The traditional Partner News session marked the opening of the official working program of the TLDCON 2025 conference. Participants shared the most relevant and significant developments from their companies, discussed future plans, and identified key trends in the domain space and the internet at large.
Andrey Kuzmichev, Head of the Runity Group, announced that by the end of 2025, Reg.ru will implement customer identification for hosting and domain services through USIA (the Unified Identification and Authentication System, known as the Gosuslugi – government services – portal). He noted that since May 2024, 14,700 customers of Rucenter have already used this system, making it the preferred verification method for 81 percent of identifications. Consequently, two accredited registrars will now employ the Gosuslugi identification mechanism, which is poised to become an industry standard. This move is expected to reduce domain administrator data falsification and create a significant barrier against abuses, including domain registrations for phishing attacks and other unlawful activities.
Alexey Rogdev, General Director of the Technical Center of Internet (operator of the .RU, .SU, .РФ, .TATAR, and .ДЕТИ zones), highlighted abnormal activity among some domain name registrars that may indicate misuse. An analysis of registrar behavior in August 2025 revealed that 70 percent support fewer than 10 active domains, while 30 percent are active only during domain deletion periods. Another 30 percent are active at other stages but use nearly their entire daily quota during deletions. This may suggest a lack of genuine business operations or a focus on capturing expired domains for resale.
“Our key priority is a stable operation of the domain zones we manage,” emphasized Alexey Rogdev. “Together with the Coordination Center, we are discussing measures to reduce excessive load on our systems during deletion periods and, consequently, minimize opportunities for abuse.”
Other session participants included Chris Mondini (ICANN), Yevgeny Morozov (MSK-IX), Andrey Savelyev (RF.RU), and representatives of national registries: Sergey Povalyshev (hoster.by, Belarus), Pavel Gusev (.KZ, Kazakhstan), Anna Karakhanyan (.AM, Armenia), and Askhat Gimranov (.UZ, Uzbekistan). They shared updates and upcoming projects.
The first day of TLDCON 2025 continued with a legal session (legislation, regulation, and legal issues), moderated by Ekaterina Kalinicheva of Semenov & Pevzner. Discussions focused on internet regulation in Russia and globally, domain name protection, and case law concerning domains.
Anna Sutyrina, Director of the Institute of Legal Regulation at HSE University, presented a report titled “Trends in Internet Regulation: Russia and Global Experience – Is There Common Ground?” She noted that Russian internet regulation in 2024–2025 has impacted information infrastructure, content, and the legal status of key regulatory entities. For instance, a registry of hosting providers was established, assigning them new information protection duties. Overall, 2025 regulatory changes primarily involve tighter control over information access, enhanced cybersecurity, and ensuring technological sovereignty. According to Sutyrina, European legislators are also moving toward stricter internet regulation, with many stringent initiatives already implemented in the EU that have not yet been formalized as draft laws in Russia.
Vyacheslav Yerokhin, Russian Representative to the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee, shared insights on ICANN’s document discussion mechanisms. He argued that the process is flawed and frequently dysfunctional, often overlooking contributions from national registries. Yerokhin emphasized that ICANN’s development of global domain industry norms remains far from ideal and requires significant refinement.
Natalya Kiseleva, Deputy Head of Legal Unit at the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, outlined which enforcement actions by bailiffs can be applied to domain names and compared practices in other countries, such as Belarus. She noted that Russia’s approach requires further development, with practices still evolving, and the Coordination Center is actively involved in this process.
Sergey Savchenko, a representative of ITMO University addressed domain name protection through the lens of trademark law.
The conference continues. Join the TLDCON 2025 sessions via the conference website and VK.
Stay tuned for further updates!
