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.

Tue 28th August 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Learning a tough way: RNC orator slammed in satire web site - Speaker’s company name registered for parody web site. Tonight at the Republican National Convention, small business owner and Delaware Lt. Governor candidate Sher Valenzuela will address the crowd. The theme of the day is “We Built It”, playing off of Barack Obama’s remarks about how the government plays a role in society. Valenzuela helped build her business First State Manufacturing into a successful small business. The company proudly displays its accomplishments ... read more ...
 
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Royal Bank of Scotland files 34 UDRPs - Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services goes into overdrive with large client. Royal Bank of Scotland and its National Westminster Bank Plc have decided to go bulk in cracking down on cybersquatters. The company just filed 34 UDRP cases covering 35 domain names in one fell swoop. This is hardly the bank’s first foray into UDRP. UDRPSearch.com lists 133 cases (including the new ones) filed by Royal Bank of Scotland and 116 filed by National Westminster Bank plc. Based ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dear Alexander, a macros on your domain spam aren’t working! - Dear Alexander, I feel like I know you so much even though we’ve never met in person. You’ve been such a helpful friend all these years. You email me whenever a domain name similar to one I own is expiring and going up for auction. Sure, you don’t actually own the domain name and will just put in a backorder if I “express an interest” in the domain name. Yet keeping me informed about all of these domain names available at Domain Names International (DBA ... read more ...
Mon 27th August 2012
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Four domain name panels on a list for SXSW - Topics range from new TLDs to government interference. SXSW 2013 is more than six months away, but there are just a few days left to vote for which panels you want to see. The SXSW Panel Picker closes August 31. I discovered four domain name related panels in the panel picker. Here they are, along with a link to their full description. New Domains Have Landed – Now What!? Speaker: Jeremiah Johnston, Sedo Jeremiah Johnston gave a “Future 15″ presentation on new ... read more ...
 
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Your domain names are value reduction than we think - You probably want more money for your domain names than they’re worth. This weekend I was at the mall waiting “about an hour” for my new eyeglasses. With time to kill, I turned to Twitter and saw this tweet from Elliot Silver: Elliot is not one to be over critical, so I had to click through to see what all of the fuss was about. Here’s the background. Recently Elliot started doing a weekly post with a handful of top listings from various domain brokers. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Oops, we entrusted my domain name to a little island nation! - Company using .st domain name learns a hard lesson. The world takes .com’s uptime, along with that of many other TLDs run by large registries, for granted. Consider the story of registration site Voost!, which uses the “clever” domain name voo.st. In a post titled “Beware cutesy two-letter TLDs for your domain name”, one of the founders details how its site became unavailable thanks to problems with the .st top level domain name. You mean something can go ... read more ...
Fri 24th August 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Domain Name Wire’s posting frequency - It’s been fairly steady since 2008. Occasionally I’ll run into someone at a conference who says “I’ve noticed you don’t post nearly as much ever since you started doing work for Media.net” or something to that effect. I’ve kind of brushed these comments off because I feet like I post just as much as I used to. But after the third person said that I decided I’d just run the numbers to see if I was right. Behold, the numbers… Here’s my monthly posting ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
No, I’m not going to mislay your couple from my web site - Google’s rhetoric about unnatural linking has created quite a hassle. I have a number of old web sites I haven’t touch in a while. Many of these are directory type sites I set up nearly a decade ago. That mostly get a few hundred visitors a month. Lately people have started contacting me about them. Here are a couple example emails: To whom it may concern, It has come to our attention that your websites or the websites hosted by your company contains links to ... read more ...
Thu 23rd August 2012
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Oakley finds that UDRP is not a surefire approach to take down a tawdry web site - If a domain name says the goods are fake, that’s not confusingly similar. On the face of it, it might seem appealing for a trademark owner to use UDRP to take down a web site selling counterfeit goods. But trademark holders need to understand that UDRP is for cybersquatting, and not all sites selling counterfeit goods meet the three requirements of winning a UDRP. The latest example is Oakley, which failed to recover the domain name MyFakeOakleySunglasses.com. It’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
SnapNames releases iPhone App - Bidding on the go now much easier. SnapNames just released an iPhone app to make it easier to bid on SnapNames auctions on the go. The app makes it easier for customers to update bids and see current bidding history from a mobile phone. It does not allow you to place new backorders or bids on domains if you haven’t already done so on the SnapNames web site. However, the app has a quick link to the SnapNames.mobi mobile site. There you can search for new domain names ... read more ...
 
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Above.com settles lawsuit with Verizon - Company settles cybersquatting lawsuit ahead of trial. Above.com and related parties have settled a cybersquatting lawsuit filed by Verizon. The case was filed in February 2011 and Above.com was served during the DOMAINfest Global conference in Santa Monica. The suit alleged that the defendants used a number of false identities to traffic in trademark-infringing domain names. It alleged the company has registered, used and/or provided Above.com privacy service to ... read more ...
 
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.Nxt discussion is .gone - New top level domain name conference scheduled for next week is cancelled. A conference can survive one cancellation if there are extenuating circumstances. That may have been the case with the .Nxt conference previously scheduled for June in London. ICANN had postponed the release of the list of new top level domain name applications, which was a big milestone scheduled for ahead of the conference. But a conference will not survive a second cancellation, especially ... read more ...
Wed 22nd August 2012
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ICANN terminates dual domain name registrars - Two small registrars get the ax. ICANN’s contract compliance efforts with domain registrars seem to go in fits and starts. The past couple months have been active, and this month the company fully terminated two accredited domain name registrars. Just yesterday ICANN sent a notice of termination to Ynot Domains Corp in New York. Ynot was canned for not escrowing registration data and being late on accreditation fees. The registrar was tiny, with just 24 .com domains ... read more ...
 
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North Carolina food smoothness use files UDRP opposite Takeout.com - Local restaurant food delivery service wants a big prize: Takeout.com. Oh, I can’t wait to see the result of this UDRP! A North Carolina company that delivers food from local and chain restaurants has filed a UDRP for the domain name Takeout.com. The complaint was officially filed by Tarheel Take-Out, LLC, which runs the web site TarheelTakeout.com. According to the founder’s LinkedIn profile, he also owns RaleighTakeout.com. Takeout.com was originally registered ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.TV and .Me among dual dozen finish user domain sales this week - .tv, .me, and a slurl. This week a .tv and a .me domain were amongst the best end user domain name sales. But before we get into this week’s normal end user sales report, I want to call out a Slurl. Divorce Detox bought the domain name divorcetherapist.com for $995 at Sedo. Now, maybe it’s because of all the media attention to “legitimate rape” this week, but the first thing I read was “Divorce the Rapist dot com”. Therapist is a common slurl word, but ... read more ...
 
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At slightest 38 domains will sell in Dotster auction finale tomorrow - Nearly half of domains in auction have already hit their reserves. It’s genuinely refreshing to see a domain name auction with good quality mid-market domain names and reasonable reserves. That’s how I’d describe the current Dotster auction on SnapNames. With just 24 hours to go, the auction looks like it will be a big success. I count 38 domain names that have met their reserve already. That’s nearly half of the 81 listings. This shouldn’t come as a huge ... read more ...
Tue 21st August 2012
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Visiting Flippa in Melbourne, Australia - Behind every internet company there are some bricks and mortar. Here’s where Flippa lives. My wife had one rule during our trip to Australia over the past two weeks: no business meetings. Unfortunately for her (but good for me) I had already scheduled one before she put the rule in place. So last week I rode the train to just north of downtown Melbourne to visit Flippa. For the uninitiated, Flippa is to the web site selling business as Sedo and Afternic are to ... read more ...
 
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Constituencies blast ICANN’s “closed door” Verisign .com agreement renewal - Groups want explanation for lack of thick whois in contract. Three ICANN entities have signed a letter (pdf) blasting ICANN for its “closed doors” decision to renew the .com agreement with Verisign without requiring thick whois. “Thick whois” refers to a whois in which the registry manages/holds registrant information, rather than each individual registrar. The letter was sent by the At-Large Advisory Committee, the GNSO Business Constituency, and the GNSO ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Domain meetup in Denver this Thursday - Drinks with domainers this Thursday. Mike Law, organizer of the Rocky Mountain Domain Conference and author of NameTalent, is hosting a meetup in Denver this Thursday, August 23. The event kicks off at 7 pm at the Mezze Lounge at the Chlóe, 1445 Market St, Denver 80202. Here’s the itinerary: 7:00-7:15 pm Sign in 7:15-7:25 Welcome remarks, Michael Law 7:25-7:45 Icebreaker activity 7:30-10:00 Open networking Law organized the first Rocky Mountain Domain Conference ... read more ...
 
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Monte Cahn settles lawsuit opposite Oversee.net - Long legal battle between Moniker founder and Oversee.net is over. Moniker.com founder Monte Cahn has dismissed his lawsuit against Oversee.net regarding money he said he was owed under a bonus plan. Cahn joined Oversee.net after Seevast sold Moniker to Oversee.net. Cahn left Oversee at the end of 2010. In May 2011 he filed a lawsuit against the company arguing he was due part of a $13 million bonus plan. Having read many of the documents and examinations filed with ... read more ...
 
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DomainTools suspends “abusive” accounts - Domain data provider takes steps to eliminate abusive and auto generated accounts. DomainTools is taking steps to remove abusive and auto-generated accounts that use its service, company CEO Tim Chen announced on the company’s blog today. Chen explained that the company had previously been lax about closing accounts unless they leaked valuable data or affected site operation. It was concerned about false positives (shutting down legitimate accounts). But apparently ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google Apps creates .co an choice (and promotes it) - .co front and center with the big three on Google Apps. Google Apps has added .co as a registration option when you open a new account. Given that you can currently register 27 different top level domains with Google Apps, that’s not big news by itself. But much like with many of the top domain name registrars, .co has managed to get Google to promote it. When I tested just moments ago, Google places .co right up there with .com, .net, and .org. You have to click ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Nominet’s purported anti-domainer intrigue and MIT Tech Review on new TLDs - Two domain name articles worth reading. There are a couple recent articles about the domain name industry that are worth reading. The first is Kevin Murphy’s report for The Register about Nominet’s alleged “Plan G”. Under the alleged plan, the .uk registry sought government protection to save itself from a domainer takeover of its board. It’s very intriguing corporate espionage kind of stuff. The report is based on an employment tribunal with its former ... read more ...
Mon 20th August 2012
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UDRP panelists don’t do their pursuit determining retreat domain name hijacking - Panelists don’t always consider RDNH when asked, and both WIPO and NAF don’t seem to care. On Friday I wrote about the UDRP decision for AboutDotMed.com et al. This morning I read the decision for J-brand.com. In both cases the respondents won. In both cases the respondents asked for reverse domain name hijacking. But in neither case did the panelist make a decision (either way) about reverse domain name hijacking. Yet the World Intellectual Property Organization ... read more ...
 
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How browser changes are creation a hole in approach navigation traffic - Browser features change the way people navigate the web. Last week I wrote about how Sedo’s domain name parking business continues to struggle. The company cites a few reasons for the decline, including “advances made in browser technologies, which alters the circumstances surrounding monetization in the parking business”. There’s no doubt that browsers are blurring the lines between typing in a domain name and a search. What that means for type-in traffic ... read more ...