Monthly Archives: October 2010

Wed 27th October 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Settlement with Nelson Brady Saves Oversee.net from Legal Hassles - Brady requested a number of documents related to Oversee.net’s operations. As far as lawsuits go, Oversee.net’s suit against former employee and shill bidder Nelson Brady was somewhat unique. After all, you had someone who admitted much of the wrongdoing that was alleged. Yet getting money out of Brady wasn’t going to be easy for Oversee.net. Brady was going to make Oversee jump through some hoops. For example, Brady subpoenaed Bank of America for “all ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
TRAFFIC Extended Auction Ends Thursday - Extended domain name auction ends tomorrow. The extended TRAFFIC conference domain name auction run by Latonas.com ends Thursday at 11:15 EDT. So far four domain names have received bids: Pisos.co (apartments/flats in Spanish) at $15,000, Coche.co (cars in Spanish) at $9,950, Piso.co at $9,950, and AutoReply.com at $1,500. The extended auction also includes two domain names that appeared sold in the live domain name auction, Shock.com and BVI.com/.co. Latonas believes ... read more ...
Tue 26th October 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
SnapNames/Oversee.net Settles Class Action & Case With Brady - Oversee.net  just announced that it has settled two outstanding cases from the Brady Bidding Scandal. One was a class action bought by some of the bidders on the SnapNames.com system that were effected by Brady’s bidding. The other case settled today was the action that Oversee brought against Brady seeking $33 Million dollars. For our own account at SnapNames.com we took our settlement in January of this year, having satisfied ourselves that the Brady acted alone, that Oversee’s accounting ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
WTR: 81% Of Global Brands Applying For New gTLD’s Will Make It, Rather Than The .Com Their Master Brand - According to a study conducted by World Trademark Review (WTR) magazine found that of those brands planning to apply to run a new generic top-level domain (gTLD), 81% plan on making their gTLD their master brand. I think most in the domain industry believe that if global brands apply for their own gTLD they would still use their .com as their main internet presence. However if this study is correct you might see Apple promote .Apple instead of Apple.com. If hundreds of global brands go in this direction ... read more ...
 
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
SnapNames Settles Class Action and Case Against Nelson Brady - Oversee.net settles with former employee and class action. SnapNames has resolved two outstanding lawsuits related to its bidding scandal. First, the company has resolved its claims with former employee Nelson Brady. Brady was the sole employee who drove up bids on SnapNames. The settlement will not be made public, but SnapNames parent company Oversee.net said the “financial penalty is appropriate considering the seriousness of the improper activity.” I had ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Join us in Austin Nov 12-13 - Domainer weekend quickly approaching You did save the date, right? The Austin Domainers’ Weekend will take place November 12 and 13th right here in the Live Music Capital of the World. We’re still finalizing event locations (thanks to Lisa Box of Oversee.net for her help!) but here’s what you have to look forward to: Friday, November 12 -Dinner at a fun downtown location -Drinks and entertainment on 6th Street Saturday, November 13 -Tailgate party or pregame ... read more ...
Mon 25th October 2010
Written by The Domains in EN
Washington Came To TRAFFIC: Why Don’t You Care? - The domain industry again has an opportunity to have a voice Washington with those who pass laws and make regulations. Almost since starting writing thedomains.com I have been talking about the need for domainers to make sure they have a voice in Washington as trademark groups lobby everyday to broaden and strengthen trademark laws so that they can come after your more of your domains, cheaper and quicker. Almost every post I write on the subject gets little readership. Last week at the TRAFFIC show ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
US Trademark Office Wants Your Comments on Trademark Bullying - The US trademark office has opened up a comment period and wants feedback on Trademark Bullying: We all know of cases where trademark owners have tried to use their trademark to get domains that are well beyond their trademarks  and/or use scare tactics and other questionable practices in attempting to get domains away from their owners. Here are the details including information on how you can get your opinion heard on this very important issue to domain holders: “”The Trademark Technical and ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
WSJ: Go Daddy No Longer for Sale - World’s largest domain name registrar supposedly no longer for sale. The Wall Street Journal, which originally reported that domain name registrar GoDaddy was for sale, is now saying the company is off the market. The Journal reports that the sales process was cut off last week. A number of private equity companies were in the mix, and the story suggests a sale price of $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion was possible. So Bob Parsons will continue to control the company. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Another Strange UDRP Decision: MovieInsider.com - Panelist’s decision doesn’t add up. A recent National Arbitration Forum decision for MovieInsider.com has me scratching my head. Is it another case of a cut-and-paste panelist? You decide. The complainant owns TheMovieInsider.com and successfully won MovieInsider.com. The complainant argued (in panelist’s words): Complainant claims that it has used the THEMOVIEINSIDER.COM mark since July 2, 1999. Complainant registered the themovieinsider.com domain name ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Conroy Disses .XXX - Controversial Australian Senator urges further review of .xxx top level domain name. Australian Senator and Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy has written a letter to ICANN denouncing plans to introduce a .xxx top level domain name. In the letter (pdf), Conroy argues against the introduction of .xxx because “of the lack of identified public benefit”. Conroy says the the board should consult the Governmental Advisory ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Janna Bullock Plays Whack-a-Mole with Domain Names - NYC socialite struggles to control domain names. New York real estate developer and socialite Janna Bullock has filed another cybersquatting lawsuit to recover domain names she says are similar to her name. Bullock filed the case against BullockJanna.com and Bullock-Janna.com in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia. Her official web site is JannaBullock.com. According to the complaint (pdf), Bullock brought a similar action against several domain names ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Single Biggest Threat to Domain Industry is Professionalism - If the domain name industry wants respect from the mainstream, it needs to be more professional. The single biggest threat to the domain name industry isn’t Google’s smart pricing. It isn’t VeriSign raising .com prices 7%. It isn’t the trademark lobby. And it’s not ICANN. It’s professionalism. Or a lack thereof. Like many industries, the domain name industry started as a group of wildcatters from diverse backgrounds. It has grown into much more; a ... read more ...
Sat 23rd October 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
FecaBook.com Sells On SnapNames.com For $14K - With Facebook.com just filing suit against 2 other sites in just a matter of a couple of months I was pretty surprised to see a typo of Facebook, FecaBook.com just sell on SnapNames.com for $14,149. Of course the parked page is full of ads for facebook.com and other social networking sites,  making the domain available for the taking through a UDRP. The domain of course gets thousands of visitors a month according to Alexa.com and Compete.com but $14K for a worthless domain subject to loss upon ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
TRAFFIC Miami Wrap up: The Great, The Bad, & The Money - You probably have read on many blogs already the opinion that the TRAFFIC Miami show was the best TRAFFIC show since the 1st one way back in 2004. They’re right. Now out of full disclosure I have missed two shows over the years; the one in Santa Clara and the one in Orlando, but of all the others I attended this one had the perfect mix of attendees, facility, location, speakers and parties. So after a few days to reflect here’s my thoughts about the show. As a domainer when I attend a domain ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
FaceBook.com Sues FacePorn.com - According to ComputerWorld.com, Facebook filed suit on October 15th today against Faceporn.com, alleging  the site essentially copied Facebook to build an adult social networking platform “Until recently, Faceporn billed itself as “the number one socializing porn and sex network,” offering a range of pornographic content. However it now says it’s offline for a redesign. “We’re currently working to launch a completely new version of the site, and it will be the best porn site the ... read more ...
Fri 22nd October 2010
Written by The Domains in EN
Will The Government Spoil The Party For Education Domains? - It will come as no secret to any domainer that education domains are among the highest sort-after domains. The main reason is the money that private for profit online schools are paying for lead generation. However yesterday the South Florida Business Journal reported that the Attorney General of Florida, Bill McCollum has opened an investigation into 5 for-profit universities. A spokesman for the Florida AGsaid its economic crimes division in Fort Lauderdale is investigating Kaplan Inc., ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
RickLatona.com Brokers The Sale Of CD.com Right Before TRAFFIC Auction - RickLatona.com brokered the sale of the domain name CD.com, a domain that was scheduled to be auctioned off at TRAFFIC but was pulled at the last minute from the catalog. Although due to a NDA the sales price cannot be released, the domain when it was scheduled to be in the auction had a reserve price of $500,000. This is at least the 3rd time the domain has sold in the last 4 or so years The domain sold at the TRAFFIC Las Vegas domain auction in 2006 for $275,000 and subsequently sold in 2008 in ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Offers.com Scores $7 Million Investment - Austin company scores big investment. It’s always nice when you see someone who “gets” domain names that also understands affiliate marketing and web site development. One of those people is Austinite Steve Schaffer, who created Offers.com. Offers.com just closed on a $7 million growth equity investment from Susquehanna Growth Equity, LLLP. It’s a minority investment, which should give you some idea of the value Schaffer has created from Offers.com. The ... read more ...
Thu 21st October 2010
Written by The Domains in EN
SEOmoz.com: Exact Domain Names Are More Meaningful For SEO Than Anything Else, But It May Change. - SEOmoz.com is a bible when it comes to SEO publications and in a blog post today they had some GREAT news for domain owners and a warning that it could change. The post is entitled “Are Exact Match Domains Too Powerful?, Is Their Time Limited? Here are parts of the blog post, but you should definitely check out the full post for yourself. “How big an issue is exact-match domains? Let’s look at some data from our correlation analysis from SMX Advanced earlier this year:” “Just by itself, ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Domain That Sold For $20K In 2008, Selling For Just 10% Of That: Nightlife.net At Auction On Cax.com - The domain name Nightlife.net is at auction on CAX.com and with just over a day to go has a high bid of only $2K. According to DNjournal.com the domain sold back on May 13, 2008 at AfternicDLS/Sedo.com for $20,000. The domain has a appraised value of $29,000 according to Valuate.com It’s something that we haven’t seen on a regular basis, people putting up domains they purchased for some serious money into auctions with little or no reserve, either trying to raise cash or close the transaction ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Shareholder Of Bible.com Sues For “Lack Of Profit”: Is Bible.com Worth $100 Million Dollars? - In  a unusual case, James Solakian a shareholder who owns 28% of Bible.com filed suit against the board directors of the company alleging breach of their fiduciary duty by refusing to sell the site or run the company in a profitable way and for “failing to profit from the goldmine potential of the domain name”. “The lawsuit cites a valuation done by a potential purchaser that estimated bible.com could be worth more than dictionary.com, which recently sold for more than $100 million.” The ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Zoom.com Sells For $345,000 of Stock - According to a press release tonight, a public company, Zoom Telephonics, Inc. (ZMTP) , announced that it has sold the domain name Zoom.com to another public company Zoom Technologies, Inc. (ZOOM). Also included in the sale are “certain trademark rights”. The Seller gets 80,000 shares of Zoom Technologies common stock which closed at $4.27 a share yesterday,  making the selling price of Zoom.com $344,800. However the stock received for the domain will be restricted as detailed below, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
50% of Ad Traffic Shifted to Microsoft By End of Week - The great migration to Microsoft has begun. This is a critical week in the transition of pay-per-click advertising traffic in the Yahoo-Microsoft alliance. As of yesterday morning Yahoo had shifted more than 30% of ad serving to Microsoft AdCenter instead of its own search marketing ad console. By the end of the week the company expects to have shifted 50%-60%. There’s no doubt that some smaller advertisers won’t make the transition over to Microsoft. But ... read more ...