TEMPE, AZ - A lawsuit filed by Sweden-based Crisby Studio AB alleges that the biggest Internet registrar in the world, GoDaddy, “wrongfully took possession of” a domain name, two months after it had been successfully purchased by the company earlier this year. Crisby Studio AB, a Swedish limited liability company, and Niklas Thorin, a Swedish resident Plaintiffs, v. GoDaddy, Inc., a Delaware corporation, GoDaddy.com, LLC, a Delaware corporation, … [Read more...]
Unstoppable Domains and Blockchain.com Partner to Launch “.blockchain” Domain
LAS VEGAS, NV - Unstoppable Domains, a crypto domain name and wallet address registrar, has announced they have teamed up with Blockchain.com in order to launch a “.blockchain” domain name system (DNS)-enabled Web3 domain, with plans to go on to commercialize the joint venture for profit. A web3 domain name is a a decentralized, blockchain-based domain name that's registered on a crypto network, like Ethereum or Algorand. Web3 domains are also known as … [Read more...]
Unstoppable Domains & Secret Network Launch “.Secret” Top-Level Domain (TLD)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Digital identity provider Unstoppable Domains (UD) and Secret Network, the confidential computing layer of Web3, officially announced on Thursday, May 30 that they have launched the ".Secret" Web3 top-level domain (TLD), which will offer enhanced digital privacy and communication for users within the blockchain community. The .Secret TLD – which will function as both a web address and digital identifier – represents a huge leap in terms of privacy for … [Read more...]
ApeCoin Community Endorses Registering .APE as Top-Level Domain with ICANN
PALM BEACH, FL - The ApeCoin community has enthusiastically endorsed a proposal that would involve registering “.APE” as a top-level domain (TLD) with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the nonprofit organization that oversees the domain industry. It is anticipated that ICANN would be motivated to allow .APE to become registered as a TLD, given their stated goal of introducing new generic top level domains by 2026. 91.68 percent … [Read more...]
Following Early-Access, Five New gTLDs Now Available for General Availability
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - Late last week, five new top-level domains (TLDs) were made available for early access registration, spanning a variety of different uses and covering topics that are designed to appeal to very specific audiences. The five TLDs in question are .diy, .food, .living, .lifestyle, and .vana, all of which were acquired late last year by Internet Naming Co. from Lifestyle Domain Holdings, which was the previous owner but had not yet launched the … [Read more...]
New Top-Level Domains Disallowed from Using “Closed Generics” by ICANN
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – the nonprofit organization that oversees the domain industry – announced that, in the next round of domain expansion and going forward, they will no longer be allowing entities registering new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) to utilize what is known as “closed generics.” Closed generics are essentially TLDs that are owned or are exclusive to one company that use generic and/or dictionary terms; … [Read more...]
Shiba Inu Developers Planning on Launch of First Crypto Top-Level Domain “.shib”
NEW YORK, NY - The development team behind the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency – inspired by the Shiba Inu, a Japanese dog breed which also serves as the mascot for Dogecoin – is planning on launching the first ever crypto top-level domain in partnership with domain company D3. Shiba Inu are currently waiting for approval of the new domain, “.shib,” which is slated to be utilized for websites and email for what is being described as a “decentralized identity project for internet … [Read more...]
NewsGuard: The Censoring of the Internet – Deplatforming & Demonetizing Publishers
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - NewsGuard Technologies, Inc., which claims it is in the business of policing the Internet and protecting users from misinformation, is more than a web tool for its users. The service rates websites either positively or negatively and assigns “Nutrition Labels” to publications. Its negative ratings mostly score conservative websites poorly such as what has been assigned to Breitbart, Newsmax, One America News Network … [Read more...]
Lights Out for Broadway Ticket, GEO Domain Site NewYork.com Over Legal Dispute
NEW YORK, NY – While researching some GEO domain names last night I discovered that NewYork.com has now disappeared. It was a huge site I was quite familiar with as I had some past affiliate dealings with them, but today it appears its gone offline and parked at Godaddy.com. This was initially very hard to believe as last time I visited the site it seemed bustling with traffic and activity similar to its New York City streets in which it ‘virtually’ represented. This … [Read more...]
World Not Ready to Lose Access to ‘WhoIs’
NEW YORK, NY – There has been so much back and forth about the loss of ‘Who Is’ data that its been difficult to fully keep up on it. The ordinary availability of this critical industry information is expected to cease next month on May 25, 2018 when the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) becomes fully enforceable (it already went into effect this year but there is no recourse till May 25). However, today I received a meaningful update from the Internet Commerce … [Read more...]
Who Is and Who Isn’t: ICANN’s Registry Agreement Termination Information List
NEW YORK - In light of another three to be cut, let's take a look at Who's pulling out, of the WhoIs, entirely. The following is a list of new gTLD operators who have decided that running their own dots is not something they wish to pursue and have notified ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, of their intent to cancel and withdraw their Registry Operator Agreements. For supporting documentation you can visit ICANN's Registry Agreement … [Read more...]
US Fortune 500 Businesses, Their Domain Name Characteristics, and Secure Status
NEW YORK, NY - Each year Fortune Magazine publishes a list of the largest companies in the United States by revenue. Below is the list for 2016. Also below, are some interesting characteristics of their domain name choices including whether or not these companies are prepared for SSLs on their corporate websites. 494 are using .com domain names, 4 use .nets, 1 .org, and 1 .xyz. 494 (98.8%) have chosen the ".com" extension for their domain name. 235 (47%) are running … [Read more...]
Corporate Giant with New gTLD Explains What, How and Why It Chose New Domain
NEW YORK, NY - Canon Inc., a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan, is one of hundreds of global corporations which have applied to operate their very own domain extension on the Internet. These new web addresses, specifically, this one, .cannon, will serve as one of potentially several official sites for the Corporation for ensuring users are on the actual Cannon site as it is an internet address only Cannon will be permitted to use. Other more common addresses … [Read more...]
Making Their Mark: “Big Brands” Invest Hundreds of Millions on .Dot Alternatives
NEW YORK, NY - Regardless of what your position is on new gTLD domains "Big Brands" are buying in hook, line and sinker while ICANN is raking in hundreds of millions of dollars on new gTLD fees. Each new application cost its applicant $185,000.00 and with it, an annual maintenance fee of $24,000.00 (yearly recurring). This doesn't include potentially hundreds of generic domains that were applied for and went to auction (I didn't count each one [Full statistics here] … [Read more...]