A new proposal from VPN.com is drawing attention across the internet governance community. The company’s CEO, Michael Gargiulo, argues that global internet infrastructure could act as a diplomatic pressure tool. His message is blunt. Governments that weaponize the internet against citizens should face consequences within the systems that allow their national domains to operate.
Expired Domain Names Are a Goldmine for Data Exposure—Here’s Why
I’ve been warning people for years about letting a domain name expire. Most people treat it like cleanup. “I don’t use it anymore, so why renew it?” I get the logic. I also know the risk, and it’s bigger than most people think.
Network Solutions’ AI Domain Tool Gets Major Recognition
A new report from Expert Consumers names Network Solutions as a leading AI domain name generator for businesses, reflecting a broader shift in how organizations secure online identities. The recognition highlights the growing use of artificial intelligence during the earliest phase of launching a website: choosing the name. [Read more…]
ICANN Just Launched a Free University Program That Could Rewrite the Rules of Domain Names Worldwide
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the nonprofit responsible for coordinating the global Domain Name System (DNS), has announced a new educational initiative aimed at one of the Internet’s most persistent limitations: language. The Universal Acceptance (UA) Curriculum program will allow universities to teach students how to build systems that properly support domain names and email addresses written in any script or language.
GoDaddy’s New Terms Quietly Reclassify Personal Domain Owners as Businesses
GoDaddy updated its Terms of Service on February 2, 2026. The change looks small on paper. The impact could be large in practice. At the end of Section 1, the registrar states that its services “are not intended for private, personal or household use.” The clause also says this limitation overrides any conflicting policy or product description. [Read more…]
What a Recent Test Reveals About Expired Domain Names and Google Indexing
Expired domain names have a reputation. Some SEOs treat them like a head start. Others treat them like a trap. A recent month-long test produced a clean takeaway: indexing speed is less about “authority” and more about whether Google can discover the domain name again after it drops.
AI.com Sells for $70 Million and Shatters Every Domain Name Record Ever Set
Update February 11, 2026.
The domain name AI.com has sold for $70 million, marking the largest publicly disclosed domain name transaction in history. The second sale was brokered by Larry Fischer and John Mauriello, who represented the seller in the $70 million transaction. The deal more than doubled the prior public record and sent a clear signal about the rising value of category-defining digital property.
ICANN85 Lands in Mumbai
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will hold its 85th Public Meeting in Mumbai from March 7 through March 12, 2026. The event, known as ICANN85, is hosted by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). For ICANN, this meeting arrives at a rare inflection point. For India, it places the country squarely at the center of global Internet coordination.
Why Squarespace Turned a Missing Domain Into the Most Relatable Super Bowl Spot
Squarespace returned to the Super Bowl with a familiar move and a sharper edge. Its 12th Big Game appearance trades spectacle for tension, using a single idea many business owners recognize instantly: the pain of a lost domain name.
Domain Ownership 101: Why Your Web Developer Should Never Own It
No, it is not normal to transfer a domain name to a developer or web designer. And more importantly, it is not safe. [Read more…]