Week of 10 November 2026

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This is a weekly domain-industry news roundup. For earlier and later issues, see Weekly domain news. Issue addresses are permanent.

Week of 10 Nov 2026: Verisign will keep supporting existing third-level .name registrations; ICANN outlines a volume-based evaluation-fee refund as String Confirmation Day nears; Identity Digital to offer two-year domain options through Deqo. Coverage: 3–10 November 2026.

Verisign will keep supporting existing third-level .name registrations

5 November 2026

On 5 November 2026, Verisign wrote to ICANN that it will continue to support Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) transactions for existing third-level registrations in the .name top-level domain, and for the associated e-mail forwarding service, for as long as at least one ICANN-accredited registrar continues to offer those services at the retail level. The registry said it intends to work with registrars so that at least one continues to do so.

Verisign will withdraw the Registry Service Evaluation Process (RSEP) requests numbered 2026013 and 2026014, which ICANN approved on 28 July 2026, and will submit updated requests. The updated requests will still seek authorization to discontinue the services for new third-level registrations and new e-mail forwarding registrations. Verisign had given registrars 180 days' notice on 15 August 2026 of a plan to end the services for both new and existing users.

Sources: Verisign letter to ICANN, 5 November 2026 (PDF); Domain Name Wire, 10 November 2026.

ICANN outlines a volume-based evaluation-fee refund as String Confirmation Day nears

3 November 2026

ICANN's 2026 new generic top-level domain round received 1,615 applications. The standard evaluation fee is USD 227,000. ICANN's official evaluation-fee frequently asked questions explain that the Applicant Guidebook provides for a volume refund of part of that fee if more than 1,000 applications are received and implementation costs have been recovered (section 3.3.3.2).

Domain Name Wire reported on 3 November 2026 that, during a question-and-answer session at ICANN87, ICANN put the refund at about USD 41 million in total, or about USD 24,000 for each application whose applicant opts in, to be paid “as soon as practicable.” Those totals are from that trade report of the session.

String Confirmation Day is scheduled for 17 November 2026. Community input and objections run through 16 March 2027. Applicants may withdraw for a 65 percent refund of the evaluation fee until 23:59 UTC on 27 November 2026, according to ICANN's 29 September 2026 milestone announcement.

Sources: Domain Name Wire, 3 November 2026; ICANN, 2026 Round evaluation-fee FAQs; ICANN, Reveal Day and 2026 Round milestones, 29 September 2026.

Identity Digital to offer two-year domain options through Deqo

10 November 2026

Identity Digital is introducing a domain options product that lets investors pay a fee for a two-year exclusive right to sell selected domain names without paying the full registration price upfront. Domain Name Wire reported on 10 November 2026 that the options will be available starting 16 November, initially through Deqo, a domain investment management platform from the team behind BrandBucket.

The reported prices are USD 20 for a two-year option on a standard domain and USD 30 for a premium domain. The product will initially cover 17 top-level domains, including .live, .io, .group, .pro, .social, .bet and .travel. Option holders cannot change the domain’s nameservers or use the name for a website, and sales are at first limited to Deqo rather than other aftermarket platforms. For registry premium names, the minimum sale price is currently twice the annual registration fee, according to the same report.

Source: Domain Name Wire, 10 November 2026.

X Corp obtains a UDRP transfer of 47 alleged phishing domains

9 November 2026

Domain Name Wire reported on 9 November 2026 that X Corp, the company that operates the X social media platform, obtained a Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) decision ordering the transfer of 47 domain names it said were used in phishing attacks. Examples cited in the report include dismissal-x.com, conduct-x.com and disputes-x.com.

According to the complaint as quoted in that report, the domains were used in e-mail messages designed to resemble official X communications, including purported policy-violation, copyright and appeal notices, with links to pages that imitated X login and appeal forms in order to collect account credentials and two-factor authentication codes. A UDRP panelist ruled in X Corp’s favour and ordered the domains transferred. The report did not give a case number.

Source: Domain Name Wire, 9 November 2026.

South Africa opens a registry tender for .co.za and related second-level zones

2 November 2026

The .za Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) issued request for proposal RFPZA2026/05 on 2 November 2026 for registry services for the second-level domains .co.za, .web.za, .net.za and .org.za. A compulsory online briefing is scheduled for 20 November 2026 at 11:00, and proposals are due by 12:00 South African Standard Time on 14 December 2026.

The incumbent operator is the ZA Registry Consortium, appointed in 2022; its contract ends in September 2027. The successful bidder would enter a 10-year agreement, according to ZADNA’s procurement notice.

Sources: ZADNA, Request for Proposal RFPZA2026/05; ZADNA, registry services RFP, 2 November 2026 (PDF).

Planned 3 November migration of .nl to Hello Registry does not go ahead

3 November 2026

The migration of the .nl registry platform to Hello Registry, previously scheduled for 3 November 2026, did not take place. Realtime Register reported that SIDN, the .nl registry, told registrars it was postponing the move after assessments identified remaining concerns about data quality and system stability, and after registrars had less time than expected to test integrations in the production environment.

The Vereniging van Registrars (VvR) issued a negative recommendation on the planned migration, which SIDN considered. No new date has been announced. Before setting one, SIDN intends to complete at least two successful dry runs and then agree a timeline in consultation with the VvR. The existing DRS5 registration system remains in use. Hello Registry is the registry platform developed by SIDN with the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA).

Sources: Realtime Register; Tweakers.

ICANN Board recap: IDN country-code policy, a USD 20 million fund transfer, and new directors

10 November 2026

On 10 November 2026, ICANN Board Chair Tripti Sinha published a recap of the October Board workshop and of ICANN87, held 17–22 October 2026 in Bali. The Board approved the majority of the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) policy recommendations on the selection and deselection of internationalized domain name (IDN) country-code top-level domains, but not all of the recommendations, and committed to further dialogue.

The Board also approved a transfer of USD 20 million from the Operating Fund to the Project Fund, and welcomed new Board members Justine Chew, Niel Harper and Ian Sheldon. Sinha continues as Chair, with Sajid Rahman as Vice Chair. The recap said work would be developed on a governance work plan for the root server system, and that ICANN received a clean audit for fiscal year 2026.

Source: ICANN Chair’s blog, 10 November 2026.

DENIC marks 40 years of the .de country-code top-level domain