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Dot Asia gives Kapil Dev a cyber identity & website
MUMBAI: In the backdrop of ICANN‘s (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) 31st International Public Meeting in New Delhi in association with Department of IT and National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), the DotAsia Organisation announced the launch of Kapil Dev‘s website www.KapilDev.asia. The website will enable him to reach out to his fans and protect his cyber identity under DotAsia‘s Celebrity Pioneer Program that offers Indian celebrities the priority to register their domain name with .Asia before the registrations are opened for public later this month on 20 February. Kapil Dev‘s website will have comprehensive information on the cricket legend and will also act as a discussion platform for his fans, who will be able to directly get in touch with Kapil Dev and interact with him through his site. According to DotAsia Organisation Limited CEO Edmond Chung, “There are more than 450 million online customers in Asia, and the .ASIA domain name is a gateway to reach this largest Internet market in the world. While .COM ignited the ecommerce boom in the US, .EU was created for Europe. .Asia is the first global top-level-domain that is headquartered in Asia and will be the platform for growth of the region. The Pioneer Domains Program focuses on building positive usage of the .Asia domain which in turn drives adoption and development for the Internet community across Asia.” Apart from Kapil Dev, other early adopters of the program in India include many celebrities including pop diva Shibani Kashyap, TV star Rakshanda Khan, ‘Indian Idol‘ fame Rahul Vaidya, Anoushka – pop artist & a VJ at ‘Channel V‘ amidst many others.
DotAsia is committed to the orderly and stable launch of the .Asia domain into the technical and social fabric of the Internet. In contrast to the mad rush to domain names which had left brand owners around the world frustrated in past launches of new top-level domains, a comprehensive “Sunrise” (priority period for Trademark owners and businesses) process was implemented for the .Asia registry.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
