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.

Thu 14th March 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
What domains a NBA and 15 others bought this week - The NBA is among the end user buyers on Sedo last week. Sedo had a pretty good week last week for selling domains to end users. A key highlight is the NBA, which bought a .in domain for just shy of $5,000. Here’s the list: Swiss company PUBLICS bought Publics.ch for EUR 850. Its main web site is PublicsPartner.ch, so this is a big improvement. I wonder if it’s also the company that paid EUR 15,000 for Partners.eu, which is still in escrow. UK ISP Onwave bought ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domaining Spain heads to Valencia subsequent month - The Domaining Spain conference is just over a month away. Domaining Spain will take place in Valencia, Spain on April 25-27. The focus of the event is on ccTLDs (especially given its European location) and new TLDs. Although the title includes “domaining”, the event looks like it will be a good opportunity for brand owners and new TLD applicants. The first day is mostly devoted to new top level domains, and the first session is a presentation by the Trademark ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
23 some-more finish user domain sales final week - A mediation company, a landscaper, and hydroponics company make domain purchases. Here are some of the end users who bought domains on Afternic last week. A company in Florida called Complete Hydroponics bought CompleteHydroponics.com for $1,000. Sports Coach Systems Limited in the United Kingdom paid $1,288 for SportsSimulator.com. National Arbitration Mediation, Inc. bought NooLook.com for $1,595. I’m not sure what it’s for. Collaborative Consulting bought ... read more ...
Wed 13th March 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Here’s a biggest emanate confronting a domain marketplace in 2013 - How new TLDs will affect domain market is a top concern. Ask people in the domain industry what the “biggest issue facing the domain name market in 2013″ is, and a lot of them will tell you its new top level domain names. 30% of people who responded to the question on this year’s Domain Name Wire survey cited new TLDs as the biggest issue facing the market this year. With some of the new domains hitting market in 2013, we’ll start to see what impact these ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
CDN.net, purchased for $185k final year, launches - $185,000 domain name goes live as a new service. About a year ago OnApp bought the domain name CDN.net for $185,000. For awhile it just forwarded the domain to its main web site. But now it has launched a new service at the domain. GigaOm reports that CDN.net has launched a pay-as-you-go content delivery network. CDN.net is one of those domains that “makes sense” as a .net domain. CDN.com is not owned by a content delivery network company. It belongs to Computer ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Want to sell your new TLD by Go Daddy? KISS. - A uniform registration process is key to selling your new TLD through Go Daddy. Last week representatives of about 800 of the unique strings applied for as new top level domains gathered in Phoenix for Go Daddy Registry Days. The event was designed to start a dialogue between the world’s largest domain name registrar and the many registries that hope to get shelf space at GoDaddy.com for their new TLDs. At a high level, the message was pretty basic: KISS, or Keep ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Chicago male owns PopeFrancis.com - He’s owned it since 2010, but someone else quickly snapped up PopeFrancisI.com today. Last month I suggested several possible names for the next pope and listed who owned the corresponding domain names. One I didn’t have on the list was Pope Francis. But that’s the name of the new pope just elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church. So who owns the domain name? Christopher Connors, a Chicago man, registered the domain name in 2010. It currently points to a GoDaddy.com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Company that owns Entertainment.com files for bankruptcy - Company enters chapter 7 liquidation. Entertainment Publications LLC, the company that owns Entertainment.com, has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. You probably know the company for its coupon books, which offered buy-one-get-one (BOGO) offers before Groupon, Living Social, and everyone else got into the game. The catch is that you have to pay upfront for an Entertainment book and then use the coupons throughout the year. So will Entertainment.com go up ... read more ...
 
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Joe Alagna joins 101Domain.com - Alagna will lead registrar’s channel development efforts. A long time fixture in the domain name industry has joined 101Domain.com. The registrar announced today that Joe Alagna is now its Vice President, Channel Development. Prior to joining 101Domain.com, Alagna spent over a decade at CentralNic, including as GM, North American Markets. Centralnic is best known for selling third level domains such as domains under us.com and de.com, but it’s also supporting ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
What the…? Google to kill Google Reader - Popular RSS reader will be shut down. I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn’t April Fools’ day after hearing this news: Google is shutting down Google Reader. I’ve been using the popular RSS reader for many years to read domain blogs and other news sources, and transitioning to another RSS reader will be painful. The only Google services I use more than Reader are search and Gmail. Worse, as a blogger, it could mean a number of lost subscribers. As ... read more ...
Tue 12th March 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
CSC buys Melbourne IT DBS for A$152.5 million - A shocking price tag for Melbourne IT’s brand protection business. There’s money in online brand management. Melbourne IT (ASX: MLB) announced today that it has sold its Digital Brand Services (DBS) division to Corporation Services Company (CSC) for A$152.5 million – which was 95% of the entire company’s market cap prior to the announcement. Melbourne IT will still exist as a domain registrar. The move builds CSC’s already large brand protection business ... read more ...
 
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How is this “confusingly similar”? - I’m not sure how this UDRP case passed the confusingly similar test. The first prong of a UDRP case is whether the domain name at issue is identical or confusingly similar to one of the complainant’s trademarks. It’s usually the simplest part of a UDRP. But sometimes complainants make a biiiig stretch in comparing the domain to their mark. Sadly, a lot of panelists also bite. Consider the recent case for GoCables.com. The complainant, Lastar, Inc., d/b/a Cables ... read more ...
 
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Lawsuit filed to hindrance UrbanHome.com send after UDRP decision - Suit claims WIPO panel was wrong in UrbanHome.com decision. Last week Michael Berkens wrote about a UDRP decision for UrbanHome.com. A WIPO panel ruled that the domain name should be transferred to Urban Home of Oxnard, California. Now the respondent, Technology Online, LLC, has filed a federal lawsuit (pdf) in Nevada to stop the transfer. Technology Online argues that the panel erred in ordering the domain transferred and is asking for declaratory relief. Although ... read more ...
Mon 11th March 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
What domains T. Rowe Price and others bought - Financial firm makes shrewd domain purchase. T. Rowe Price didn’t become an investment giant by overpaying for assets. So it’s fitting that it paid just $1,495 for the domain name MoneyConfident.com. Here are other end user domain sales from Afternic two weeks ago. (I’m a bit behind due to travel and events.) Hazelrigg Claims Management Services bought Hazelrigg.com for $1,400. Batteries Plus, a battery store franchise, made another purchase with BatteriesBulbs.com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Domain Name Wire is 8 -

8Domain Name Wire incited 8 years aged this past weekend.

On Mar 8, 2005, we wrote a initial post on Domain Name Wire. This post is series 6,250.

I’d like to appreciate both my readers and advertisers for your continued support. Without both of you, this blog wouldn’t exist.

Here’s to 8 more.

Via: domainnamewire.com

 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Procter & Gamble guilty of retreat domain name hijacking - Consumer products giant provided false sales numbers to WIPO panel. A World Intellectual Property Organization panel has found Procter Gamble guilty of attempted reverse domain name hijacking over the domain swash.com. Marchex has owned the domain name since 2004. PG launched a new brand called Swash several years later. In its complaint, PG originally stated that it had generated more than $40 million in Swash sales over the past four years. It also claimed some ... read more ...
 
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So most antithesis to a sealed .cloud, nonetheless nothing of these companies bought Cloud.com? - Companies that are worried about competitive advantage should reexamine their own domain name strategies. An awful lot of big brands are speaking out against the prospect of “closed generic” top level domains, such as .cloud and .book. That may be good news for owners of high quality second level domains, if or when these complaining companies “get” domain names. They’re spending a lot of time fighting the prospect of companies getting a competitive advantage ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Pepsi’s engaging $8,000 domain purchase - Pepsi buys a hyphenated domain for $8,000 and it won’t be easy to by the unhyphenated version. As I was going through Sedo’s sales report from last week, one domain caught my eye — mostly because of the buyer. PepsiCo bought Green-Label.com for a solid $8,000. I can see a number of uses for this domain, but I’m not sure I’d go with this brand or marketing name if I were Pepsi. Why? GreenLabel.com is owned by an unrelated clothing company. Here are other ... read more ...
Fri 8th March 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
The chairman you’d many like to have cooking with will substantially buy we dinner - And you don’t even have to fly to the Caymans. I asked a light-hearted question on this year’s domain name survey: What one person in the domain industry would you most like to have dinner with? The funny thing is that the #1 guy on the list is also the person most likely to literally buy you dinner at the next domain conference: Frank Schilling. In fact, at Webfest last month he bought a bunch of domain brokers dinner. He’s the kind of person that if you bump ... read more ...
 
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Registrars miffed about new accreditation agreement. Will it check new TLDs? - Fighting over new agreement continues and threatens new TLD timeline. The team of registrars negotiating with ICANN for the new Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) issued a stern statement today saying ICANN is making some unreasonable requests and is trying to hold new TLDs hostage to a new agreement. Last night ICANN published its proposed 2013 RAA. Where the registrars disagreed with ICANN it also published the registrars take. The main sticking point is the ... read more ...
Thu 7th March 2013
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What to do during SXSW if you’re a domainer - Three domain companies and events to hit while in Austin. SXSW Interactive in Austin is an overwhelming event. There are hundreds of sessions to choose from, and just finding their locations can be a challenge. So let me break down for you some essentials for SXSW Interactive 2013 if you’re in the domain business. I know of three domain companies that will be at SXSW in some way this year. (There will likely be many more next year as new TLDs roll out.) 1. .Co .Co ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Competitive Advantage vs. Anti-Competitive and a sealed TLD debate - There’s a big difference between gaining competitive advantage and being anti-competitive. This morning I read Technology Policy Institute’s opinion on “closed” top level domains. A closed domain is one in which the applicant doesn’t plan to offer second level domain names to the public, including its competitors. My belief about closed generics is quite similar to TPI’s. This paragraph sums up much of my view: Several commentators have expressed concern ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Google says it will make .app, .blog, .cloud, and .search TLDs “open” - Company plans to change some new TLD applications after pressure over “closed generics”. Google plans to update four of its new top level domain applications to make the domains more open to registration outside of Google. In comments submitted to ICANN regarding the concept of “closed generic” TLDs, the company said it will work to change its applications for .app, .blog, .cloud, and .search: These terms have been identified by governments (via Early Warning) ... read more ...
Wed 6th March 2013
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Breaking: Go Daddy to repel applications for .Home and .Casa tip turn domains - Domain registrar abandons plans for its own top level domains. Go Daddy is abandoning its applications for the .home and .casa top level domains, the company announced today. Go Daddy CEO Blake Irving announced the news at its Registry Days conference in Phoenix today. The event is designed to start a dialogue with new top level domain applicants that may wish to sell their domains through Go Daddy — including applicants that have rival bids for the .home and .casa ... read more ...
 
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Go Daddy to remove a .com - World’s largest domain registrar will drop .com from its logo. That iconic GoDaddy.com logo? It’s going to get a bit shorter. Today at its Registry Days conference in Phoenix, Go Daddy CEO Blake Irving announced that the company is going to drop the .com ending from its logo. That announcement was met with a round of applause by the audience, which is made up of companies that hope to chip away at the .com empire. Irving said the branding change will occur over ... read more ...