Finally resolves ICANN contractual breaches — .Top registry

It took nearly a year for the parties to settle their dispute.

The registry for .top domain names has cured its breaches with ICANN compliance, as of today.

ICANN sent a breach notice to .TOP Registry, the firm behind the .top top level domain name, in July 2024.

The breach notice stated that .top had failed to comply with Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) requests, lacked a proper process for handling DNS abuse complaints, and was behind in its payments to ICANN.

To cure the breaches, ICANN stated .top needed to explain the process it had in place for handling URS disputes. It also wanted the firm to fulfill its contractual obligation to add an abuse contact to its website. And of course, it demanded all past-due fees.

ICANN originally gave the registry one month to respond. The parties have been in communication since then and, following a number of extensions and nearly a year, have finally settled the matter.

.Top is right now the second-largest fresh top level domain by registrations, with nearly five million registrations. Like other sizable fresh top level domains, it has primarily grown by offering inexpensive registrations.