The Brand Registry Group is to propose a set of principles for the next round of ICANN’s new gTLD program that it thinks would see the initial application fee slashed by more than half and some evaluations starting as early as this October. Under the proposals, TLD-curious applicants could get into the system for as [...] Continue reading →

Facebook parent Meta has sued Freenom, the registry behind multiple free-to-register ccTLDs including .tk, claiming the company engages in cybersquatting. Meta alleges that Freenom infringes its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp trademarks over 5,000 domain names in the TLDs it operates. While best-known for Tokelau’s .tk, which had almost 25 million registrations when Verisign stopped counting [...] Continue reading →

ICANN has approved the creation of a Whois Disclosure System, almost six years after Europe’s GDPR rules tore up the rule book on Whois access. The system is likely to face a name change before going live, due to the fact that it does not guarantee, nor process, the disclosure of private Whois data. The [...] Continue reading →

French registrar Gandi and Dutch registrar holding group Total Webhosting Solutions have announced they have merged to form a new company, Your.Online. The combined entity says it has a million customers, revenue of €175 million ($183 million), and 600 employees. Your.Online will operate eight brands, mostly in hosting. Gandi will remain as an independent brand [...] Continue reading →

ICANN’s board of directors yesterday laid out a whole bucket list of concerns it has about the next round of new gTLDs, some of which it thinks might take over a year to resolve. The board told the GNSO Council on a conference call that it has 38 areas of concern that will need to [...] Continue reading →

Identity Digital has announced the launch timetable for its .watches gTLD. Sunrise will kick off on March 28, running for two months until May 27. This is the period where only registered trademark owners can apply for a name. The Early Access Program, in which names carry a premium price that decreases every day for [...] Continue reading →

Somebody has listed what they call the “Saudi National Domain” for sale for a laughable $94 million, despite it apparently being a typo. The domain name in question is saudiarabiya.com, according to a press release that crossed the wires this week. You’ll notice the addition of a Y to the traditional English spelling/transliteration of Arabia, [...] Continue reading →