Public Interest Registry (PIR), the driving force behind .ORG, has unveiled the finalists for the eagerly awaited 5th annual .ORG Impact Awards. Furthermore, it was announced that the awards ceremony, a long-anticipated return to in-person events since the onset of the pandemic, will be hosted by none other than Padma Lakshmi. The star-studded gala will take place on November 16 in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., where the exceptional winners will be revealed. These awards commend and reward individuals and organizations worldwide for their remarkable contributions to society. [Read more…]

In a remarkable celebration of its 25th anniversary, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is acknowledging a quarter-century of international cooperation in overseeing the Internet’s naming system. ICANN’s historic journey, conceived from the vision of a unified and globally accessible Internet, underscores its unwavering commitment to this objective and the profound impact it has achieved. [Read more…]

Updated August 8, 2023

Someone stole the domain name Perl.com. They thought it was just a domain name snafu, but in fact it was stolen, transferred from one domain name registrar to another without the owner’s permission.

I am seeing more and more domain names get stolen recently, especially as the value of domain names goes up. After all, some domain names are selling hundreds of thousands of dollars. So, it’s imperative that you protect this valuable digital asset that you own. If you suddenly find that someone stole your domain name from you, then you need to act quickly. The longer you wait the more difficult it will be to recover. Here’s what you need to do if someone stole your domain name: [Read more…]

Squarespace is acquiring Google Domains. According to a press release, Squarespace and Google has “entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement with Google, whereby Squarespace will acquire the assets associated with the Google Domains business.” [Read more…]

Web.com has launched two new AI-powered features aimed at easing the domain creation and content generation processes, two of the first major steps in launching a website. The first is an AI-powered domain name generator, and the second tool is an AI writer. [Read more…]

Many popular web browsers, such as Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox are now notifying users when they try to load a website that is not secure. If you try to go to a domain name that has no SSL certificate set up, you’ll get a warning message telling you the website you’re about to visit is not secure. This is a big deal for anyone who owns a domain name, especially if your domain name is just parked and doesn’t currently have a website on it. [Read more…]

There is a post on Reddit that details how a business owner lost their domain name because they relied on GoDaddy’s Auto Renew service to renew their domain name. Their credit card failed to be charged, and they lost the domain name. [Read more…]

dotDB is NOT shutting down. Emails were sent out, apparently, to dotDB registered users claiming that dotDB was shutting down. However, a statement on the dotDB website (see above) claims that a spammer sent out those emails claiming that the website and service was shutting down. dotDB is the most advanced tool for researching domain names, according to their website. I actually use the tool regularly and recommend it. [Read more…]

Tucows and GoDaddy have both recently reported their Q3 2022 financial results. For Tucows, net revenue for the third quarter of 2022 increased 2.8% to $78.1 million from $75.9 million for the third quarter of 2021. For GoDaddy, GoDaddy delivered another $1 billion revenue quarter, along with 2% year-over-year growth in net income and 15% year-over-year growth in operating profit. [Read more…]

As you may (or may not) know, I run a company called DNProtect. We protect domain names, offer a domain name protection service, but also recover stolen domain names.

Unfortunately recovering domain names takes up quite a bit of my time, as it’s a huge problem that no one talks about. People are literally waking up in the morning, their email doesn’t work, their website is down, and they quickly realize that their domain name has been stolen. DNAccess is currently the only company that currently offers a service to recover domain names. [Read more…]

GoDaddy is ending the forwarding of existing GoDaddy shortened links. So, if you were (or are) using one of GoDaddy’s shortened links, then after June 4, 2022 the shortened links will no longer work. [Read more…]

Sedo, the domain name parking and aftermarket place, has suspended trading and parking for domain names under .RU and .BY. In addition, they are currently unable to serve customers residing in Russia or Belarus, as well as corresponding bank accounts. The affected accounts will be temporarily deactivated. [Read more…]

The stolen domain name Patterns.com has been returned to its owner. The domain name was stolen from Cosmic Patterns Software, Inc. via their Network Solutions domain name registrar account. The thief and hacker accessed the account and transferred the domain name to their BizCN registrar account. BizCN was uncooperative, and refused to return the domain name to its owner. Therefore, DNProtect, with the help of Daniel Prince, a domain name attorney, filed a UDRP domain name dispute. They were successful with the UDRP, and the domain name is being returned to it’s owner. [Read more…]

In a Tweet today, Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall expressed his concern over the current situation occurring in Ukraine. As a result of current events, Namecheap is terminating services to Russian customers. They will also begin blocking internet traffic to their website, as well.

War is always a terrible thing, it’s even worse when many of our own team members are on the ground. Our company stands firmly against Russian aggression and war crimes being committed against the people of Ukraine. Insuring the safety of our colleagues is our number one priority

In an email message sent to affected customers, they said:

“Unfortunately, due to the Russian regime’s war crimes and human rights violations in Ukraine, we will no longer be providing services to users registered in Russia. While we sympathize that this war may not affect your own views or opinion on the matter, the fact is, your authoritarian government is committing human rights abuses and engaging in war crimes so this is a policy decision we have made and will stand by.

If you hold any top-level domains with us, we ask that you transfer them to another provider by March 6, 2022.

Additionally, and with immediate effect, you will no longer be able to use Namecheap Hosting, EasyWP, and Private Email with a domain provided by another registrar in zones .ru, .xn--p1ai (??), .by, .xn--90ais (???), and .su. All websites will resolve to 403 Forbidden, however, you can contact us to assist you with your transfer to another provider.

Customer Support,
Namecheap”

Customers who are affected by this decision by Namecheap will need to transfer their domain names to another domain name registrar by March 6, 2022.

The domain name registrar Namecheap has released its annual industry report. The 2021 ‘Domain Insights & Trends Report’ features domain registration data from 2020 and 2021. The data shows insight into global TLD registration trends for small business owners, online entrepreneurs, technology journalists, domain investors and web industry experts. [Read more…]

Public Interest Registry (PIR), the organization behind the .ORG TLD (Top Level Domain), has announced the winners of the 3rd annual .ORG Impact Awards. The .ORG Impact Awards honor and celebrate mission-driven organizations and individuals working to make the world a better place. The award winners were announced as part of an online global event to celebrate and honor “Champions for Change.” [Read more…]

Recently, there has been an uptick in the number of domain names that are being stolen. I am not sure if it’s because of the worldwide pandemic and people are getting more desperate for money, or if domain name thieves are taking advantage of the changing digital and tech environment. COVID-19 is causing more of us to be online and conduct business online. But that also means that many don’t fully understand how to properly protect their digital assets, like domain names. This may be why we’re seeing more and more online scams, phishing, and online theft in general. [Read more…]

RightOfTheDot.com is holding a live, online domain name auction on February 25, 2021. They’re broadcasting this live domain name auction starting at Noon on February 25, 2021 from College Station, Texas. Pre-Bidding on these domain names is now open, and will continue up until the live auction on the 25th of February. [Read more…]

UNR, the owner of some Top Level Domains (TLDs) has decided to auction off 23 TLDs to the highest bidder. There are 23 total, including some great endings such as .audio, .blackfriday, .christmas, and .help, and .link. These are not domain names, but the endings of domain names. [Read more…]

Two different repeating three-letter, .COM domain names, FFF.com and HHH.com, have been put up for sale by the domain name brokers Brannans.com. [Read more…]