Category: Domains and (Geo)Politics

The economics of domain names are often hidden beneath the surface of internet governance debates, but they play a decisive role in shaping access, competition, and the balance of power between registries, registrars, and end users. At the center of these economics lies the question of registry fees: the wholesale price that registries charge registrars…

The domain name system has always been more than a technical layer of the internet. It is a governance space where questions of sovereignty, jurisdiction, and power intersect. Few practices illustrate this more clearly than the ability of U.S. government agencies to seize domain names. Over the last two decades, U.S. authorities, particularly Immigration and…

The next round of ICANN’s new gTLD program has been anticipated for years, and with every passing discussion, it becomes clearer that the stakes are higher than simply expanding the namespace. What is at issue is the balance of power in global internet governance, particularly whether governments will emerge with a stronger hand in shaping…

The stability of country-code top-level domains, or ccTLDs, has long been taken for granted by most registrants. Owning a .de name feels as secure as having property in Germany, while a .uk domain seems inseparable from British identity. Yet behind the surface, ccTLDs are not static. They are subject to a process called redelegation, in…

The concept of Universal Acceptance within the domain name system has often been presented as a purely technical issue: ensuring that all valid domain names and email addresses, regardless of script, length, or newness, are treated equally by software, applications, and services. But the deeper reality is that Universal Acceptance is inherently political. It is…

The conversation about human rights and the internet has historically revolved around social media platforms, surveillance technologies, and the use of digital tools by authoritarian states. But increasingly, attention has turned to the domain name system itself, the infrastructure that makes the internet navigable. Registries, as operators of top-level domains, occupy a powerful gatekeeping role…

The domain name system has always been described as one of the invisible pillars of the internet, a technical translation service that converts human-readable names into numerical addresses. But within this seemingly neutral system lies a fierce geopolitical struggle. DNS resolvers, the recursive services that end users rely on to navigate the web, have become…

In the global economy of domain names, few practices generate as much debate as drop-catching, the process of registering domain names the instant they are released after expiry. For some, it represents the efficient allocation of resources, allowing valuable names to reenter circulation rather than vanish into oblivion. For others, it is a market distorted…

The internet is often described as a global commons, a network that transcends borders and provides the infrastructure for commerce, communication, and expression. Yet its accessibility is increasingly subject to political decision-making, as governments around the world deploy internet shutdowns as tools of control, whether in response to protests, elections, or security crises. While much…

The domain name system was originally conceived as a neutral infrastructure, a set of identifiers that would allow users across the globe to navigate the internet without concern for politics or trade disputes. But over time, the system has become a contested space where issues of sovereignty, identity, and commerce collide. Among the most contentious…