Chinese fresh TLD applicant appears to have been fake
Why did someone create a fake applicant website?
A Chinese firm that stated it applied for over 100 top level domain names was apparently fake.
In August, Journey to the West Corporation created a website promoting what it stated were 323 primary and replacement strings that it applied for in ICANN’s 2026 fresh TLD expansion round.
Most of the domains were related to China, counting many IDNs.
But some things didn’t add up.
The firm’s website stated Chinese domain investors and internet celebrities backed the business. Yet it used the mailing address for China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which houses the China Internet Network Information Center, the organization that oversees domains in China.
While it’s possible the Chinese government would run such a venture, it certainly wouldn’t register its website domain with Spaceship, which is not a Chinese domain registrar. And it wouldn’t mention being backed by domain investors.
Also, some of the domains the firm listed as applications were existing top level domains, which would have been a shocking oversight for a firm investing tens of millions into fresh TLDs.
Someone posted a comment on Reglike with a link to JTTW’s website shortly following it went live, using an email tied to the domain. They never responded to my requests for comment. They also inquired regarding advertising on Reglike, but never responded afterward.
Asking around the industry, no one knew who was behind the firm. Some questioned if it was real.
When ICANN released a list of all applications today, the firm was nowhere to be seen. Its website is now dead.
This is great news for many applicants who had domains that conflicted with the strings the firm disclosed.
But the question is…why?
Two possibilities come to mind.
One is that it was just someone trolling—an odd waste of time, but sure.
The other is that they hoped another applicant would pay them off to withdraw their fake application(s). But it’s unlikely that someone would agree to a payoff without verifying the application.
