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.name termination
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
ICANN approved Verisign's plan to terminate all third-level .name domains, affecting 22,000 registrants. Long-time users lose domains and email, risking account hijacking.
Background
The .name top-level domain was originally designed to support third-level registrations like neil.fraser.name. Verisign, which later acquired the registry, proposed eliminating the third level to simplify administration. ICANN approved the request in July 2026, and termination is set for February 2027, despite some domains being paid through 2040.
How it unfolded
- Apr 15, 2026Verisign proposed the destruction of the entire third level of the '.name' hierarchy to ICANN.
- Jul 28, 2026ICANN approved Verisign's request to terminate third-level .name domains.
- Sep 3, 2026Neil Fraser publicly detailed the impact on his website, noting his domain and email will disappear in February despite being paid through 2040.
Who’s saying what
- Registrant
- Neil Fraser argues the termination is unjust, citing Verisign's 'numerous lies' in the proposal and the risk of account hijacking if second-level domains are opened.
- Official
- ICANN approved the request under its Registry Services Evaluation Policy, and a reconsideration request from a registrant is on track to be denied.
Still unverified
The exact number of affected registrants is unclear; Fraser cites 22,000, but DomainNameWire notes it's unclear how many will truly be impacted.