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.

Fri 14th December 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
LiveOne Group loses second UDRP explain in as many months - Company goes after domain name registered before its brand even existed. Let’s hope that LiveOne Group, a streaming media company, merely got some bad legal advice on this one. It just lost a UDRP for LiveOne.com. The current registrant picked it up in 2007, at least a few years before LiveOne Group came to market. So LiveOne Group had no chance of winning. The owner of LiveOne.com was represented by Ari Goldberger. LiveOne Group is now 0-for-2 in UDRPs with its ... read more ...
Thu 13th December 2012
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Marchex finish user sales report, partial 3 - A belated look at more of Marchex’ end user domain sales. Last month I created a three part series about Marchex’ end user domain sales. I was on the road in NYC and scheduled the third part to publish on November 7. But, as WordPress often does, it “missed schedule” and I didn’t notice it until now. Call it delayed gratification. Here’s my final list of end user domain buys from Marchex’ top 500 list. You can see see other sales here. I did the best ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Why domain marketplaces merit 20% (and if we disagree, no one army we to use them) - If you don’t think domain marketplaces deserve their commission, you’re welcome to move your business elsewhere. Whenever I write about the two big domain marketplaces, Afternic and Sedo, someone inevitably gripes about the 15% to 20% commissions they charge. Let me paraphrase the common complaint: “All they do is list all of these domains, and transactions just happen. They don’t deserve 20%.” It’s true that the incremental cost and effort to a marketplace ... read more ...
 
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DomainSponsor’s Webfest to revisit Endeavour space convey and Magic Castle - A space shuttle and the Magic Castle come to Webfest. DomainSponsor’s Webfest (formerly known as DomainFest) is known for its glitzy parties. It looks like February’s event will keep the reputation going. The event is holding two big parties. The first is (forgive me) “out of this world”. It will take place at the Space Shuttle Endeavour Pavilion, where you’ll drink cocktails and eat dinner underneath the shuttle. Astronaut Garrett Reisman will make a special ... read more ...
Wed 12th December 2012
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If a lead comes by a broker, we should compensate a broker - Give credit where credit is due. Yesterday I got an email from someone interested in one of my domains. “I found your domain on BuyDomains,” he stated. But he thought the price I listed on BuyDomains (via Afternic) was too high and wanted to negotiate. Rather than call BuyDomains to negotiate he emailed me directly. We worked out a price, and then I changed the price at BuyDomains to what we negotiated and told him to buy it through them. It could be tempting ... read more ...
 
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32 finish user domain sales from $1,000 to $80,000 - End users from Telebrands to LegalZoom buy domain names. Let’s kick of this week’s end user sales report by referring to my post yesterday about Endgame.com. A security company paid $80,000 for the domain at Sedo. Now, on to the other sales… Afternic It looks like a company has yet to be launched at EliteElectricAustin.com, but the owner made a smart move by picking up EliteElectric.com for $1,600. A religious organization called International Teams bought InternationalTeams.com ... read more ...
 
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Predictions for subsequent week’s new TLD lottery - We’re pretty much guaranteed that something won’t go as planned. Tickets for next week’s new top level domain “prioritization draw” went on sale this morning. The draw will take place on Monday on Los Angeles. Despite the big money at stake for applicants, I predict there will be a few snafus. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened in the new TLD process. But this time it might technically be at the fault of an applicant rather than ICANN. Here ... read more ...
Tue 11th December 2012
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UDRP filed opposite dual minute domain Yu.com - Are Yu serious? A UDRP has been filed against the owner of the two letter domain name Yu.com. The case was filed by Two Way NV/SA at World Intellectual Property Organization. It’s unclear who owns the domain. It has been protected by Moniker whois privacy for the past two years. Prior to that it was protected by NameView privacy, which means there may be a connection to Kevin Ham. The most recent non private registration record I can find at DomainTools is a 2006 ... read more ...
 
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Go Daddy names Blake Irving CEO - Domain registrar names its new CEO. Go Daddy has named former Chief Product Officer of Yahoo! and long time Microsoft executive Blake Irving as its new CEO effective January 7, 2013. He replaces interim CEO Scott Wagner, who replaced Warren Adelman in July. Irving will also join the company’s board of directors. Irving was most recently at Yahoo, where he was Chief Product Officer. He left that post in April, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was with Microsoft ... read more ...
 
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Interview: Blake Irving, Go Daddy’s new CEO - Longtime Go Daddy customer now at its helm. This morning I talked with Blake Irving, who was just named Chief Executive Officer of Go Daddy, about why he chose to join the company. It turns out Irving is no stranger to the domain registration and web hosting giant. “I’ve been a Go Daddy customer for five years,” he said. “I host 45 domains with them, and I’ve been a fan of the company since I acquired my first domain.” Irving said he’s also helped friends ... read more ...
 
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iBoats.com sues owners of iBoatCovers.com - Company tries to protect its descriptive brand. iBoats.com has filed a lawsuit (pdf) against a Georgia company for alleged cybersquatting and trademark infringement. The company claims that Shoplio’s iBoatCovers.com web site infringes on its registered tradmearks for iBoats and iBoats.com. Shoplio runs a number of niche online stores, somewhat similar to how CSN Stores/Wayfair used to operate. It has at least six online stores dedicated solely to covers, including ... read more ...
 
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Cancer.info hits $11,000, heading .info domain auction - .Info auction attracting serious bids with three days to go. Cancer.info is leading the way at the Afilias .info auction at Go Daddy. Bidding on the domain name has reached $11,005 with 17 different bidders placing 87 bids. The auction features over 100 domain names that were claimed during the .info trademark sunrise period in 2001. The sunrise claims were later invalidated and .info registry Afilias has held the domain names ever since. Bidding on all domains starts ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Security association buys Endgame.com for $80,000 - Security company upgrades its domain name. An Atlanta company has purchased the domain name Endgame.com for $80,000, topping Sedo’s weekly sales list. The company owns the domain names Endgames.us and EndgameSystems.com. This is a nice upgrade. Here’s how the company describes itself: Endgame delivers the only integrated Cyber Operations Platform that meets the needs of the military and your SOC. Realtime, scalable solutions that turn billions of data points ... read more ...
Mon 10th December 2012
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CNN too “distracted” to strengthen the brands’ domain names - Company doesn’t register domains for popular segment. Remember how CNN started iReport, and then only when it became very popular paid dearly for the domain name? To the tune of $750,000? It may have done it again, as one DNW reader pointed out to me today. CNN has a segment called CNN Distraction that’s getting a lot of attention. It features videos it describes this way: “CNN may have built its reputation by covering the news, but this stuff is definitely ... read more ...
 
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Video: Go Daddy holiday celebration featuring B-52s - Go Daddy distributes millions in donations and prizes at annual holiday party. Go Daddy held its annual holiday party in Phoenix this weekend. As usual, it was a bit over the top. It opened with a Psy impersonator who’s Gangnam Style performance was apparently good enough to fool some in the audience. The headline band this year was the B-52s. Go Daddy and The Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation presented the Semper Fi Fund with checks totaling $2 million, some of ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
2012 Impact Stories: new TLD field revealed - June 13 was a big day for the domain name industry. It’s the time of year to review what has transpired in the domain name industry over the past year and look forward to 2012. We’ll start with one of the most anticipated dates in the domain industry this year: June 13, 2012. That was the day ICANN officially revealed the 1,930 applications for new top level domain names covering 1,409 unique strings. This is more than many industry players — including the registries ... read more ...
Fri 7th December 2012
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What kind of domains are offered for underneath $1,000? - Some are obvious — but the delineation between under $1,000 and $3,000 is quite small. When Afternic sends its weekly sales reports it omits domains that sold for under $1,000. Yet understanding which types of domains are selling for three figures can be valuable for domain investors. Thankfully, Afternic’s updated web site shares a selection of domain sales from all price ranges. Here are some observations after sorting through some of the sub-$1,000 domains. 1. ... read more ...
Thu 6th December 2012
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Not a win-win: FranklinCovey sued for behest on Franklin.com on Google Adwords - Seven Habits company faces lawsuit over Adwords bidding. Perhaps the eighth habit of highly effective people should be “not bidding on competitors domain names in Adwords”. Franklin Electronic Publishers has filed a federal lawsuit against FranklinCovey because the Seven Habits-based time management company is bidding on the term “Franklin.com” on Google Adwords. Franklin.com is owned by the plaintiff, which sells products somewhat related to what Franklin ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Citigroup sues to get CityCard.com, a domain it won in UDRP - South Korean court blocked transfer of domain after UDRP; Citi files suit in the United States. Last September a National Arbitration Forum panel ruled that Citigroup should get the domain name CityCard.com. [Update: the court entered a default judgment for Citigroup and the domain has been transferred.] But the owner of the domain name sued in South Korea court to block the transfer. Now Citigroup has filed an in rem action against the CityCard.com domain name in ... read more ...
 
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Domain upgraders: 2 forms of ridiculously competent buyers for your domain names - “Upgraders” are prime targets to buy your domain names — and relatively easy to find. Since I create a list of end user domain names sales each week, I notice some pretty strong patterns amongst end user buyers. One of the biggest categories of buyers are the “upgrade” buyers. The domain name they buy is almost exactly like the one they already own, only better in one of two ways. The first is a better top level domain. Buyers will often buy a .com domain ... read more ...
 
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Support a gift by renewing the domain name - A unique gift this holiday season: renewing a domain name. Domain name registrar Hover has come up with a creative promotion to help charities. The registrar is asking people to support charities by renewing the charities’ domain names for them. You can see a list of charities that have their domains at Hover here. All you have to do is click the charity link, add how many years you want to renew its domain for, and then go through the checkout. You’ll also be ... read more ...
Wed 5th December 2012
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Good domain strategy: eBay DealMint - Service runs on eBayDealMint.com, but eBay bought DealMint.com too. I’m a bit confused about eBay’s new DealMint service, but I give the comapny props for locking in the necessary domain names. eBay switched the DNS on DealMint.com and eBayDealmint.com to its new daily deals offering sometime in the past 4-5 weeks. I can’t find much news about the service, but was alerted to a nameserver change on these domains from markmonitor.com to eBay’s DNS. Even stranger, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
A untrustworthy domain attorney practice - Telling a domain owner you have a buyer for their domain when you don’t is unethical. I want to highlight a domain broker practice that gives the industry a bad name. I’ll call it the “phantom buyer”. Here’s how it works. A domain broker contacts a domain owner and says they have a buyer interested in their specific domain name. The broker doesn’t really have a buyer for the specific domain, but wants to get the domain owner to agree to have the broker ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
28 finish user domain sales - 28 end user sales from Afternic and Sedo this past week. Below is a selection of end user domain name sales from Afternic and Sedo last week. Afternic I’m curious who paid $50,000 for Snipes.com. The domain is still in escrow, but I imagine it’s an end user. Outdoor products company Firmly Planted dropped the hyphen in its domain, picking up FirmlyPlanted.com for $2,319. (Check out their web site, they sell some really cool outdoor stuff.) Law firm Loeb Loeb ... read more ...
 
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Confirmed: IDNs will be prioritized in new TLD queue - IDN backers get their wish. Applicants for internationalized domain names will get prioritized to the front of the new top level domain name queue, ICANN confirmed today. ICANN confirmed this information in a webinar about the gTLD prioritization draw. The prioritization draw, which will determine the order in which initial evaluation results are released, as well as the priority applications go through other stages of the process, takes place in Los Angeles on December ... read more ...