corporate knowledge and capabilities in Internet infrastructure service provision, as well as brand positioning and market strategies. more
Mounting governance woes at the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) have drawn a sharp rebuke from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which has issued a stern warning of a potential compliance review. more
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has issued a formal call for greater transparency and procedural integrity in the ongoing board elections of the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC). more
The NetBeacon Institute is pleased to publish its White Paper: Proposal for PDPs on DNS Abuse. We created this paper to support and advance ICANN Community discussions on potential policy development related to DNS Abuse. From our unique perspective, we believe there are a number of issues that are constrained enough to be a successful ICANN PDP and can make a meaningful difference in our collective work against DNS Abuse. more
As the European Union presses ahead with its European Democracy Shield (EUDS) to counter foreign disinformation, European country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registries are urging caution. more
The ability to rank results according to the level of threat they pose (based on factors such as, for example, the extent to which a webpage relates to a brand of interest) is a key component of many brand protection services. The prioritisation process has a number of purposes, including the identification of: (a) priority targets for further analysis; (b) candidates for content tracking (i.e. regular reinspection of content or configuration, and the generation of an alert if high-concern findings are identified) - as may be appropriate in cases where a domain name presents a high potential level of risk but is not currently associated with any live site content; and (c) priority targets for enforcement actions. more
Cyber criminals are the kings of recycling. Once they've found a tactic that works well, they'll keep doing it as long as they can get away with it. That's why it's so important for research teams to keep a close eye on what's happening behind the scenes with web traffic. Case in point? Our team at DNSFilter recently analyzed global DNS activity from the first quarter of 2025 and identified several notable trends. more
Afnic, the .FR Top Level Domain registry published its annual report that details the activity of .FR over the past year. Analyses of the specificities of the French Internet domain and domain market trends in France in 2024. more