Monthly Archives: December 2011

Sun 25th December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
UPDATE: Godaddy Loses 28,000 More Domains On Saturday - Yesterday we reported on the two day loss from domain names transferred out of Godaddy.com to other domain name registrars in like of their former support of the SOPA Bill. As a quick update DailyChanges.com reported an additional 28,656 domain names transferred out of Godaddy.com. It should be noted that this figure only includes domain names that use Godaddy.com default servers and does not include domains that are hosted on their own server. For Example this blog, TheDomains.com is hosted on servers ... read more ...
Sat 24th December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
BustaRhymes.com Sells For $1,300 on NameJet.com: Now What? - The auction for the domain name BustaRhymes.com ended today on NameJet.com with a winning bid of $1,300. As we told you the other day the domain name BustaRhymes.com dropped when his management company apparently  failed to renew the domain registration In all there were  47 bidders and 8 willing to pay $100 or more, and 5 of those we willing to pay $500 or more. So now that the domain name has sold, will the famous rapper file a UDRP on the domain? According to compete.com the domain gets traffic ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
ICANN New gTLD Operators Need To Deposit $18k-$300K To Meet Three Year Reserve Requirement - As part of the new gTLD program, all new gTLD applicants are required to provide for three years of operating expenses, in the way of a cash deposit with a bank that meets ICANN qualifications which is also set out below. ICANN however has not put the pencil to this requirement and the Guidebook does not contain actual numbers or the amount of cash the applicants need to budget for. This document issued by ICANN today, attempts to give gTLD applicants some guidance on the amount of the cash reserve ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
2 Days Loss From Transfers Out Of Godaddy.com: 37,000 - On Thursday as you probably know by now, a poster on Reditt.com called for people to move their domain names away from Godaddy calling December 29th as the day to do so. Yesterday Godaddy.com reversed it position in the early afternoon EST pulling its support for the SOPA Bill. So the remaining question is how many domain names got transferred on Thursday and Friday. We can tell you over 15,000 domain names were transferred from Godaddy.com on Thursday and over 21,000 were transferred away from Godaddy ... read more ...
Fri 23rd December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Flippa.com Publishes Its Year In Review: 26K Sales & $31 Million In Sales - Flippa.com published today its  2011 Year-In-Review report. Here are the highlights from the report: There were 26,213 website and domain sales on Flippa.com this year, totaling just over $31 million. 659 sales were over $5,000 and 205 sales over $20,000. There were just under 290,000 bids placed on Flippa auctions in 2011. High-end sales included MakeCashTakingSurveys.biz which sold for $395,000, PristinePlanet, a comparison shopping site for ecological products, sold for $165,000 PitchingMachinesNow ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Facing A Boycott Godaddy Caves In On SOPA & Now “No Longer Supports It” - Wow that was quick. One day after a post on Reddit called for a boycott of Godaddy.com due to its support of the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA),  Godaddy.com just issued a statement saying it no longer supports it. “””Go Daddy is no longer supporting SOPA, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” currently working its way through U.S. Congress. “Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation — but we can ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
DNW Interview: GoDaddy CEO Warren Adelman discusses company’s position on SOPA - New GoDaddy CEO explains his company’s reversal of support for SOPA. GoDaddy just pulled its support of Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a bill designed to protect intellectual property. The reversal came after a call for a boycott of GoDaddy because of its support hit a fevered pitch yesterday. Although GoDaddy has supported SOPA from the beginning, its name was included in a list of supporters that was published this week. Warren Adelman, who became CEO of GoDaddy ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Activists win, GoDaddy pulls support of SOPA - GoDaddy changes mind on SOPA. [Update: Read my interview with Go Daddy CEO Warren Adelman about his company’s changed stance on SOPA] A growing call for a boycott of GoDaddy over its support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has achieved its goal — GoDaddy just announced it no longer supports the bill. GoDaddy general counsel Christine Jones had been steadfast in her support of the bill, and GoDaddy had posted her commentary on the bill on its web site. That ... read more ...
Thu 22nd December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Verisign Domain Name Industry Report For 3rd Q Is Out: 220 Million Domains: 112 Million .Com/.Net’s - Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN),  just issued its Domain Name Industry Brief Report for the third quarter of 2011. As of September 30, 2011 there are nearly 220 million domain names registered worldwide across all extensions and out of which 112 Million are .com and .net domain names. The increase of 4.9 million domain names equates to a growth rate of 2.3% over the second quarter of 2011, and an 8.2% increase over the same quarter in 2010. It also marks the third straight quarter with greater than ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Red Hot on Reddit.com: “Move Your Domain Away From Godaddy Day” Based Off Of Support Of SOPA - A red hot story on Reddit.com this morning started by one domain holder has already gotten over 1,500 comments. The post that started it all is only a little over 3 hours old on Reddit.com and is entitled: “GoDaddy supports SOPA, I’m transferring 51 domains suggesting a move your domain day” The poster goes on to say: “”I just finished writing GoDaddy a letter stating why I’m moving my small businesses 51 domains away from them, as well as my personal domains. I also pointed out that ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
UDRP Panelist & Lawyer Neil Brown Starts His Own Blog At DomainTimes.Info - Neil Brown, a frequent UDRP panelist and lawyer has started his own blog at DomainTimes.info. According to the site DomainTimes.info: “Is intended to keep you up to date with developments in domain names – especially the arbitration of disputes.” “Domaintimes wants to be a platform for the exchange of ideas on all issues concerning domain names.” “So, why not make your own contribution? The whole area of domain names gives rise to a lot of competing views and opinions. There are also ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
What Percentage of .XXX Domains Are Defensive; Two Stories Out Today: One says 48% The Other 83% - So what portion of .XXX domain name registrations were defensive that is purchased or registered to either block the domain name or for other reasons that to use the domain actively in the adult space. Two stories are out on the topic today. According to one report,  the registrar 123-reg.co.uk says that  “48% of registrations weren’t from those in the porn industry at all, but regular businesses hoping to protecting their brand and reputation.” The story does not say how the registrar came ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
No jury hearing over inducement devise in Monte Cahn v. Oversee.net - Judge says waver to jury trial in employment agreement is valid. The case of Monte Cahn v. Oversee.net, et al is scheduled to go to trial next month. Each side has listed witnesses they might want to bring to the stand, ranging from Jeff Kupietzky to Mike Berkens to NameDrive USA. But they won’t be arguing in front of a jury, at least for claims related to breach of contract of a management incentive plan. The judge in the case has ruled that a jury waver provision ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Receiver: “ICANN thumbing a nose during a Court”, asks justice to find ICANN in contempt - Them’s fightin’ words! Well this is getting interesting. Earlier this month a Texas court ordered ICANN to stay a UDRP case for FunnyGames.com. ICANN responded by saying that it had no authority to stay a UDRP proceeding and that the court had no jurisdiction to order it to do so. The court disagreed. ICANN subsequently said that it informed World Intellectual Property Organization — the UDRP provider where the case was filed — of the court decision. But it ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
OpenSRS implements 100+ ccTLDs from EPAG acquisition - Tucows’ reseller network now has over 100 additional domains to choose from. One of the key reasons Tucows bought domain name registrar EPAG back in August was to bolster its offering of country code domain names (ccTLD). Today it announced the first phase of its integration of ccTLDs carried by EPAG, adding over 100 new ccTLDs to its OpenSRS reseller platform. It will add more next year. A lot of registrars I talk to tell me they see an immediate registration lift ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy’s obvious portfolio still growing, though no descent movement yet - Domain registrar continues to apply for patents but hasn’t gone on the offensive yet. Will GoDaddy’s patent strategy change now that it has taken an investment from three private equity giants? It’s an important question for the domain name and web hosting industries because of the size of the company’s patent war chest. A search with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows 65 issued patents for The Go Daddy Group and close to 200 pending. These patents ... read more ...
Wed 21st December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
ICANN Publishes It’s Annual Report & Reports $100 Million In Assets - ICANN just published its annual report for 2011 and god bless, in the worst economy of our lifetimes they manged to get up to just short of $100 Million in assets; cash, investments and accounts receivable for the year ending June 30, 2011. According to the report as of June 30, 2011, ICANN has over $29 Million in Cash, $51 Million in investments and over $15 Million in accounts receivable,  and with some other assets all totaled, just short of $100 Million dollars. Of course like the rest of ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Bad Decision For The TM Holder? Lawyer/Owner Wins UDRP On The Domain GotMilkAds.com - In a UDRP published today, a lawyer domain holder beat back a challenge from The California Milk Processor Board on the domain name GotMilkAds.com California Milk Processor Board is the owner of the registered trademark GOT MILK? Its a interesting opinion especially in light of the fact that UDRP’s panels have awarded domain names to this same complainant based off of this trademark and led one domain blogger to recommend to domain holders not to mess with domains that might infringe on the Got ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
My.Net Sells For $75K on Sedo - The domain name My.Net just sold on Sedo for 49,000 British pounds which at today’s conversion rates it equates into over $76,000 Dollars. The domain was owned by Technology Investment Group Limited and first registered in 1995. The domain is pending transfer at Sedo.com. I think its a nice buy especially considering that even with the new gTLD’s looming none will have any two letter domain names. Actually the domain name would be a good one for Verisign which operates the .Net Registry to own. Congrats ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Busta Rhymes Becomes Latest Celeb To Let His Domain Name Expire As BustaRhymes.com Drops Today - A few months ago we wrote how a famous athlete, Michael Vick, had just allowed his two domain names to expire and drop. Today another Celeb’s domain name is facing deletion as BustaRhymes.com has expired and is deleting today. The domain name BustaRhymes.com has been registered to: Flip Mode Licensing, LLC c/o Pryor Cashman LLP of  New York, NY Also listed on the whois record was one Busta Rhymes (brose@pryorcashman.com). The domain was originally registered in 2001. According to Alexa the domain ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Is Google Rolling Out A Political Site: It Registers GoogleElections.com - Yesterday Google, Inc., registered GoogleElections.com Google has had a blog dedicated to politics but this domain name registration may indicate they are planning on expanding coverage or planning on putting up a full on political site in anticipation of the 2012 elections? Google is no strange to politics and is reportedly spends million  in Washington on lobbyists. So it will be interesting to see what becomes of GoogleElections.com   Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Co-Founder Of Absolute Poker Pleads Guilty - In April of this year we told you that several gambling poker sites were seized by the Feds the owners charged with a bunch of Federal crimes. Yesterday,  the co-founder and the director of payment processing for Absolute Poker, Brent Beckley, pleaded guilty in Manhattan’s federal court to conspiring to violate the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and commit bank fraud. “I knew that it was illegal to accept credit cards from players to gamble on the Internet,” Beckley reportedly ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN’s at-large cabinet debating recommendation to stifle new TLD release - Would throttling release of new TLDs benefit the internet? The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), which represents the interests of internet users, is the latest group to consider asking ICANN to do a phased release of its new TLD program. Although there’s still disagreement amongst the group, a third draft of a document titled “Updated ALAC advice on gTLDs” says that there are “deep concern about the possible harmful effect on Internet end-users of a single ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Check out what domains Bayer, Enterprise, and a congresswoman bought this week - Big buyers get good deals on domain names. Some notable names made domain purchases this week for smart prices. All of these sales were at Afternic unless otherwise noted. Bayer AG bought ResponsibleUse.com for only $895 at Sedo. It’s a good domain for information about prescription drug abuse. Sharp Design, which had been using SharpDesignWebsites.com, shortened its domain to SharpDesign.com for just $2,000. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R – TN) got MarshaBlackburn.com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN’s devise for needy new gTLD field is really, unequivocally bad - Want to watch another aspect of the new TLD process explode? I just finished reviewing ICANN’s draft plan to assist “needy” applicants wishing to apply for a new top level domain name. I know the title to this post is lame, but I really can’t come up with anything better to describe this new program. It’s really, really bad. And it will blow up in ICANN’s face. The program is funded to allow 14 applicants for new TLDs to pay $47,000 in evaluation fees ... read more ...