https://www.tssznews.com/2010/01/30/first-tssz-sonicthehedgehog4-com-registered-to-sega/

FIRST @ TSSZ: Sonicthehedgehog4.com Registered to Sega

And We Can Prove a Sega
Employee Helped Register It

 About Sega not being able to keep a
secret...

TSSZ News has independently verified and confirmed that the domain Sonicthehedgehog4.com has been registered within Sega-likely affirming Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will be the official title of Project Needlemouse.

The most damning evidence of a Sega link is simply typing the domain
name into your address bar.  Popping Sonicthehedgehog4.com in or otherwise linking to the domain offers a redirect to Sega's front page.  For
most, that would be enough to confirm a link-but it could also be an
outside prank, done without Sega's knowledge.  And as others in
community forums have pointed out, domains such as Sonicthehedgehog5 all the way up to Sonicthehedgehog10 also point to Sega's main website.

So, we decided to dig a little deeper.  This particular domain is a
bit different.

A quick WHOIS lookup of Sonicthehedgehog4.com not only
reveals the .net and .org equivalents haven't been scooped up and that
it was first registered January 21 of this year-but it
also reveals a lot of personal details on who registered.

The WHOIS search-all public record, as of the time of this article's
publication-reveals a man by the name of Brandon Klein allegedly scooped up the domain, left an address based in San Francisco, and left a cell phone number based out of New York.  TSSZ News will not publish
that phone number.