Verisign Is Finally Bringing .web Domains To the Internet (nerds.xyz)
- Reference: 0184596454
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/07/23/0542238/verisign-is-finally-bringing-web-domains-to-the-internet
- Source link: https://nerds.xyz/2026/07/verisign-web-domains-launch/
> Verisign is finally bringing web domains to the internet after a decade of fighting. Verisign says the .web top-level domain has [2]finally been delegated into the DNS root , clearing the way for public registrations later in 2026. Until now, consumers could not buy normal working .web domains, despite the extension attracting a record $135 million winning bid in 2016. The launch could make .web one of the more recognizable alternatives to .com, but Verisign already operates both .com and .net, raising questions about whether this creates real competition or simply gives the dominant registry operator another valuable extension.
The decade-long fight began after a company called Nu Dot Co won the rights to operate .web in a 2016 ICANN auction with a record $135 million bid [3]secretly funded by Verisign . Rival bidder Afilias, which was later acquired by Donuts, challenged the sale, arguing ICANN should have investigated the relationship before allowing the auction. This triggered years of complaints, reviews, and legal disputes that have ultimately now been resolved under undisclosed terms.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~BrianFagioli
[2] https://nerds.xyz/2026/07/verisign-web-domains-launch/
[3] https://investor.verisign.com/news-releases/news-release-details/verisign-statement-regarding-web-auction-results/
www.slashdot.web (Score:3)
Doesn't add anything to top-level domains (TLDs). I mean what's added in meaning for replacing shop.walmart.com with www.walmart.web.
Re:www.slashdot.web (Score:5, Insightful)
> I mean what's added in meaning for replacing shop.walmart.com with www.walmart.web.
If the owner of walmart.web is not Walmart but is hoping people think they are, I imagine a great deal of value could be extracted from it.
Re: (Score:2)
True, but you can now use www.walmart.world.wide.web!
Re: (Score:2)
Wouldn't the www be redundant?
This ship has already sailed... (Score:2)
The ship has already sailed as far as what the consumer cares about on TLDs - if they ever did. As another posted pointed out somewhere else on the thread - it only really gains general notice if it becomes a haven for bad actors - the "Watch out for .web addresses - it's full of scammers" type of problem.
Expanding TLDs was just about money anyway (Score:1)
The only reason they ever expanded TLDs beyond the original .com/.net/.org etc was so that corporations would have yet another domain name they would have to pay the tax on every single year... business.com now has to have business.com/.biz/.xyz/.web/,etc instead of just dot com. It's all a scam and always was from the beginning.
but you don't want scammers to own bankofamerica.w (Score:2)
but you don't want scammers to own bankofamerica.web
Re: (Score:3)
Which is why, as many people pointed out at the time the root servers were opened up to all these new gTLDs, that this is just a license for the successful registrars running each gTLD to print money at the expense of everyone with a brand they have to protect. In most cases, they were absolutely right on the money; .biz being the classic example, almost immediately becoming a wretched hive of online scum and villainy most mail server operators equally rapidly blocked outright. (I am curious though; does a
at least .web is not like the .zip that has it's o (Score:2)
at least .web is not like the .zip that has it's own issues.
Two sides... (Score:3)
I'm a bit mixed about this, but mostly I think this is essentially .biz all over again - ie. a waste of everyone's time, and predominantly inhabited by spammers. I'd imagine most buyers of this domain will just use it for 'brand protection' and just redirect anything to it to their .com domain.
However... as the .ai domain, and even .io domains show us, there are uses for different TLDs. Can .web be one of them? Personally, I doubt it, but we'll see...
Re: (Score:2)
What is the use of .io again? To denote that your company does business in the Indian Ocean territory?
It's a fad that will go the way of .tv and .ly, we can only hope that the governments of their respective regions used their brief windfall wisely.
Do .www next (Score:2)
Then we can have palindromic domains and the browser confusion that would be www.www.www.
Re: (Score:3)
> Then we can have palindromic domains and the browser confusion that would be www.www.www.
I'll be the first to register www.IManAmRegalAGermanAmI.www.
Followed by www.OozyRatInASanitaryZoo.www.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I mean, who would call a website slash dot, because it then becomes w w w dot slash dot dot org....
Re: (Score:2)
Quick, how many dyslexics slashdotters can you phish with org.dotslash.www
The purpose of TLDs is lost (Score:2)
TLDs primarily exist to divide the DNS space into human-comprehensible chunks.
I wish the original setup had been national TLDs run by the the nations they represented, then let them go Wild West.
If your company is big enough to operate in multiple companies, it is big enough to have a domain for each country it operates in.
Re: (Score:2)
We have national TLDs. But .com, .net, etc. were created to support international organizations.
On the other hand, .mil was created for the US DoD. And since that no longer exists (acording to .djt), can I get one for my local Airsoft club?
https://www.tautology.web.dns.internet (Score:2)
Do the people buying these domains live on Main Street Road, Town City ?
Re: If I was rich, domains I would get list. (Score:2)
Those first 10 are all the same one. 'the.web'
But you're right, it's a cool one. You should grab it.
Re: (Score:2)
Usually such words are reserved for "premium domains" costing a 5 figure sum instead of the standard price.
Re: (Score:2)
That is why OP is not rich.
Re: (Score:2)
get.caught.in.the.web
I know GLWT, but this has to stop (Score:2, Interesting)
> This triggered years of complaints, reviews, and legal disputes that have ultimately now been resolved under undisclosed terms.
They suck a huge amount of money out of the court system and then We The People who paid for that don't even get to find out what the outcome was? The courts sure as fuck don't work for us.
Re: (Score:2)
This.
You brought your little pissing match to the court sysyem we pay for. We get to see the result. Even capital sentences are carried out with witnesses representing the public interest.
Sigh. (Score:2)
You can keep your vanity plate names and waste all the money you want on them.
Nobody cares any more. They just google or bookmark you.
Why (Score:2)
Almost as useless as sites on xyz domains.
Will these ... (Score:2)
... be restricted to web pages?
I have a .com domain now. Which has a place-holder web page. But there are a number of non-web client server applications using it (or subdomains thereof). I'll have to think through the ensuing possible confusions.
Beat the rush: blacklist the entire TLD now (Score:5, Insightful)
Like every other unneeded and unwanted TLD that's been introduced in the last decade-plus, this will be overrun by spammers and scammers within days. There will be millions (if not tens of millions) of domains registered, used once/burned, and discarded. Since even attempting to deal with these on a case-by-case is simply unworkable, a much better choice is to preemptively blacklist them all permanently and get on with doing something productive.
Re: (Score:3)
Not like .com, which is totally free of scammers and spammers... /s
In this day and age of profuse TLDs, what's one more?
Once nice thing about new TLDs is that newcomers can have a shot at a short domain name.
When I was allowed to register a .me domain, I jumped at the chance to have my initials as a domain name.
Though, there are still, today, systems that don't allow anything other than .com e-mail addresses, which is bonkers.
Re: (Score:2)
It sounds like you have a GO-DADDY problem.