The domain landscape is ever-changing. Consider how far it’s come since the 1980s when the first domain names were registered. These were of the .net and .com variety. Fast-forward 25 years, and businesses are registering innovative .Brand extensions for reasons that range from marketing promotions to protective online protection of IP. The industry has been […]
The next generation of WHOIS is born
Today marks a milestone in the decades-long effort to improve how domain name ownership data is structured and processed. Replacing traditional Port 43 WHOIS, the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) is the new mechanism by which domain name ownership information will be shown going forward. Where did this come from? Domain name registration data, commonly […]
Security highlights Summit 2019 keynote
A key takeaway from the annual MarkMonitor Summit: Look for security compromise — and expect it. Noted security blogger and investigative journalist Brian Krebs joined MarkMonitor as keynote speaker to break down the latest in online schemes and scams. He quantified damages to brand owners and consumers, as well as the evolution of threats over time, […]
GDPR, WHOIS and impacts to brand protection: Nine months later
Last October, we posted an article describing the impacts of redacted registration data (WHOIS”) on its domain name protection anti-counterfeit anti-piracy and anti-fraud services. As explained in that post MarkMonitor uses WHOIS data for several legitimate purposes including investigating infringing domain names identifying the source of phishing attacks and issuing cease & desist letters to […]
The unexpected consequences of GDPR
According to the European Commission, “the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was put into place to ensure one set of data protection rules for all companies operating in the EU, wherever they are based.” The purpose of this important privacy regulation is to ensure that individuals, residing in EU member states, have more control over […]
ICANN63 Barcelona: Updates from the 20th AGM
The MarkMonitor team is pleased to provide updates from the recent ICANN meeting in Barcelona, Spain. This meeting marked the 20-year anniversary of ICANN’s existence and was ICANN’s 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM). The AGM format consists of seven days of sessions and includes two open community sessions, during which the ICANN board makes itself […]
GDPR and WHOIS: Adverse Impacts on Brand Protection
More than four months have passed since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became effective, resulting in many domain name registries and registrars moving to redact registrant information from their public WHOIS records (including information related to legal entities and persons not located in the European Economic Area; redactions that are beyond the scope of […]
Protecting your brand in a world with limited WHOIS data
GDPR has impacted all areas of business, but for brand protection professionals and those concerned with protecting intellectual property rights, the consequences have been tremendous. No longer able to view domain registrant contact information for IP enforcement efforts, law enforcement and brand protection professionals need to seek alternative methods for finding information necessary to identify […]
Enhancing your strategy and ROI with premium and reserved domains
The new gTLD program has been a controversial topic for MarkMonitor customers. Many understandably blame new gTLDs for inflating defensive domain name budgets, creating new environments for cybersquatters and other bad actors and creating new free speech challenges to brand protection with the introduction of gripe TLDs like .sucks. On the other hand, companies have […]
Six things you need to know post-GDPR
We all know by now that the enforcement of GDPR has caused complications in the brand protection sphere, the most notable of which being the demise of WHOIS. With most registrars redacting the registrant data, even if the registrant is not located in the EU or not a natural person, we are essentially facing a […]