Textual convergence in national domain name dispute resolution regimes: a mixed-methods analysis of ccTLD arbitration policies

This study offers the very first investigation of the global diffusion and convergence of domain name dispute resolution policies (NDRPs) by analyzing 34 policies adopted by country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) between 1999 and 2023. While prior research has largely focused on ICANN’s Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), this paper offers a novel cross-national comparison of NDRPs to evaluate textual convergence and underlying policy drivers. Combining qualitative content analysis with network-based similarity modeling, the study constructs a matrix representing pairwise textual similarity between policy documents. To account for network dependencies, we apply Multiple Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedures and generalized linear mixed models with beta regression. The analysis identifies key predictors of policy similarity, showing that countries with similar levels of government effectiveness and differing export intensities are more likely to share convergent policy texts. This suggests that policy convergence occurs not merely through regional or legal affinity, but through a combination of institutional alignment and economic asymmetry. Despite the decentralized and uncoordinated adoption of NDRPs globally, a substantially unified dispute resolution framework for domain names appears to be emerging.