On 26–27 May, the European Dialogue on Internet Governance, EuroDIG 2026, took place in Brussels. This was the 19th edition of the forum, and this year’s focus was Europe’s role in shaping the future of the internet. The event was hosted by EURid, the .eu domain registry, which also celebrated its 20th anniversary as part of the occasion.

For most people, a domain is simply a website address. In reality, however, a domain’s history can influence far more than we might expect at first glance. This becomes especially interesting in the case of older domains, which may already carry a level of trust, visibility, and digital footprint online.

For decades, the principle of “first come, first served” has been one of the defining values of the domain name industry. It has stood for openness, neutrality, and equal opportunity: if a domain name is available, anyone should in principle have the chance to register it first.