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 23rd February 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Microsoft files obvious focus for “safe” URL shortening, says no some-more Rick-Rolling - Safer link clicking. Microsoft has filed a patent application for safer URL shortening, and the patent application actually uses the term “rick-rolling”. The application was filed in 2010 but just published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today. A big problem with shortened URLs is that you typically don’t know where they’ll take you when you click on them. As a result, you might end up on a malware site, something NSFW, or, gasp!, get rick-rolled. Microsoft’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
FCM.com, hijacked from owners in phishing attack, returned to owner - UDRP case returns domain to rightful owner. Fermat Capital Management LLC has won a UDRP for the domain name FCM.com, a domain name it used to own. According to the company, in December it fell victim to a phishing attach targeting GoDaddy customers. The phishing email was sent to the technical contact for the domain and asked him to “log in and reactivate your account”. Unfortunately he fell for it and handed over his username and password to a thief. The domain ... read more ...
Wed 22nd February 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google kills “hosted” Adsense for Domains program - Program introduced in 2008 will be phased out. Google is ending its Adsense for Domains program that allowed users of its online Adsense program to park their domain names. The company recommends that customers migrate their parked domain names to a domain name parking company. A message sent to effected publishers this morning includes a link to a migration guide, although that link does not appear functional at this time. [Update: the link now works.] Here’s how ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
ARI gets .sydney, .melbourne and .victoria contract - ARI Registry Services picks up three more new top level domains. ARI Registry Services has won a contract with the governments of New South Wales and Victoria to provide registry services for .sydney, .melbourne and .victoria, the company announced today. ARI definitely had a leg up in responding to the government’s RFP given that it’s located in Australia. Ernst Young and Melbourne IT will assist with developing the applications for the three top level domains. Yesterday ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Military Order of a Purple Heart final PurpleHeart.com - Group chartered by Congress targets domain names. The Purple Heart is a military decoration given to those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice for the U.S. military: being wounded or killed in duty. The Military Order of the Purple Heart was chartered by Congress in 1958 for recipients of the Purple Heart. The group, which has a web site at PurpleHeart.org, is now asking World Intellectual Property Organization to award it the domain names PurpleHeart.com and purpleheartcardonation.net ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
21 finish user domain purchases in a past week including Fool.com, Novartis - Here are 21 domain purchases made by “end users”. This week’s chock-full end user sales report has 21 end user domain purchases. Notable buyers include Fool.com, Novartis, Southern Company, and The Future Project. All sales were at Afternic unless otherwise noted. Field Fresh Foods, Inc. paid $2,088 for FreshSnacks.com 501c3 The Future Project bought Dream.org for $25,000. Electronics repair company Tekmedia Group, Inc bought TechMediaGroup.com for $1,088. Seattle ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
TD Bank files 15th censure about .xxx - Only 15 UDRPs for .xxx after more than two months (but 15 rapid disputes). TD Bank has filed a UDRP for TDBank.xxx, making it the fifteenth entity to use UDRP in an effort to get control of a .xxx domain name. This seems like a relatively low number to me for a TLD that has been out for over two months. I suspect this is because of the high cost of registration which dissuaded some people from cybersquatting. On the other hand, I figure companies will be quick to ... read more ...
Tue 21st February 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Twitter takes down fraud domain Twittter.com - Arbitrator orders Twitter.com domain name typo that mimics popular site to be transferred to Twitter. A World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) arbitration panel has ordered the Twitter typo Twittter.com (with three t’s) be transferred to Twitter. The domain name should be transferred within ten days. It’s no wonder Twitter was upset about this domain name. It currently resolves to a page on SocialRewardCentral.com that mimics the look and feel of Twitter: Users ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Melbourne IT to work on during slightest 120 new tip turn domain applications - Company assisting applicants on at least 120 new TLD applications. Melbourne IT has disclosed that it already has 120 new top level domain applications it is working on as of February 14. It expects that number to hit 150 by the end of the application period in April. The disclosure was made in the company’s annual financial presentation. Melbourne IT’s Digital Brand Services division saw revenue grow to $6.2M AUS in the second half of 2011, which it credits to ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
What should we do about a DNW survey? - I need your help. I have a problem and want your opinion. I’ve been running the Domain Name Wire Survey for seven years. It asks people for their opinions on the state of the domain industry and which service providers are best. The survey was never scientific, but the results seemed to jive with reality. Yet last year social media campaigns by service providers started to skew the results. This year it went to a whole new level with some companies you’ve never ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
iPhone4Settlement.com typo already squatted on - Soon-to-be-busy web site already attracting cybersquatters. 25 million people will soon be sent an email telling them to go to iPhone4Settlement.com. And someone has already typosquatted it. iPhone4Settlement.com is the URL selected by Kurtzman Carson Consultants to manage the claims process for a proposed settlement with Apple over antennae problems when it released the iPhone 4. The web address has been featured in countless mainstream articles over the past 24 ... read more ...
Mon 20th February 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
SXSW only a few weeks away - Domain companies among those coming to Austin for big tech event. South By Southwest (SXSW) is coming to Austin March 9-18, and plenty of domain name companies will be in attendance. SXSW is actually a series of conferences: interactive, film, and music. The interactive festival attracts tech startup people, along with all of the big tech companies. Last year’s official attendance was 19,364 at the interactive (SXSWi) fest, although unofficial attendance is about ... read more ...
 
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Domain Guardians adds domain sales newsletter as it increases brokerage activity - Domain Guardians sees increased demand for domain brokerage. Domain Guardians has added a domain sales newsletter to its mix. The company, founded in part by former Fabulous employees Mike Robertson and Jen Sale, has increased its brokerage activity lately. Last year it sold eSignature.com for $150,000. Domain Guardians’ primary product is estate planning and management for domain name owners. But it has expanded its offerings based on the skillset of Robertson ... read more ...
Sun 19th February 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Ashley Madison targets mobile domain - Affairs dating site wants control of AshleyMadison.mobi. I guess if you’re in to cheating on your spouse, it’s probably best to look at dating listings on your mobile phone rather than your home computer. Avid Life Media Inc., the company behind affair personals site Ashley Madison, has filed a UDRP complaint to get the domain name AshleyMadison.mobi. The domain is owned by someone in China. The registrant has listed the domain for sale on Sedo with an asking ... read more ...
Fri 17th February 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
An vast UDRP case - Cases shouldn’t be heard if they’re this bad. So this guy William (Bill) Robert Johnson forms a company called Aahara Enterprises Pty. He registers the domain aahara.com on October 3, 2011 for his business. But he also wants Ahara.com, and tries to buy it from the owner. The owner’s last name is Hara, and the owner’s sister is Asuka Hara (A. Hara). The owner registered the domain over a decade ago. Negotiations to buy the domain don’t go to Johnson’s liking ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Amazon buys Prime.xxx domain name - Prime.xxx registered by Amazon.com. Amazon.com has picked up the domain name Prime.xxx, an interesting (likely defensive) domain name registration. The company’s Amazon Prime program has millions of members. It started out offering free two day shipping for $79 a year. It has since added additional benefits, such as unlimited streaming of a large video library. So why Prime.xxx? It’s probably just a defensive registration. It prevents someone from starting a streaming ... read more ...
Thu 16th February 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
ESQwire wins a UDRP that we should read - Decision includes a lot of good defenses if you’re hit by a UDRP. If you’re looking for ways to defend a domain name that is hit with a UDRP, there’s a good laundry list of rebuttals in a recent dispute handled by domain law firm ESQwire.com. The case was brought by Sweden’s Rusta AB over the domain name Rusta.com. Rusta actually owned Rusta.com before it let the domain name expire in 2001 and the current registrant picked it up. Now, you tell me: if you believe ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
.Halal tip turn domain in a works - Company applying for .halal with ICANN. Halalan Tayyiban, Corp is planning to apply for the .halal top level domain name. The company operates a web site HalalFinder.com. The site used to be a marketplace for halal food products, but now appears to be a general marketplace. The corporation filed a trademark application for DotHalal with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “Domain name registration services”. The application was filed February 12. The company ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
JotForm.com domain suspended, withdrawal 500k users in lurch - Online web form creator’s main domain name is suspended. JotForm, a WYSIWYG web form creator with 500,000 registered users, had its main domain name JotForm.com suspended by GoDaddy today. In a blog post, the company says: As a part of an ongoing investigation about a content posted in our site, a US government agency has temporarily suspended our jotform.com domain. We are fully cooperating with them, but it is not possible to say when the domain would be unblocked. The ... read more ...
 
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Sedo adds 0 click, accepts offers on “buy now” domains - Sedo changes TOS to reflect changes. Sedo sent a notice to customers today about changes to its terms of service. Although I haven’t read the entire revised TOS, the company highlights three key changes: 1. Buyers have the ability to submit offers on fixed price listings below the “buy now” price. This could be good, but it’s all about the execution. If it’s clear to buyers that they can offer something less than the asking price then it could defeat the ... read more ...
Wed 15th February 2012
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verizon complains about iPhone domains - Company goes after two alleged cybersquatters. [Update 4/13/12: Verizon won both cases.] Verizon has filed two separate cases with World Intellectual Property Organization concerning ten domain names that include the “Verizon” or “Vzw” and “iPhone” marks. The first case is for the domain name verizoniphone4s.com. Interestingly, this domain name loads the Verizon Wireless page for iPhones. But it’s merely loading it in a frame. The second case covers ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Hand regging domains to sell? Include a word “online” - Online is a commonly registered keyword — and most commonly sold. If you’re looking to hand register domain names and list them for sale, here’s some simple advice: take a popular term and add “online” to it. “Online” is consistently one of (if not the) most common words used in domain names. VeriSign’s updated DomainView tool shows the top 15 most registered keywords, and online is right at the top. Just about every time I view the tool’s tag cloud ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
16 constrained finish user domain purchases - 16 companies buy the right domain in the domain aftermarket. Here’s Domain Name Wire’s weekly look at end user domain sales. All of these sales took place on Afternic unless otherwise noted. The owner of eClassie.com wised up to the radio test and bought eClassy.com for $3,500. Another domain registrant made a smart move by dropping a hyphen. The owner of Fifth-Axis.com bought FifthAxis.com for $2,149.70. Williams Chevrolet Honda Geo of Traverse, Michigan paid ... read more ...
 
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Australian council blocks entrance to .info - New TLD backers take note. Australian parliamentarians can’t access .info domain names, according to a story on ITNews.com.au today. A block was placed late last year on the advice of the Defence Signals Directorate because the domain “is generally considered to be a source of more than its fair share of attacks and malicious software”, according to the department’s acting secretary. This doesn’t affect many people, and it may be a stupid way to run internet ... read more ...
 
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Tucows on domain name aftermarket, SOPA, and new tip turn domains - Tucows has a banner year and discusses rising aftermarket domain sale prices. Today Tucows reported record quarterly revenue of $26.4 million for the last quarter. That’s the seventh record revenue quarter in a row for the company. The company posted $97 million in revenue for the year; a record. Here are some other interesting facts from its investor conference call: YummyNames, which monetizes and sells Tucows’ inventory of domain names, saw its revenue up 24% ... read more ...