Monthly Archives: November 2008

Sat 8th November 2008
Written by The Domains in EN
Case Study: How Lawns Signs and Domains Makes One Company 8 Figures a Year - A couple of readers sent me over a fascinating story by RJMetrics about a company that apparently uses thousands of simple lawn signs located all over the US, and thousands of domains advertised on the lawn signs,  to drive traffic to dating sites and generate revenues in the 8 figures every year. Yes I said 8 figures. I warn you ahead of time, the story is a long one.  The author spent many years, tons of research to track down the players and figure out the business model. However it is well ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Could Fairwinds Attack on “Trademark Infringement” Gotten Them Sued? - Back in August a company, Corporation Service Company (CSC), issued a press release, regarding statements made by Fairwind Partners a founding member of CADNA  about CSC business. It seems that CSC has clients that own a lot of “Internet Gripe Sites”,   Domains that contain a brand name and the word “sucks” at the end.  According to CSC most of these domains are owned by the brand holders themselves and are defensive registrations.  There is one client of CSC which hold the rest of these ... read more ...
Fri 7th November 2008
Written by The Domains in EN
Kentucky File Response to iMEGA In Domain Seizure Case - Today the Commonwealth of Kentucky filed a response to iMEGA motion for Intermediate relief with the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The Commonwealth main arguments are that iMEGA does not have standing to represent any of the domain names as they are not the owner of any of the domains. iMEGA is a trade association who according to the Commonwealth, “has not identified a single domain defendant which is owned or operated by one if its members”. The Commonwealth second basis for asking the Appeals ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Microsoft: No Interest in Buying Yahoo - Microsoft’s CEO said today that is not interested in renewing its bid for Yahoo. Steve Ballmer told a business lunch in Sydney that Microsoft Corp. had moved on after Yahoo rejected its takeover bid earlier this year, but did suggest a partnership in the search engine market is possible. “We made an offer, we made another offer, and it was clear that Yahoo didn’t want to sell the business to us and we moved on,” Ballmer said. “We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
VeriSign: New Registrations Are Slowing And Its Due To Domainers - A couple of weeks ago we posted and asked the question whether 2009 would mark the first year that new registrations of .com’s and /net’s would actually decline. Today Verisign, during an earnings call, released a report that shows our prediction maybe coming true. For the third quarter they processed 6.9 million new domain name registrations compared with 7.5 million names during the same quarter last year.  So year to year new registrations declined for the second quarter in a row.  This ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
FreePornTube.com Sells on NameJet.com for $34,800 - The domain FreePornTube.com sold on NameJet.com for $34,800. The domain which seems to have just a little traffic, with an alexa ranking of over 1.5 million. As a buyer of adult domains, it seems like a steep price to pay unless you own porntube.com (which has a tons of traffic) and its a defensive acquisition. Moreover, porntube.com is a registered Servicemark. We will see if this one stands up. Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Slueth Uses DomainTools to Uncover Mystery of “Single?” Yard Signs - Domainers and lawyers aren’t the only people using DomainTools. Domainers know DomainTools. Domain name lawyers certainly know it, too. But it can be helpful for all types of investigations. Robert Moore of RJMetrics harnessed two tools within the DomainTools arsenal to uncover the company behind those yard signs you’ve undoubtedly seen in your city. “Single? AustinSingles.org.” “Single? ChesterfieldSingles.com.” “Single? EmoryvilleSingles.com.” At ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Finally, Some Useful Domain Name Spam - I finally received a scam e-mail that helped me out. I hate getting scam e-mails about my domain names — from phishing attempts to the appraisal scam to the “U.S. Copyright Registry” to broken-english e-mails that inform me someone is trying to register my trademark in Asian domain extensions. But today I got one that was actually quite helpful. You’ve probably received it before — an e-mail explaining that an alternate extension to one of my domains is ... read more ...
Thu 6th November 2008
Written by The Domains in EN
ICA Responds to CADNA’s Classification of CyberSquatting as Criminal - Yesterday we posted about CADNA’s press release where they said that cybersquatting was criminal. We called CADNA out on this. Many asked where the ICA was on this issue and tonight they issued this press release: “”””””On Wednesday, November 5 The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) released a statement that implied that cybersquatting is a criminal activity. CADNA said in its release “CADNA has been working diligently to further international and national policies that ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
What Does The New US Administration Mean For The Domain Industry? - A reader suggested I address what effect the new administration may have on the domain industry. I don’t want this to turn into a political discussion. I don’t want to hear what could have been, should have been or would have been. I don’t want to hear about what Bush did or didn’t do. I don’t want to hear about what McCain would have done. The election is over, we have a president elect and now all that matters is what the new administration will do and how its policies will effect the ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Yahoo’s Yang: Microsoft It Our Best Option - After spending almost nearly a year spent rejecting then seeking alternatives to Microsoft’s buyout offers, Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang said yesterday he believes a deal between the two is still the best option for the Yahoo. Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit hours after Google ditched its search advertising partnership with Yahoo, Yang said he remains open to selling the Internet company to Microsoft, at the right price. Yang also said he remains “open-minded” about selling Yahoo’s search ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Butterscotch.com Sends Mixed Message from Tucows - Tucows launches Butterscotch.com. Why? I’m a bit confused. Yesterday Tucows (AMEX: TCX) announced it entered into an agreement to sell its stake in domain registry Afilias for $7.4 million. Investors cheered, sending the stock up 25%. In the press release, Tucows CEO Elliot Noss said: “This sale is another step in our stated goal to divest non-core assets in order to unlock hidden value for shareholders. The proceeds of the sale provide additional funds ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Porsche.me: Money Down a Drain - Man who shelled out big bucks in .me auction kicking himself now. Pity poor Georg Kohler of Brazil. In August I wrote about how he snapped up car company names in the .me launch auctions. He even paid $90,025 for Toyota.me. Apparently he hadn’t gotten the memo from ten years ago about the dangers of owning trademarked domain names. In a recent World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) decision, he lost Porsche.me to the car company. Could his $90,000 investment ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Resetting Domain Name Expectations: A Football Analogy - How does the past affect your domain decisions? Last Saturday was a dismal day down here in Austin. The Texas Longhorns football team lost to Texas Tech in an amazing finish. If they won, the Longhorns would have toppled four top 11 teams in a row and been set up for a national title game. Instead, with just 8 seconds left in the game, Texas dropped an easy interception that would have sealed the game. Texas Tech scored on the next play to win the game. So now ... read more ...
Wed 5th November 2008
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Lets.com Back Up For Auction on NameJet.com - Lets.com which “sold” on NameJet.com on October 21st, is back on the auction block due to a non-paying bidder at NameJet.com The high current bid is $25,700 with 1 days and 21 hours to go. The auction is now a public auction, so its is NOT limited to just those 151 bidders who backordered it. Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Tucows Sells It Equity Interest in Afilias - Tucows today announced it has sold all of its 7.38% equity interest in Afilias, a global provider of registry services, back to the company. The purchase price of $7.4 million is payable to Tucows in three cash installments: $3.2 million today; $2.1 million in June 2009; and $2.1 million in December 2009.”This sale is another step in our stated goal to divest non-core assets in order to unlock hidden value for shareholders,” said Elliot Noss, President and CEO of Tucows Inc. “The proceeds of ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Google Pulls out of Yahoo Ad Deal - Google is officially pulling out of its planned advertising partnership with Yahoo, in the face of a looming antitrust challenge by the government. In a blog post, Google said: “After four months of review, including discussions of various possible changes to the agreement, it’s clear that government regulators and some advertisers continue to have concerns about the agreement. Pressing ahead risked not only a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships with valued partners. That ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
CADNA Adds New Members: Continues Push To Criminalize Cybersquatting - In a Press release, the Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) announced today the addition of Hewlett-Packard and InterContinental Hotels as new members. Here is a look at their agenda for 2009: “””””CADNA has been working diligently to further international and national policies that combat the practice of cybersquatting, and has gained a reputation as a committed public interest watchdog. Its growing influence is fueled by the principled goals of its members, who are dedicated to ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
WSJ: Companies Are Protesting New Domain Extensions - The Wall Street Journal is reporting  several major companies are protesting the new gTLD extensions. Verizon Communications, Marriott International and New York Life Insurance are among the companies arguing that the new domain extensions could open the flood gates to Internet fraud and drastically increase their costs of doing business online. “Companies are in a difficult position. In one sense, they may feel compelled to register their crown jewels in all these locations because if they don’t, ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Twitter Squatting Compared to Early Domain Registrations - PC World posted an article about a new trend, Twitter Squatting, comparing it to early domain name registrations. “””””Think back for a moment to the early days of the Internet when domain name registrations were free. Imagine how rich you would be if you had thought to reserve “internet.com”, “business.com”, or any two or three letter domain name for that matter.   Domain name investment is a mature industry now with every word in the English dictionary long since reserved by ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
NameDrive Offers 20% Domain Parking Bonus in November - Domain parking company offers bonuses in November. Domain name parking company NameDrive has announced bonus payouts for November parking revenue. Various bonuses apply to both existing and new customers: – Clients earning more than $20 with NameDrive in November gets an extra 10% parking payout as a bonus. The minimum bonus will be $10. – Existing clients who increases their NameDrive revenue in November compared to October will get a 20% bonus on the earnings ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Tucows Sells Afilias Stake for $7.4 Million - Registrar continues to divest of non-core assets. Domain registrar Tucows has sold its stake in domain name registry Afilias for $7.4 million. Tucows owned 7.38% of Afilias, which pegs a valuation on the registry of about $100 million. However, the payments to Tucows will be spread across the next 13 months with $3.2 million today; $2.1 million in June 2009; and $2.1 million in December 2009. Tucows has already sold off its web hosting business and recently launched ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Gregory Ricks Loses LTI.com; Doesn’t Respond to Complaint - Rewe Touristik Hotels Investment GmbH picks up domain at arbitration. Here’s an interesting UDRP in which the respondent didn’t file his response on a three character domain. Domainer Gregory Ricks just lost the three character domain name LTI.com to a hotel company after failing to respond the the UDRP at World Intellectual Property Association (WIPO). Something is certainly fishy here, since Ricks has gone out of his way to protect three character domain ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Wall Street Journal Covers New Top Level Domains - Wall Street Journal writes about trademark issues for major corporations. Today in The Wall Street Journal, Emily Steel writes about the forthcoming top level domain explosion. It’s a well written article discussing the challenges to brand owners that may have to protect their brands across hundreds of top level domain names. However, Fairwinds (a key group behind Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse) seems to exaggerate how much protecting a brand through preemptive ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
The Poor Man’s Registrant Lookup - by Peter Askew Here’s a free way to get a sneak peek at a domain owner’s portfolio. [Editor’s note: Peter Askew writes Domainer’s Gazette. He’s a relative newcomer to the domain industry but has found success. I’m a fan of his blog and writing style, so when he recently approached me about occasionally writing for Domain Name Wire I jumped at the opportunity. Below is his first article; I hope you like it. -Andrew] “Man, you throw a nickel around ... read more ...