.agent DNS Abuse Policy

Version 1.0

Open Agent Registry, Inc. is applying to operate the proposed .agent top-level domain. This policy sets out what DNS Abuse would mean in .agent, how to report it, and how reports would be handled if the top-level domain is approved and delegated.

§1. Reporting abuse

Send reports to abuse@agentcommunity.org.

This is the dedicated abuse point of contact for the proposed registry. Reports requiring expedited attention are escalated on receipt.

A useful report includes the domain name, what you observed, when you observed it, and any evidence you can share, such as URLs, message headers, log extracts, or screenshots. Reports missing this information may take longer to act on. Anonymous reports are accepted and are assessed on the evidence they carry.

§2. What this policy covers

DNS Abuse means phishing, malware, botnets, pharming, and spam when spam is used to deliver any of the other four. We treat those five categories as the scope of registry-level abuse action.

We also act on orphan glue records. Where a name has been removed from the zone and we are given evidence in written form that the glue record is present in connection with malicious conduct, we remove it.

§3. What happens to a report

Acknowledgement. We confirm receipt within two business days.

Review. We assess the report against the categories in section 2 and the evidence supplied. We may seek further information from the reporter, the registrar of record, the registrant, a hosting provider, or a trusted third party. Where the matter belongs with another party, section 7 applies.

Action. Where we confirm registry-level DNS Abuse, the measures available to us include placing the domain name on hold so that it stops resolving, suspending it, locking it against changes, removing an orphan glue record, and referring the matter to the registrar of record or to law enforcement. We choose the measure proportionate to the conduct and the evidence.

Outcome. We tell the reporter what we did, unless doing so would prejudice an investigation or breach a legal obligation.

§4. Registrants

If your domain name is subject to action under this policy, we tell you what was done and why, and you may challenge it through the registry's published challenge and appeals procedure.

§5. Monitoring

We conduct periodic technical analysis of the .agent zone to identify domain names being used to perpetrate the security threats described in section 2, and we maintain statistical records of those scans, what they found, and the action taken. Those records are retained for the term of the Registry Agreement and provided to ICANN on request.

§6. Our obligations to ICANN

If approved and delegated, .agent would operate under a Registry Agreement with ICANN. The baseline anti-abuse obligations of that agreement, and any applicable ICANN Consensus Policy, would apply in addition to this policy. Where this policy and those obligations differ, those obligations would control.

§7. What this policy is not

The proposed registry would operate the domain name system for .agent. It would not host websites, and it would not be the right venue for complaints about the content of a website or a service.

• Content you believe is unlawful or objectionable: raise it with the hosting provider, the website operator, or the relevant authority.
• Trademark disputes: use the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy or the Uniform Rapid Suspension system.
• Registration data accuracy: raise it with the registrar of record.

We do not assess or adjudicate the content of any registrant's services or speech, and nothing in this policy asks anyone else to.

§8. Status

.agent has not yet been delegated and no .agent domain names have been registered. This policy is adopted in advance of delegation and would take effect for registrations from the date .agent enters the root zone.

§9. Changes

We may update this policy. The current version is always the one published here.