name collision

A name collision occurs when a domain name exists in multiple DNS namespaces simultaneously, causing resolution conflicts or unexpected routing. Most commonly: a new gTLD shares a name with an existing subdomain under a legacy TLD, or a private network uses the same domain as a public registry. Example: .local collisions when corporate networks claim names later delegated to a real TLD. The IETF spent years arguing about this. Why it matters: collisions can break legitimate services, enable cache poisoning attacks, or create routing ambiguity that bad actors exploit. If you register a domain across multiple registries or run internal DNS that mirrors public names, you're rolling the dice—DNS doesn't have a built-in collision arbiter. Bunkerdomains avoids this risk by registering through established registries with clean delegation. The term is often misused to mean "name similarity" (typosquatting); true collision is technical overlap in the DNS tree.