Monthly Archives: December 2006

Fri 29th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
AntiSpyware.com Sells for $550,000 - AntiSpyware.com sells for $550,000, ranks as one of the top domain name sales of 2006. Afternic has sold AntiSpyware.com for $550,000, making it one of the biggest domain name sales of 2006. The seller of the domain was SpyForce.com, LLC out of Connecticut. The domain’s whois record is now protected by a privacy service so the buyer of the domain is not clear. The domain name is currently resolving to a page offering spyware and adware software. Spyware and adware ... read more ...
Thu 28th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Print Magazine to Serve Growing Domain Name Industry - “Domainer’s Magazine” to launch in January 2007. It’s long overdue, but the domain name industry is finally getting a print magazine. The magazine, “Domainer’s Magazine”, will launch next month. Other niche industries, such as affiliate marketing, have good publications like “Revenue Magazine” and it was only a matter of time before a publication was developed for the growing domain name industry. Domain Name Wire is familiar with some of the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker Sells Three Domain Names for over $100,000 Each - Moniker has sold three domain names for over $100,000 each including two two-character .com domains. The latest domain name sales report from DNJournal shows the domain name industry is ending the year with a bang, thanks in part to domain name company Moniker. The company brokered three domains for over $100,000 including Partners.com for $130,000, and FJ.com and TJ.com for $105,000 each. Moniker has had a record year in 2006. It is now a top 10 registrar in terms ... read more ...
Tue 26th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
MGM Goes After WarGames.com - “Popesquatter” in fight with MGM Studios. I was reading an article today from the International Herald Tribune about a fight between MGM studios and the owner of the domain WarGames.com. “War Games” is a generic name that also happens to be the name of a 1983 movie starring Matthew Broderick. But something in the article caught my eye. The owner of WarGames.com is one Rogers Cadenhead. Name ring a bell? It did for me, so I searched the archives of Domain ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Launches Domain Buying Service - GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, has launched a service to help people purchase registered domain names. If you search for a domain name at GoDaddy and find it’s already taken, GoDaddy now has a link that reads “Use a Domain Buy Agent to get this name”. Clicking on that link introduces you to one of GoDaddy’s newest services called “Domain Buy Service”. GoDaddy describes the service as follows: We’ve seen it happen countless times: ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Harry Potter Shows Some Domain Name Wizardry - J.K. Rowling just released the name of the last Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, and also registered many of the relevant domain names. If there’s anything J.K. Rowling and her legal team hasn’t been about domain names, it’s proactive. Combined with Time Warner, Rowling has filed a number of disputes for domain names that include the “Harry Potter” name in them. Finally, as she introduced the title of the last book in the ... read more ...
Fri 22nd December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Announce.com sells for $90,000 - Domain broker Sedo has sold Announce.com for $90,000. Sedo isn’t content with its 20,000 odd domain name sales this year and keeps racking up notable sales. Sedo just sold Announce.com for $90,000. The domain has a rich history of web sites dating back to 1997 in Archive.org. The seller of the domain was using it as a search engine submission service. But $90,000 is small potatoes to Sedo. In fact, this sale doesn’t even rank in its top 10 publicly “announced” ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.EU entrance to Romania and Bulgaria, New .EU Code of Conduct - Two updates from EURid, the registry for .eu domains. EURid, the registry for the .eu country code domain, made a couple big announcements this week. First, residents of Romania and Bulgaria will now be able to register .eu domains. This is effective January 1st as the two countries enter the European Union. In practice, residents of all countries have been able to register .eu domains by setting up simple business entities in qualified countries. However, EURid ... read more ...
Thu 21st December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Top Domain Name News Stories of 2006 - Record-breaking domain sales, acquisitions, and growing industry credibility all highlight a critical year for the domain name industry. The domain name industry had a heck of a year. It’s impossible to rank the top news stories of 2006, but I’m going to make an attempt. If you disagree, be sure to participate in the upcoming 2007 Domain Name Wire survey in which you’ll be able to vote on which news story was biggest. 9. Massive expansion of domain name parking ... read more ...
Wed 20th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.Org Domain Names See Big Sales - .Org domain names saw eye-popping sales values in 2006. A good friend e-mailed me earlier this week about a one word .org domain name he owned. “I just received an offer for $4,500,” he wrote. “Do you think I should take it?” If he would have asked me at the beginning of the year I would have told him to take it without hesitation. .Com is still king, and many of the new domain investors will only buy domains with significant type-in traffic. But now, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker Reports Record Growth in 2006 - Domain registrar’s aftermarket sales grow 265%, led by live domain name auctions. Domain name registrar Moniker today announced a record year for its domain name brokerage operations. The company saw its brokering of existing domains jump 265% compared to 2005. Much of this boost was due to successful live domain name auctions, including the recent auction at the TRAFFIC conference in Florida. In addition to the live domain auctions, Moniker sold ON.com (sale ... read more ...
Tue 19th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How Much Did Nintendo compensate for Wii.com? - Nintendo purchased this prime domain name from Weyerhaeuser Co., but for how much? When Nintendo announced the name of its new video game system, the Nintendo Wii, earlier this year the company went on a Wii domain registration spree. But one domain it couldn’t register was wii.com. In May I wrote: You should note that Nintendo doesn’t own the three character wii.com domain, which is the web site for conglomerate Weyerhaeuser. Judging from the general cluelessness ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy offers $5.99 .Com Domain Names - Promotional offer for $5.99 domain names ends December 31. The world’s largest domain registrar, GoDaddy, is offering special pricing on .com domain names through the end of the year — $5.99 plus $.25 ICANN fee, or $6.24 total. The pricing is not good for renewals and transfers. In order to get this special pricing, customers must enter coupon code gdh1219a during checkout. GoDaddy recently started its advertising campaigns with new spokeswoman Danica Patrick ... read more ...
Mon 18th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Details Released for New York City T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Domain Name Conference - The World Association of Domain Name Developers, Inc. has released details about its upcoming New York City show. This will be the first TRAFFIC domain name conference held in New York. Previous events have been held in Florida, Las Vegas, and Silicon Valley. Being in New York, one of the focuses of this show will be advertising firms. The show will be held June 19th – 22nd, 2007 at the New York Grand Hyatt Hotel. The lineup has not been finalized yet, but this ... read more ...
Fri 15th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google Offers Domains from GoDaddy, eNom - Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is offering domain registration services from GoDaddy and eNom. Google is an ICANN-accredited registrar. So why has it partnered with GoDaddy and eNom to offer domain names to customers? That’s exactly what Google is doing. Through its Google Apps for Domains service, Google is offering domain registrations from two leading registrars for $10. Here’s why this is interesting: 1. Google is an ICANN-accredited registrar. Why don’t they ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Tasting in a Spotlight - An article in BusinessWeek discusses “domain tasting” and its effects on major brands. The article, titled “The Great Internet Brand Rip-Off“, discusses so-called “domain tasting” and how major brands are being exploited through domain tasting combined with typosquatting. Domain tasting is the practice of registering a domain, checking its traffic and revenue, and returning it for a full refund within 5 days if it doesn’t meet certain criteria. Once ... read more ...
Thu 14th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Vodka.com sells for $3M - Russian Vodka company buys domain; one of the biggest domain name sales ever. David Kesmodel, who contributes to Domain Name Wire and is writing a book about the domain name industry, has uncovered the sale of Vodka.com for $3M. Domain name investor Roy Edward Messer sold the domain to Russian Standard Vodka, which recently entered the United States market. The deal was brokered by Sedo. Kesmodel uncovered the sale in part through some coverage in the Russian press. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Donating Domains to Charity Isn’t an Instant Tax Break - Want to donate a domain name to charity to take a deduction on your tax return? Not so fast… As the end of the year approaches many United States residents are receiving solicitations for donations before the end-of-year cut off for tax deductions. Some people think donating domain names is a nifty way to get a tax break. But it isn’t. In March of this year the domain name Farm.com was donated to Boston Foundation, a non-profit which later sold the domain name ... read more ...
Wed 13th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
BuyDomains offers 15% off Domain Names - A new promotion sent to Afternic members offers 15% off any domain purchase. Name Media, which owns BuyDomains, recently purchased Afternic, a leading domain name aftermarket. Today the company sent a coupon to people who have purchased or made offers on domain names at Afternic in the past. The coupon code is good for 15% off any domain name listed at BuyDomains through the end of the year. Use discount code AN1dec06 by calling 866-722-9500 or email domains@buydomains.com. I ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sex.com Battle Becomes Deadly - The lawyer for the thief of Sex.com domain name survives assasination attempt. The lawyer for Stephen Cohen, who stole the domain name Sex.com in 1995, has survived a gangland style assasination attempt in Mexico. This is the latest twist in what is perhaps the biggest criminal saga in the history of domain names; one that will soon be documented in a book. Here’s a quick recap: -1994: Gary Kremen registers Sex.com -1995: Stephen Cohen calls Network Solutions and ... read more ...
Tue 12th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
WV.org sells for $38,000 - WV.org has sold on Afternic for $38,000. The whois record for the domain recently changed to Wolfgang’s Vault and the domain now forwards to WolfgangsVault.com. WolfgangsVault.com is a music memorabilia store. The sale represents one of the biggest two letter .org domain name sales of all time. The biggest publicly disclosed two letter domain sale of the year was On.com, which sold for $635,000 in March. CD.com sold at the TRAFFIC domain name auction in May for ... read more ...
Mon 11th December 2006
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Lawsuit Against GoDaddy Goes to Trial Tuesday - A job discrimination lawsuit against domain registrar GoDaddy is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning. The lawsuit was brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and charges GoDaddy with national origin and religious discrimination. The complaint charges that GoDaddy denied a management position to Youssef Bouamama, a Muslim Moroccan who speaks Arabic. The agency said Go Daddy fired him because of his Moroccan national origin and religious affiliation, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
RevenueDirect Offers $5,000 Domain Parking Bonus - Promotion gives 50 cent bonus per domain parked with the service. RevenueDirect, a domain name parking service provided by Dotster, is offering a bonus of 50 cents per domain name parked with the service, up to $5,000. The deadline to enter domains into the system and get the bonus is tonight at midnight PST. In order to be eligible for the bonus, the domain must be parked with RevenueDirect for 60 days. The offer is only valid for new domains added to the system, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
The High Cost of Cheap Domain Registrations - There’s a price to pay for cut-rate domain name registrations. In November 2005 I wrote about a seemingly great offer from a webhosting company and domain reseller called IPOWER that was offering domain registrations for $2.95 with no strings attached. You didn’t have to make additional purchases to get the low price. With the wholesale price of .com domains hovering around $6, this meant IPOWER was losing money on each domain registered. The company’s goal ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sedo’s Offices Struck by Fire - All Sedo employees are safe, but others in the building injured. The building housing the U.S. operations of Sedo, the domain name aftermarket and parking company headquartered in Germany, had an intense electrical fire last Friday in Boston. According to a notice on Sedo’s web site, all Sedo employees escaped without serious injury. The Boston employees are working remotely so customer support times may be delayed. Sedo’s Cologne office is handling much of ... read more ...