The 2026 International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) Annual Conference in Orlando brought together enterprise brands, law enforcement agencies, marketplaces, payment providers, policy leaders, registries, and technology platforms.
The Brand Safety Alliance (BSA) was thrilled to sponsor the event for the first time, supporting the IACC Networking Lounge. This opportunity allowed us to connect with many IP and brand protection experts and to continue our IP Insights program – an ongoing series of conversations and interviews with the people at the coal front of online brand protection.
The theme running through every session of the conference and reflected in our conversations was: how does enforcement keep pace as digital abuse becomes faster, more global, and more infrastructure-driven?
Here are some key themes we captured from those in the know.
AI Is Working Both Ways
Artificial intelligence was one of the conference's dominant themes — and the conversation was clear about what it can and can't do.
AI is genuinely improving enforcement. Investigation workflows, marketplace monitoring, image recognition, behavioral clustering, and predictive analysis are all becoming faster and more scalable. For teams managing large volumes of potential abuse, that matters. At the same time, it is not infallible, and many practitioners highlighted its limitations and the importance of maintaining human fail safes in detection processes.
AI is also making attacks more effective. Bad actors are using the same tools to manipulate content, evade moderation, impersonate legitimate brands, and scale fraud operations.
Reactive Enforcement Is No Longer Enough
One message we heard loud and clear was that reactive enforcement, litigation and takedowns are becoming too slow, costly and draining on resources to rely on for brand protection.
Most brands and IP practitioners are seeking ways to stop abuse before it activates, rather than responding after harm reaches consumers.
That shift is particularly relevant at the domain layer. Phishing, spoofing, and impersonation campaigns increasingly begin with domain registration. The challenge enforcement teams face is a familiar one: a registration alone doesn't prove malicious intent, which means registrars and hosting providers often require additional evidence before acting — while bad actors use that window to their advantage.
As attacks become faster and more automated, reactive takedown models are under pressure. More organizations are asking whether intervention earlier in the abuse lifecycle — at the infrastructure layer — can reduce exposure more effectively than enforcement after the fact.
Collaboration Is Driving Progress
No single organization can address digital abuse at scale independently. Cross-industry coordination — between brands, platforms, registries, law enforcement, and service providers — is increasingly where meaningful progress is being made.
IACC 2026 reflected that reality throughout its agenda. Roundtable discussions hosted by Alibaba, Amazon, eBay, Mastercard, Meta, PayPal, TikTok, Visa, Walmart, and others reinforced the need for shared intelligence, coordinated enforcement strategies, and alignment across platforms, jurisdictions, and infrastructure layers.
The BSA seeks to be a connection point between the domain industry and brands; creating a space for conversation around brands’ everyday challenges and transforming these into innovative solutions to real commercial needs.
We look forward to sharing more insights from the brand protection and IP community. If you’d like to share your thoughts or feedback, we welcome you to get in touch at hello[@]brandsafetyalliance.co.
Tony Kirsch
