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ICANN
ICANN governance intelligence tracks institutions, policy processes, standards activity, registry operations, accountability disputes, and implementation signals that affect internet infrastructure. BTW.
GlobalDNS GovernanceAccountability
Institutional structure, policy process, and accountability trust.
Multi-stakeholder legitimacy and process clarity.
Structural policy changes usually materialize in 120d+ cycles.
Latest Coverage
Latest from ICANN
415 articles
ICANN
Carlos Gañán Split the DNS-Abuse Score: More Months, Smaller Campaigns
Across 1,106 gTLDs, Category 1 namespaces had a 3.1-percentage-point higher monthly probability of abuse, while expected campaign scale was 38% lower once abuse appeared. Combined, the model estimated 37% fewer maliciously registered domains per gTLD-month.
ICANN
Two ICANN Board Seats, Three Failed Fetches, One Unfinished Audit
Two of ICANN's board seats are attributed, in the public descriptions a researcher reaches quickly, to a selection carried out by the Address Supporting Organization. I set out to walk that attribution down to a provision with a date and an authorising clause. What follows is an…
ICANN
A Government Letter Can Decide a Geographic Domain. ICANN87 Wants It Seen.
An applicant can put a place name into a top-level domain only when the right public authorities back it, where the 2026 rules require that backing. A signed letter can carry that permission through review—and its withdrawal can end the bid. At ICANN87, governments asked for…
ICANN
ICANN Can Flag a Risky New Domain. Its Safeguard Check Cannot Stop the Application.
A label that suggests a public service or a regulated trade can buy instant trust. In the 2026 round, ICANN's safeguard assessment can attach duties to that label's future registry contract. The assessment itself cannot keep the application from advancing. The hard question…
ICANN
ICANN Expects a $40 Million Refund. Applicants Had to Opt In.
About 1,600 applications produced roughly $110 million in implementation-cost recovery against a $70 million target. ICANN expects the excess back as a volume refund, but the Applicant Guidebook put the choice in each application: elect the refund, or forfeit a later request.
ICANN
ICANN Opens the Exit for .nissay. The Root Has Not Closed the Door
Nippon Life Insurance Company wants out of its brand domain. ICANN's first answer is to let the registry end without handing the name to a successor. The public still has until 25 November to challenge that assessment, and the root still lists `.nissay` as active.
ICANN
Four Ways to Claim a Name. One Registry Gate to Keep It Off the Market.
A registered trademark has a paper trail. A company name has another. An unregistered mark or a celebrity name can have still different evidence. Radix wants all four to open the same registry power: blocking related domain labels in nine top-level domains. ICANN is reviewing the…
ICANN
Your Trademark, Someone Else’s Key: ICANN’s Four-TLD Brand Block Has a Permission Clause
Two businesses can hold legitimate rights in the same mark. Jolly Host’s proposed domain-blocking service has an awkward answer when one of them gets to the registry first: in some cases the other may need the first holder’s approval to register the name. ICANN lists the four-TLD…
ICANN
First in Line, Short on Cash: ICANN’s Four-TLD Dropzone Has a Second Rule
Jolly Host wants to move expiring names in four top-level domains into a parallel application queue. The application calls it first come, first served. Its next sentence supplies the other rule: when the first registrar lacks enough money in its registry account, the name goes to…
ICANN
ICANN Approved the .NAME Exit. About 22,000 Names Were Still Inside.
Verisign asked to stop creating third-level `.NAME` domains and to delete the ones already registered. Its form said the change would have no effect on a domain name’s life cycle. ICANN approved the request after testing for significant DNS-wide security, stability and…
ICANN
IANA Published the Verdict. Its One Audit Exception Stayed Behind the Door.
The public report says the systems that process Internet registry requests met their control criteria. ICANN’s announcement adds a sharper fact: the companion, confidential audit found one exception in November 2025. The registry’s machinery received an auditor’s favorable…
ICANN
ICANN Hired a Referee for the 2026 Domain Round. The Panels Keep the Whistle.
JAS Global Advisors will inspect how new top-level-domain applications are evaluated. Its findings can expose inconsistent calls; ICANN and the evaluators still control the remedy.
ICANN
ICANN Built an IDN Fast Lane. The Round Has 21 IDN Applications.
The GAC counted 21 internationalized-domain applications, about 1.3% of the 2026 round. ICANN’s draw can put IDNs first, but it cannot summon missing applicants.
ICANN
IANA Reviews 26 Service Targets. One Label Decides Who Gets a Hearing
The committee has selected 26 of 64 naming-service commitments for deeper review. Its amendment rule lets threshold-only changes bypass public comment and two council votes.
ICANN
Five ICANN Consultations Took 39% of FY26 Comments
ICANN opened 32 public-comment proceedings and counted 375 submissions. Five files drew 146 of them. The annual report shows where attention gathered; the next test is what each decision maker did with the record.
ICANN
A Government Letter Can Gate a Domain. ICANN Marks It Not Public.
The 2026 application form requires a government letter for geographic names, then labels that answer nonpublic. Governments now want the evidence made available where disclosure permits.
ICANN
ICANN Opened 32 Comment Boxes. Five Took 39% of the Mail.
ICANN’s FY26 report counts 375 public submissions. Its busiest dockets show where people wrote; the UA file shows why the path from argument to decision deserves its own ledger.
ICANN
ICANN Put the Diplomat and the Contract Referee Under One Boss
ICANN put government engagement and contract compliance under one boss. Its FY26 report makes the enforcement decision trail the next test.
ICANN
.kids Wrote the Rules on the Door. Researchers Read 176 Nameplates.
The .kids contract makes the domain name itself part of the child-safety test. A new study found 176 apparent problems without opening a site.
ICANN
The .kids Safety Promise Met a One-at-a-Time Complaint Form
The registry can suspend a domain. A researcher had hundreds of candidates to report and found a form built for one at a time. Where is the case clock?
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