Registry Services

$100 Million Lawsuit Filed Against VeriSign

Popular Enterprises LLC, the parent company of Netster.com, has filed a $100 million dollar lawsuit against VeriSign, Inc. The Complaint alleges antitrust violations, unfair competition and violations of the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act based upon VeriSign's release of the Site Finder product. The suit requests injunctive relief to prevent VeriSign from operating Sitefinder, and to otherwise cease what Popular Enterprises believes to be its monopolistic practices. more

Do We Need The New Top-level Domains?

After a long and exhaustive process it was finally decided by ICANN to introduce seven new top level domains in December. Well, they are not really introduced yet because the United States Government has the final word and they have not approved of them yet. Did you understand what I just wrote - the United States Government decides what names you can have on the Internet? more

Verisign Reverses Plan to Eliminate Existing .name Domains and Email Services

Verisign has withdrawn plans to terminate existing third-level .name domains and email-forwarding services following registrant objections. Existing registrations will remain supported while at least one accredited registrar continues offering the services. more

What a Decade of DNS Query Data Tells Us About the Next Algorithm Transition

Monthly ICANN activity reports from top-level domain registries provide a rare, consistent, long-term view of DNS query traffic across registries, offering publicly available, operator-reported data on query volumes over UDP and TCP. more

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

The Domain Trust Badge: Making Anti-Abuse Work Visible

The Domain Trust Badge pilot introduces a voluntary framework for registries and registrars to demonstrate effective anti-abuse practices through 17 requirements, evidence-based validation and a new metric measuring abuse mitigation performance. more

What ICANN’s Contention Sets Reveal About New gTLD Values

ICANN's Reveal Day list holds 263 contention sets. With private deals banned this round, any set that reaches an ICANN auction will end in a public price. The 2012 auctions show why the number of bidders is a weak guide to that price. more

ICANN’s New gTLD Round Draws 16 African Applications, 10 Controlled by a Chinese Business Network

A Seychelles company controlled by Lu Heng accounts for 10 of Africa's 16 new gTLD applications, linking ICANN's domain expansion to commercial interests and an ongoing dispute over AFRINIC's governance and IPv4 resources. more

ICANN Opens Consultation on Security Requirements for DNSSEC DS Automation

ICANN has opened a consultation on security requirements for automated DNSSEC Delegation Signer record management, seeking input on safeguards that could enable faster registry approvals while protecting DNSSEC validation and operational stability. more

Why So Many .do Domains Lack Functioning Websites: Exploring Strategic Uses of the Dominican Republic’s ccTLD

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. 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

Trump Organization Seeks .trump Top-Level Domain in ICANN’s 2026 Application Round

A Trump-affiliated company has applied to operate the .trump top-level domain in ICANN's 2026 expansion round, seeking a dedicated Internet namespace for Trump-branded businesses rather than public domain registrations. more

OpenAI, Meta and Registry Operators Seek New gTLDs as .agent Draws 13 Applications

ICANN's 2026 application records show OpenAI and Meta seeking brand and AI-related extensions, while registry operators file larger portfolios. Thirteen applicants want .agent; the proposed strings still face evaluation and possible changes. more

ICANN Expands Second-Level IDN Rules With Javanese and Canadian Aboriginal Scripts

ICANN added second-level internationalized domain name rules for Javanese and Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics and updated seven existing rules, expanding reference material registries can use to define valid labels and variants. more