A .name registrant reports ICANN approved destroying the entire third level of the gTLD, with reuse of the second level as the stated hijack risk

Sources: primary, discussion
Summary: Neil Fraser writes on his own .name domain that Verisign proposed the change on 2026-04-15, that ICANN approved it on 2026-07-28, that the third-level service ends in February, and that 22,000 registrants are affected. His stated risk is what follows the shutdown: if the vacated second-level names become registrable, whoever takes fraser.name can recreate the third-level address and reach accounts and devices still keyed to it. No ICANN record for the approval was resolved in this run across three attempts, so the block rests on the author's account.
Why it matters: Third-level .name addresses are used as mail and account identifiers, and reassignment of the second level would hand those identifiers to a new party.
Follow-up: Track whether the ICANN amendment record for the .name registry agreement is published, and whether second-level registration opens for vacated names.