Author Archives: DomainNameWire

About DomainNameWire

Domain Name Wire is a blog that deals with the domain name sector. The blog covers a range of domain related topics ranging from issues concerning expiring domains, monetization, domain registries and registrars, ICANN, policy, law etc. The blog began in March, 2005, after Mr. Allemann had dropped out of meetings to become involved in domain portfolio company, iREIT. The project began as a hobby to keep him involved in the domaining business, and then became his full-time business.

Mon 25th March 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
With 3 days to go, TS.org leads 1-2 impression .org auction during $2,475 - Go Daddy’s auction of one and two character .org domain names ends on Thursday, and plenty of the lower priced domains are seeing action. Go Daddy’s .org auction is part of Public Interest Registry’s Project 94. Up to 94 one and two character .org domains will be allocated.[Update: the auction has been extended until April 4.] As of the time of posting, TS.org has the highest bid at $2,475 with 5 bidders and 16 bids. Other two character domains, including b3.org, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Candy.com harm by Google penalty - Company hit with penalty last year; Google continues to deny requests to lift penalty. Candy.com has a sweet (and expensive) domain name, one that helped it get instant credibility in the candy industry. But apparently the site is lacking good search rankings due to a manual Google penalty — and that has led the company to lay off some employees. Candy.com co-founder Greg Balestrieri posted in the Google product forum for Webmaster Central about the company’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Pinterest objects to Amazon’s skeleton for .Pin domain name - Pinterest sticks a pin in Amazon’s .pin top level domain application. Pinterest has filed a legal rights objection against Amazon.com over its application to run the .pin top level domain. As with Amazon’s other top level domain applications, it plans to operate .pin as a closed registry and will not offer second level domain names to consumers and businesses. While you can understand what Amazon would do with other domain names it has applied for, such as .book ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Company objects to Chinese IDNs over contractual and obvious rights - Group that partnered with Chinese government for IDNs claims that new TLDs will infringe contractual and intellectual property rights. A legal rights objection is supposed to be filed based on trademarks, but a Singapore company has filed two objections based on alleged contractual terms and patent rights. i-DNS.net says it has filed objections against Chinese Network Information Center (“CNNIC”) and China Organizational Name Administration Center (“CONAC”) ... read more ...
Sat 23rd March 2013
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Is Google removing prepared to make an Open Patent Pledge? - Google registered domain names yesterday for an “Open Patent Pledge”. When Google acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, it was clear that a big reason for its purchase was Motorola’s patent portfolio. Now it looks like the company might be getting ready to make some sort of “Open Patent Pledge”, although what that actually is remains to be seen. Yesterday the company registered OpenPatentPledge.com (and .net/.org) as well as OpnPledge.com. (It couldn’t ... read more ...
Fri 22nd March 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Here’s how new TLD objections work - An explanation of new top level domain objections. Yesterday I wrote about a number of objections filed against new top level domain applications. I also explained the four types of objections. So just how do these objections work? In a lot of ways they are modeled after UDRP, except the fees are higher and there’s more flexibility. There’s also no precedent to go on, either, which is no small matter. Similar to UDRP, ICANN has set its own rules for Dispute Resolution ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
“Gold Community” objects to .Gold tip turn domain - A sign of things to come in community objections against new TLDs? After posting yesterday about some of the objections to Donuts’ new top level domain applications, I received word that the company has received an additional community objection… on .Gold. Yes, apparently the “gold community” has objected to .gold. The case was filed by the World Gold Council, which is the only competing applicant for the .gold domain. Perhaps someone O-G’d. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
27 new TLDs have upheld their initial evaluation - First batch of new TLDs have passed initial evaluation. Today was a big milestone in the new top level domain name process. ICANN’s new top level domain application status page is now showing the first top level domain names to pass Initial Evaluation. As of the time of writing, 27 domains have passed initial evaluation. Because they were given precedence in the new TLD prioritization draw, all 27 are internationalized domain names. Of the first 28 prioritization ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Objections filed opposite .com and .org IDN tip turn domains - Russian IDNs face legal rights objections. VeriSign and Public Interest Registry have hit a speedbump in their plans to role out versions of .com and .org for the Russian market. VeriSign’s .com transliteration .ком and Public Interest Registry’s Russian equivalent for .org, .орг, have been objected to with Legal Rights Objections. Both objections were filed by two companies, Regtime Ltd. and Legato Ltd. Regtime is an ICANN-accredited registrar, assuming ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
First signs of Google’s new domain parking customer marker program… - Internet Traffic asks customers to identify themselves as part of new Google initiative. One of the topics discussed extensively in the hallways at Webfest this year was changes Google is making to its parking program. Although I don’t have all of the details, the bottom line is that Google is making an effort to better identify who is actually parking domains using its ad feed. This may involve steps to identify people across the various parking companies that ... read more ...
Thu 21st March 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
51 some-more finish user domain sales this week - End users were busy buying domains through Afternic last week. Afternic had a banner week for end user domain sales last week. It even sold a three hyphen domain for 2,500! My fingers are so tired that I’m just going to jump right into it… Trendy Golf Limited is expanding its horizons with TrendySports.com at $2,500. Cantor Fitzgerald Securities paid $4,088 for CFWP.com. Wiggins Golf Consulting, LLC bought CarolinaGolfTrips.com for $1,000. Check iO, a game for ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Objection! What objections opposite Donuts’ TLDs uncover us about a subsequent proviso of a new TLD game - An early look at new TLD objections shows some questionable claims. The deadline to file objections against new top level domain applications was March 13. Dispute resolution providers are slowly posting the objections, but it looks like what has been posted so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Donuts, the largest TLD applicant with 307 applications, has informed Domain Name Wire that it received around 40 objections. Donuts provided details on a limited number ... read more ...
 
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Sedo’s earnings: domain business shrinks 18% as associate business grows - Sedo’s domain parking business continues to drag on overall company. Sales of domains are down, too. Sedo Holding released its Annual Report yesterday (pdf), and the numbers for the domain name business are fairly dismal. Sedo Holding has two parts: domain marketing (Sedo) and affiliate marketing (affilinet). First, the good news: Affilinet saw its revenue grow 17.7% year-over-year. Now, the bad news: The bad news: Sales at Sedo in 2012 droped 17.9%. Revenue from ... read more ...
Wed 20th March 2013
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Demand Media sets adult Dublin bureau for domain services - Company makes formal announcement about operations in Ireland. Demand Media announced today that it is opening its international headquarters for the company’s domain services business in Dublin, Ireland. Demand Media is serving as the backend registry provider for its own top level domains (applied for under United TLD Holdco Ltd.) as well as Donuts’. United TLD has applied for 26 top level domains and Donuts has applied for 307. Of course, many of these domains ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
19 finish user domain sales adult to $36,000 - 19 end users paid between $700 and $36,000 for domains at Sedo last week. The top reported sale on Sedo’s sales list this past week was to an end user, although we don’t yet know what that end user plans to launch at the domain. Here are details on that sale and others: The Exchange, which owns the undeveloped site TheExchangeMail.com, bought TheExchange.com for $36,000. Given the price tag, it’s clear this was an end user. i-Paint S.r.l., which owns the domain ... read more ...
 
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Bloomberg sues sploggers regulating Google’s Blogger - Company upset over blogs using “Bloomberg” in subdomain and scraping Bloomberg content. Bloomberg has filed a lawsuit (pdf) in U.S. District Court in New York against four John Does using Google’s Blogger service. The defendants have set up blogs on the service that use third level domains that include the Bloomberg name. Bloomberg says the defendants are committing trademark infringement. The blogs at issue are: BloombergWest.blogspot.com BloombergDealFeed.blogspot.com BloombergLondon.blogspot.com BloombergCommods.blogspot.fr Bloomberg ... read more ...
 
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WIPO posts 11 authorised rights TLD objections: .blue, .academy, .goo and more - Google and Donuts amongst those hit with legal rights disputes over top level domains. World Intellectual Property Organization has added ten legal rights objections disputes to its list of new top level domain objections. It recently posted the dispute between Del Monte Corporation and Del Monte International GmbH for .DelMonte. The new additions are: .Coach Coach, Inc. against Donuts (Coach is the only other applicant for .coach) .Academy Academy Sports + Outdoors ... read more ...
Tue 19th March 2013
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The DevHub story: association finally finds a tolerable business, looks to enhance in 2013 - After many failed business models, Seattle company DevHub has found a sustainable business model that doesn’t rely on Google. It was the fall of 2010 and DevHub was running out money. Which meant it was running out of time. The company had raised $2 million and had gone through a couple different business models. But nothing stuck long enough to sustain the business. The company had about 10 payrolls left, and then it was toast. Then the phone rang… The beginning Mark ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
University of Central Florida sues wine store that owns UCFliquorstore.com - University of Central Florida takes issue with liquor store’s marketing and domain name. The page that used to be at UCFLiquorStore.com. Screenshots.com on December 23, 2012.The University of Central Florida has sued a local liquor store that bills itself as “Your Official UCF Liquor Store”. Pat’s Liquor, which is located about a mile from UCF’s Orlando campus, has been using the domain name UCFLiquorStore.com and pitching itself as the official local store ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GFA.com leads Afternic auction on SnapNames - Lots of good domains in auction ending Friday. Afternic is running another auction on the SnapNames platform and it’s attracting lots of bidders. The auction includes 136 domains with reserve ranges starting as low as $200 to as high as $250,000. It ends on Friday. As of right now the three letter domain GFA.com has the highest bid at $11,249. The reserve has been met. Also keep an eye on sweat.com. It has been bid up to $7,750, but the reserve is between $10,000-$25,000. The ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
FairSearch files grave objections opposite Google’s .search, .fly and .map TLD applications - Group claims three TLDs would give Google an unfair competitive advantage. A consortium that promotes competition in search has filed objections against three of Google’s top level domain bids. Robin Wauters with The Next Web was the first to write about the objections this morning. FairSearch filed objections with International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) over .search, .fly, and .map. ICC is one of three dispute resolutions providers hearing new TLD objections. ICC ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Why a DOJ retard on new TLD auctions doesn’t make sense - I have a hard time understanding how a private auction would be illegal in the case of new TLD allocation. A couple weeks ago a new TLD applicant told me they weren’t participating in private TLD auctions because they thought the auctions would ran afoul of U.S. laws. Now we have some confirmation that there are at least legitimate concerns, as Uniregistry announced that the Department of Justice declined to issue a business review on the topic. (It was an oral ... read more ...
Mon 18th March 2013
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8888.com gets 400,000 EUR bid on Sedo - It’s a lucky number, but is it this lucky? [Update: my skepticism was warranted. The bid has been cancelled.] The domain name 8888.com has received a 400,000 EUR bid at Sedo. That’s over $500,000 USD. 8 is consider a lucky number in Chinese culture. Lucky enough for a four digit domain to be worth over $500,000? I’m perhaps a little skeptical. But I’ll point out the bidding requirements to bid over 100,000 EUR at Sedo: 1. Complete the application form included ... read more ...
 
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Will SXSW 2014 be famous as a year of a domain? - SXSW 2013 attracted a handful of domain companies, and I expect more next year. .Co founder Juan Diego Calle on stage with Steve Case.SXSW 2013 is over, and what an event it was. The Interactive portion drew over 30,000 official attendees. Add in the “shadow” (i.e. unpaid) attendance, and it probably topped 40,000 people. SXSW Interactive attracts developers, tech startups, app companies, graphic designers, and other people who like to wear thick rimmed glasses. It’s ... read more ...
Sun 17th March 2013
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What track is Levi Strauss shopping fixing rights to? - Company registers domain names that suggest it’s buying naming rights to a sports stadium. It looks like clothing company Levi Strauss is buying naming rights to a sports stadium. But which one? Last Wednesday the company registered at least twelve domain names related to a stadium: levifield.com levifield.net levisfield.com levisfield.net levistadium.com levistadium.net levistrausspark.com levistrausspark.net levistraussstadium.com levistraussstadium.net levistrausstadium.com levistrausstadium.net The ... read more ...