An analysis of 41,140 Dominican Republic .do domains reveals widespread website inactivity and distinctive naming patterns, raising questions about domain speculation, brand protection and the international appeal of the country's Internet namespace.
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.
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.
Structural analysis of four established gTLD namespaces suggests registration totals alone offer an incomplete picture. Tracking composition alongside operational data could help new registry operators investigate whether their namespaces are developing as intended.
Daily CZDS zone data can help brand owners and investigators detect suspicious domain registrations earlier, trace related infrastructure, monitor expired names, and shift enforcement from reactive disputes toward faster, evidence-based intervention.
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.
auDA has approved in principle tighter .com.au and .net.au eligibility rules that would limit registrations to domains matching a registrant's business name or Australian trademark, with implementation details and timing still pending.
The 15th Registration Operations Workshop convenes domain name and DNS professionals September 29 for technical sessions on mTLS, RPKI, DNS resilience, delegations, DNSSEC, registrar concentration, dispute proceedings and alternative naming systems.
Russia is imposing state identity verification on .su, the Soviet Union's surviving domain, as researchers uncover criminal infrastructure across the namespace and ICANN pursues a retirement process that could eventually remove it from the global root.
Fourteen years after ICANN's last gTLD expansion, registration figures offer an incomplete verdict. The next round will test whether applicants can build namespaces with enduring relevance, rather than merely generating impressive launch volumes and revenues.
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.
Research suggests criminals may control a striking share of newly registered gTLD domains, raising questions about whether ICANN's definitions, contractual safeguards and enforcement mechanisms are keeping pace with the industrial scale of technology-facilitated harm.
DNSSEC adoption is stronger than headline figures suggest, yet uneven across industries. New data indicate the bigger obstacle is not reputation but operational friction, especially key rollovers, registrar coordination and automation still missing across major domains.
Internet security risks advancing unevenly: post-quantum cryptography may protect data while vulnerable routing still enables hijacks. Universal RPKI adoption, paired with cryptographic agility, is essential to build an Internet trust architecture ready for quantum threats.
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.
OpenAI, Meta and Registry Operators Seek New gTLDs as .agent Draws 13 Applications
.si Registrations Surge After US Shift to ‘Super Intelligence’
ICANN’s New Data Sharpens the Picture of DNS-abuse Enforcement
ICANN Opens New gTLD Applications for First Time Since 2012, With $227K Entry Fee and 27 Scripts