--- title: "A Name Can Expire. Its History Doesn’t." date: 2026-11-11 description: "A Bitcoin project recovered its expired domain without a registered trademark. What does that mean for names already in use on Handshake when ICANN introduces matching extensions?" image: "/media/a-name-can-expire-its-history-doesnt.png" tags: - Handshake - ICANN - WIPO - Domain Names - Digital Ownership --- Imagine building something over many years. You give it a name. People begin to recognise that name, trust it and associate it with the work you've done. Then one day, the internet address you've been using expires. Someone else registers it. Does that mean they now have the right to use the identity you've spent years building? That's exactly the question raised by a recent dispute involving a Bitcoin software project called LIBBITCOIN. And the outcome is worth understanding, particularly for anyone interested in domain names, ownership and the future of Handshake. ## A Name Worth Defending LIBBITCOIN began in 2011 as an open-source Bitcoin software project. Over the years, developers contributed their time and knowledge to building and maintaining it. The project became known within the Bitcoin community, and its name became associated with that work. Its website operated under the domain name libbitcoin.org. But in June 2026, that domain registration expired. Another person subsequently registered the domain and placed a copy of the original project's website on it. To someone visiting the address, it could appear that nothing had changed. But behind the scenes, control of the domain had passed to someone else. Eric Voskuil, who had maintained LIBBITCOIN for many years, decided to challenge the registration. There was just one complication. LIBBITCOIN didn't have a registered trademark. ## Who Really Had Rights to the Name? The dispute was taken to the World Intellectual Property Organization, commonly known as WIPO. WIPO handles disputes involving certain domain names, including cases where someone believes another party has registered and used a domain unfairly. Voskuil provided evidence of the project's history, its public recognition and his connection to it. Importantly, the project's original founder, Amir Taaki, also supported his right to defend the name. In October 2026, a WIPO panel decided in Voskuil's favour and ordered the domain transferred to him. The panel accepted that LIBBITCOIN had developed rights to its name through years of established use and public recognition, even without a registered trademark. It also considered how the new registrant had used the domain, including copying the project's website. It wasn't simply a case of someone registering an expired name and automatically doing something wrong. The circumstances mattered. And that is what makes this story interesting. ## A Domain and a Name Aren't Always the Same Thing We tend to think that registering a domain means we own the name. But there is a difference between controlling an internet address and having rights to the identity associated with it. LIBBITCOIN is a good example. When its domain expired, the project didn't suddenly lose the history, reputation and recognition it had built over the previous fifteen years. Those things continued to exist, even though someone else had taken control of the address. And in this case, they helped the project recover its domain. That doesn't mean every established name is automatically protected. But it does show that a name can become something more than a registration. ## What Does This Mean for Handshake? Handshake allows people to acquire and control top-level names independently of ICANN's traditional naming system. Some of those names have existed for years. For example, `.wallet` and `.agent` already exist on Handshake, while organisations have also applied to introduce `.wallet` and `.agent` through ICANN. That could eventually mean two different people or organisations controlling identical names in two different naming systems. But this is not the same situation as LIBBITCOIN. No one automatically gains legal rights to a word simply by registering it first on Handshake. And receiving an ICANN extension does not give its operator control of the matching Handshake name. The important question is what happens when someone has built a recognised identity around a name, only to see that same name appear in another system. ## But Who Will Recognise Your Name? There is another important difference between LIBBITCOIN and Handshake. LIBBITCOIN had somewhere to turn when its domain was taken over. WIPO was able to examine the project's history, consider the rights associated with the name and order the domain transferred. But imagine someone who has spent years developing a name on Handshake. They've built a website, attracted visitors and perhaps established a business around it. Then another organisation applies for that same name through ICANN. The Handshake holder still controls their original name. Nothing has necessarily been taken away from them. But now someone else could eventually operate an identical name on the conventional internet. Defending the identity they've built could become considerably more difficult. ICANN acknowledges that alternative naming systems such as Handshake exist. But that is not the same as giving existing Handshake registrations automatic priority over new ICANN applications. Nor can a Handshake holder simply turn to WIPO and expect the same result as LIBBITCOIN. WIPO's ordinary process for recovering a domain does not cover Handshake names. And while there are ways to challenge certain ICANN applications when legal rights are involved, registering a Handshake name first is not enough by itself. A holder may need to demonstrate something more, such as recognised trademark rights. That could mean gathering evidence, seeking legal advice and spending considerable money defending the identity built around the name. Even then, success isn't guaranteed. If history and recognition can help protect a name in one naming system, how should that history be considered when the same name appears in another? ## What Are We Really Owning? Handshake offers a different approach to internet naming. It gives people greater technical control over their names without depending on the usual central authorities to maintain those registrations. But that independence doesn't answer every question about ownership. There is a difference between controlling a name, using it and having legal rights to the identity it represents. The LIBBITCOIN case demonstrates why those differences matter. Perhaps the lesson isn't that one naming system should automatically have priority over another. Perhaps it's that names already in use, and the people who have built something around them, deserve consideration before conflicts arise. Because a name can represent years of work, trust and recognition. And sometimes, that can be worth far more than the registration itself. **Own The Dot. Understand What You Own.** ### Sources - [WIPO, *Eric Voskuil v. Timur Gavrylenko*, Case D2026-3527](https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/) - [CircleID](https://circleid.com/), Ivan Lipshitz, *Can an Open-Source Project Have Unregistered Trademark Rights? Lessons from LIBBITCOIN*, 6 November 2026. - [ICANN, 2026 New gTLD Program](https://newgtldprogram.icann.org/en), Reveal Day, 7 October 2026. - [ICANN, Technical Study Group report on integrations with alternative naming systems](https://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/proceeding/initial-report-of-the-tsg-on-gtld-integrations-with-alternative-naming-systems-10-08-2026).