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.

Wed 1st June 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Oversee.net Asks Court to Dismiss Monte Cahn’s Claims - Domain name company responds to lawsuit over incentive plan. Oversee.net has responded to a lawsuit by former employee Monte Cahn by asking the court to dismiss most of the lawsuit’s claims (pdf). Cahn sued Oversee.net last month over an incentive plan in which Cahn says he could have earned up to $13 million. Cahn alleges that he is owed money under the plan but was never paid. Oversee.net claims that the suit “is nothing more than an alleged breach of contract ... read more ...
Tue 31st May 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Latest New TLD Applicant Guidebook Still Disses Go Daddy, Demand Media - Companies still fall victim to anti-cybersquatting rule for new TLD applicants. The latest (but certainly not final) version of the new top level domain name guidebook still includes a provision that, at least by the spirit of the clause, would prevent Go Daddy and Demand Media (NYSE: DMD) from applying for new top level domain names. Section 1.2.1 of the May 20 release (large pdf) includes a laundry list of reasons why an applicant would be barred from registering ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Deletes Parked Domain Question from New TLD Guidebook - Applicants no longer asked to explain restrictions on domain name parking. A controversial and intriguing addition to the previous applicant guidebook for new top level domain names has been deleted. The April version included a new clause that applicants would have to explain “Will you impose any constraints on parked sites, or sites that offer only advertising?” That clause has been struck from the May 30 version of the guidebook. The question about domain parking ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Biggest Winner from New TLDs May Be Jones Day Law Firm - Jones Day will get hefty pay day defending ICANN new in top level domain name disputes. Who will make the most money from ICANN’s introduction of new top level domain names? It’s likely to be law firm Jones Day. ICANN has already publicly stated that it’s setting aside about a third of the application fees from new top level domain names for legal issues. Its latest applicant guidebook specifically states that Jones Day is likely to defend ICANN in any legal ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
New TLD Guidebook Won’t Be Approved in Singapore - The guidebook itself won’t be done — but ICANN will approve something in June. I’ve gone through the latest version of the new top level domain name applicant guidebook and read ICANN’s explanation of what it is. I’d call it version 0.7 (beta). And I’d argue that there will be no approval of the guidebook at June’s ICANN meeting in Singapore. Instead, ICANN hopes to loosely “approve the new gTLD program”. It’s right there in ICANN’s introduction ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Recommends Against Revamping UDRP - ICANN staff says now is not the time to open wholesale rethink of UDRP. Echoing the sentiments of a number of UDRP providers as well as prominent UDRP defense attorneys, ICANN’s staff has recommended against having the Generic Names Supporting Organization opening a “policy development process” on UDRP. However, in a new report ICANN notes that there are some complaints about process and implementation of UDRP that may warrant review should GNSO feel it necessary ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Lawsuit Alleges Reverse Domain Name Hijacking of AirFX.com - Man files lawsuit after losing UDRP. The same attorney who successfully defended the owner of glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com has filed a reverse domain name hijacking lawsuit on behalf of the owner of AirFX.com. Marc Lurie lost a case over AirFX.com brought against him by AirFX, LLC in a National Arbitration Forum proceeding. Together with attorney Marc J. Randazza, he is now suing AirFX, LLC (pdf) for reverse domain name hijacking in U.S. District ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Hospitality Company Claims Leisure.com Infringes Its Trademarks - Company wants to trade up to better domain name through lawsuit. Leisure Hotel Corporation has filed a lawsuit against the owner of Leisure.com claiming trademark infringement, counterfeiting, false designations of origin, and cybersquatting (pdf). Let me ask you a simple question: If you were the person who plunked down $150,000 to buy Leisure.com a couple years ago, what would you plan to do with it? The most obvious thing would be a site about travel. It’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Top Domain Name Wire Stories of May 2011 - May flowers? A look back at the month in domaining. Summer isn’t officially here in the northern hemisphere, but as schools call it quits for the year it certainly seems that way. Here’s a look back at the top stories on Domain Name Wire for May, ranked by number of page views. 1. Monte Cahn Sues Oversee.net Over $13 Million Incentive Plan – it’s unfortunate to see a court battle between Moniker’s founder and one of the biggest companies in the industry. ... read more ...
Fri 27th May 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.XXX Is Going to Bank of Defensive Non-Registration Fee - Registry will get a windfall in initial fees to block registrations of trademarks. .XXX could set a record when it comes to defensive domain name registrations. A “defensive registration” is when a brand registers a domain name solely to keep it out of the hands of cybersquatters or competitors. When you look back at previous new TLDs you’ll find a number of large brands defensively registered their domains. But you’ll still find lots of brands that don’t ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
DOMAINfest Brings Back “Dine with an Expert” - Opportunity to get domain name advice during DOMAINfest Barcelona. DOMAINfest is offering “Dine with an Expert” at next month’s conference in Barcelona. This program allows attendees to reserve a spot at the lunch table with a domain name expert during the conference. The conference offered this program during its February show in Santa Monica and it was a big hit. Numerous tables — including Frank Schilling’s — filled up quickly. As of right now all ... read more ...
Thu 26th May 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Your Traffic Quality is About More Than Just a Visitor - Traffic quality comes down to one key result: conversion. When domainers talk about “traffic quality” they usually talk about the quality of the visitor. Here are four common types of visitor: 1. direct type-in 2. typo type-in 3. referral link from web site 4. search visitor (rare for pure parked pages) 5. paid traffic This is certainly important. But it’s only part of the equation. At the end of the day a quality visitor (or quality click) means that the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Pac-10 Goes After More Domain Names - Sporting conference files dispute over three domain names. The Pac-10 conference, which now has twelve teams with the addition of Colorado and Utah and will rebrand as the Pac-12, is again turning to the World Intellectual Property Forum in an effort to get domain names related to its new brand. The group filed a complaint (and won) over pac-12network.com, pac12network.com, and pac-12network.org. All three are registered to an Ontario man. The collegiate athletic ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Go Daddy Files Patent Apps for “Redirecting to a Book Web Site” - Registrar files two applications for ideas related to helping people find book web sites. Go Daddy has filed two patent applications related to helping web users connect to book web sites. U.S. applications 12/625892 and 12/625919 (pdf) provide for “redirecting a user to a book’s website after submitting a request for information about the book. The book’s website or a link to the website may be displayed to the user on a client browser.” For example, a user ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Apple Sues Owner of WhiteiPhone4Now.com, Then Dismisses Case - Seller of white iPhones sued. Apple has sued the owner of WhiteiPhone4Now.com (as well as the domain name itself), but then filed to dismiss the case on the same day (pdf). However, the dismissal is “without prejudice”, meaning it can be refiled. It’s possible Apple was already in settlement talks with the owner or is refiling the case elsewhere. Apple alleges the owner used the site to sell conversion kits to make the traditionally black iPhone white. The ... read more ...
Wed 25th May 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
The Most Expensive Second Level Domain Names in a World? - Which country charges the most for second level domain names? Which country code do you suppose charges the most money to register a second level domain name? Perhaps established countries like Germany’s .de? Another rich Western country? Nope. I’m not positive, but I think Nigeria wins the prize. According to Nigerian publication Next, a grand total of 10 second level domain names have been registered in the country’s .ng domain name since the registrations ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
VeriSign and Go Daddy Increase Government Lobbying - Two domain name industry heavyweights spend more on government lobbying in 2010. Both VeriSign and Go Daddy substantially increased their spending on U.S. government lobbying over the past year, data collected by Domain Name Wire show. The numbers are based on public records filed with the U.S. Senate under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. VeriSign spent $3.315 million on lobbying last year, up from $2.4 million in 2009. Go Daddy Group, which owns domain name registrar ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
209.8 Million Domain Names As of April - Web adds more domain names in Q1. April started with approximately 209.8 million domain names registered according to VeriSign’s latest Domain Name Industry Brief (pdf). That means the base of registered domain names grew by 4.5 million in the first quarter. The company says there are a combined 108 million .com and .net domain names registered. I suspect we’ll see some huge PR as the base of .com domain names approaches 100 million. VeriSign estimates there ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Mike Mann Ordered to Transfer 21 Domains to Facebook - Facebook awarded 21 trademark-infringing domain names. A World Intellectual Property Organization panel has ordered BuyDomains founder Mike Mann and his company Domain Asset Holdings to transfer 21 domain names to social networking site Facebook. The domain names all include Facebook plus an additional word, such as AboutFacebook.com, FacebookFest.com, and FacebookStuff.com. The case was delayed at first over some confusion apparently caused by Mann’s legal team. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Fortune 500 Company Goes After Three Letter .Com But Loses - Company with $5 billion in annual sales decides to try to nab domain through arbitration rather than buy it. The price just went up. The owner of TDS.com has successfully defended his domain name from Telephone and Data Systems, Inc in a UDRP case. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. is #450 on this year’s Fortune 500 list and generated nearly $5 billion in revenue last year. TDS.com was originally registered way back in 1991. The current registrant, Daniel Wang, ... read more ...
Tue 24th May 2011
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Publicly Traded UBM Adds Data.com to Moniker Auction - Data.com to highlight upcoming live domain name auction in Barcelona, Spain. [Update: Salesforce.com bought the domain name ahead of the auction.] Publicly traded media company UBM plc has added its Data.com domain name to Moniker’s upcoming live domain name auction in Barcelona. The reserve price is between $1 million and $5 million. This is a fantastic domain name, especially with the “Big Data” trend in enterprise business. Although the domain names are ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
TheHotList.com Buys HotList.com From Microsoft - Startup pries domain name loose from software giant. When your startup wants to upgrade its domain name, it’s never a good sign when the domain you want is owned by one of the biggest companies in the world. That’s what happened recently with “social discovery engine” The Hotlist. The company uses TheHotlist.com as its main domain name. As any domain investor will tell you, this means a lot of people tried to find the site at Hotlist.com. (Remember how ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Afternic and Sedo Combine for Over $1.5 Million in Domain Sales - Strong sales week but no six figure transactions from top marketplaces. The two largest domain name marketplaces, Afternic and Sedo, combined for well over $1.5 million in announced domain sales over the past week. Sedo led the way with Bills.org, while Afternic had a very strong sale with FunChat.com at $40,000. Here’s a list of notable sales above $5,000 (Afternic sales denoted with “Afternic”, others are Sedo): .com humidifiers.com 50000 USD funchat.com ... read more ...
Mon 23rd May 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
MarkMonitor: Brandjacking Costs Top Hotels $2B+ a Year - Majority of estimated “losses” are from keyword search engine bidding. MarkMonitor just released a “Brandjacking” report (pdf) about online hotel bookings, estimating that large hotel brands lose over $2 billion a year in lost bookings and unnecessary commissions. The bulk of these losses are from competitors and travel agencies bidding on hotel brand names in search ads. Also included in the report is a study of cybersquatting of 5 top hotel brands. MarkMonitor ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Owner of FLVS.net Sues Frank Schilling Over FLVS.com - Schilling’s company named in lawsuit over four letter domain name. Florida VirtualSchool, which runs an online education service at FLVS.net, has sued Frank Schilling’s Name Administration, Inc. over his FLVS.com domain name. The suit (pdf) also names K12, Inc. Florida VirtualSchool says K12, Inc. is a competitor and was receiving clicks from the FLVS.com domain name, which is parked. Florida VirtualSchool has registered trademarks for Florida VirtualSchool and ... read more ...