---
title: ".agent DNS Abuse Policy"
description: "How DNS abuse involving the proposed .agent top-level domain can be reported and addressed."
lastUpdated: "2026-08-11"
---

# .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](mailto: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.