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.

Mon 23rd August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
I’m Taking Some Vacation, But DNW Is Not - A much needed break, but plenty of domain content to hold you over. It’s really hard as a blogger to take vacation time. The world doesn’t stop just because you want to take some time off. But this week I’m throwing down the gauntlet and taking some real vacation. I’ll still be logging on and will cover any breaking news if necessary, yet I might be a little slow in approving comments. In the meantime, I’ve lined up some great guest posts to keep you ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Catching Up with The Internet Commerce Association - by Philip S. Corwin, Counsel, Internet Commerce Association [Asking a lawyer to keep a guest post to 600 words or less is impossible. So Phil Corwin’s ICA update is a bit longer. But it’s a great update, and it’s good to know that ICA is still working for you. -Andrew] Thanks to Andrew for this opportunity to blog about what ICA has been up to so far this year – while he takes a well-deserved vacation. Domain Name Wire is an indispensable resource for anyone ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Domain Industry Phrases That Make Me Cringe - by Brian Null [Brian Null has built and sold a number of successful businesses on category-killer domain names. His latest venture is MO.com, where you can learn from other successful entrepreneurs. In this post, Brian talks about a couple phrases that make him cringe. -Andrew] If I wielded the kind of influence that Andrew Allemann can throw around, I would invoke a moratorium on the phrases: “When will they get it?!” or “They just don’t get it!” In ... read more ...
Fri 20th August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
No Grand Theft Domain: Take-Two Interactive Loses Battle over BioShock.com - Video game publisher loses arbitration for BioShock.com domain name. Take-Two Interactive Software, publishers of the Grand Theft Auto series and BioShock, have lost a domain name arbitration case to get the domain name BioShock.com. Take-Two filed for a trademark on BioShock back in 2005 on an intent-to-use basis, and first used the mark in commerce in 2007 according to USPTO filings. But the company claimed there was online chatter about the release of a new game ... read more ...
Thu 19th August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
For Domain Auctions, Online Component Still a Challenge - Domain auctions have a history of technical glitches. Shortly after Moniker’s domain name auction at DOMAINfest in NYC concluded yesterday, I saw a couple blog posts heralding it as a great success. I was a bit confused, because I didn’t see the same thing in the actual auction room. You don’t need to point fingers at the people who blogged about the auction, as apparently it did look like a huge success online thanks to problems with the online bidding interface. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
MLB Has Another Chance to Get Angels.com - Angels.com is up for sale at a reasonable price. Yesterday Major League Baseball passed on buying Athletics.com, one of seven team names it does not own the domain for , at the DOMAINfest auction. But next week it’s getting another chance at Angels.com, which is up for auction at GreatDomains with a reserve price of $100,000-$250,000. The owner of the domain name had previously offered to sell it to an unidentified agent working for MLB for $300,000. The league ... read more ...
Wed 18th August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Jeff Kupietzky’s 5 Myths of a Domain Name Industry - Oversee.net CEO dispels five myths in the domain name industry. Today at DOMAINfest in New York, Oversee.net CEO Jeff Kupietzky tried to dispel 5 myths about the domain name industry. 1. The PPC Market is Dead -Oversee.net now has 1 million domain names. -28% rise in visitors year-to-date on their portfolio -15% increase in revenue per click Kupietzky says the market is “maturing”, but not dead. Opportunty: Buy traffic names and lower prices, partner with those ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
DOMAINfest NYC Wrap Up - DOMAINfest draws a large crowd. DOMAINfest’s Power Networking day in New York City attracted more than 200 people for the all-day event. The morning started with Oversee.net CEO Jeff Kupietzky delivering a strong talk on five myths of the domain name industry, which you can read here. Next, Naresh Rekhi of comScore gave an overview of trends in internet usage that are applicable to domainers, especially as they choose which domains to build out. Rekhi was followed ... read more ...
Tue 17th August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Go Daddy Marches Toward $1 Billion - Domain name registrar will get close to $1 billion in cash flow this year. The juggernaut continues its onward march. The world’s largest domain name registrar, which manages four times as many domains as the second largest registrar, is quickly narrowing in on a billion dollars in annual cash flow. This year Go Daddy’s forecast is a whopping $950 million in gross cash receipts, Domain Name Wire has confirmed with the company. This differs from revenue, as much ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Live Current Media Revenues and Losses Shrink - Perfume.com owner announces revenue and earnings for first half of 2010. Live Current Media, who’s primary business is now running Perfume.com, announced shrinking revenue numbers for the second quarter 2010. But its losses also shrunk. For Q2 the company grossed $696,376 in revenue, down 59% from last year. For the first half of the year, the company lost $311,945 compared to $2,331,839 for the same period last year. But note that this past quarter’s earnings ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Company Wants Trademark for .Secure - I am assuming that you are referring to the .MUSIC trademarks and brand equity that we have created and will be expanding upon in the next few months. I think you were comparing apples with oranges here (.secure vs .MUSIC). We have just launched the second installation of our outreach campaign for communicating to the music industry and artists about .MUSIC and how we will help the music industry with our platform and innovations. We will be sponsoring, participating and be actively ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Intriguing: An Escort With Your Domain Registration? - A new business model or just a mistaken trademark application? A Chinese company has filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for: Which the applicant says is equivalent to Sai Bo Na, which has no meaning. But its the classes of service for the registration that has me scratching my head: G S: Copyright management; Domain name registration services; Escort services; Intellectual property consultation; Intellectual property watch services; ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker Sells Tshirts.com For $1.265 Million - Ahead of Wednesday’s auction, Moniker brokers blockbuster domain name sale. Moniker has sold Tshirts.com and four other related domains prior to Wednesday’s auction for $1.265 million. The domains include tee-shirts.com, t-shirt.com, t-shirts.com, and tees.com. The buyer is Costumes Galore Inc., which is apparently making a push into the t-shirt business. Separately, I’m aware of another Moniker sale for $736,000, but the domain name will not be disclosed. This ... read more ...
Mon 16th August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Paris Hilton Upset About Cybersquatters - Hotel heiress asks WIPO for help getting domain names. Paris Hilton has filed two separate arbitration cases at World Intellectual Property Organization to get control of domain names that include her name. The first case was filed by Paris Hilton Entertainment, Inc. on August 12 to get the domain name paris-hilton-perfume.net. The domain name currently does not resolve. The owner of this domain name may have already capitulated, as the case has been dropped. However, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Epik Domain Developer Conference Taking Shape for September - Epik to hold first user conference in September. Next month Epik will host its first user conference/domain development conference. The event, dubbed “Successful Monetization Through Domain Name Development” will take place at The Edgewater Hotel in Seattle September 15-17. I’ll be there. The agenda includes a lot of topics on the minds of domain owners these days: -Acquiring and Screening domains for Development -Operate – Content, SEO, and SEM -Sell – ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
David Clements Buys Cheesecake.com, Launches Site - Well-known face in domainer circles launches ambitious ecommerce operations. David Clements, former business partner of Rick Latona, has launched an e-commerce site at Cheesecake.com. The domain name was originally listed with Latona’s for an auction, but the domain didn’t sell. After leaving the company, Clements negotiated through Latona to purchase the domain name. The domain was reported sold for $100,000 in May. Cheesecake.com is a full-fledged e-commerce ... read more ...
Sun 15th August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Another Must-Read Domain Blog to Add to Your RSS Reader - If you’re not reading this blog, you’re missing out. There are only 5 domain name blogs in my RSS reader. I’m careful about not overloading my reader; and I do a cursory review of other domain logs through aggregators such as Domaining.com. Over the past month I’ve added another domain blog to my reader: Kevin Murphy’s Domain Incite. Murphy is a freelance writer with years of journalism experience. He’s also fairly prolific, making several timely posts ... read more ...
Fri 13th August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Community Faces Policy Overload - Community and ICANN system may be overwhelmed by quantity of policy issues. As I write this, there are currently 30 open or recently concluded comment periods at ICANN. You can comment on anything from “Interim Paper on Policy Aspects Regarding Introduction of Single Character IDN TLDs” to “Proposed Bylaws Amendment to Add Voting Director from the At-Large Community to the ICANN Board of Directors”. You just missed your opportunity to comment on “Revised ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
2 One Letter .Net Domains Are Registered. How Much Will Others Sell For? - 24 one letter .net domains are currently reserved. How much will they sell for? Last night I wrote about VeriSign’s request to auction off one and two character .net domain names. I did a search on the one letter .net domains, and found that two of them are already registered. These domains are grandfathered in to the system. i.net is technically owned by Inet Corp., but it’s essentially Future Media Architect’s private domain name registrar. You may ... read more ...
Thu 12th August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Demand Media CEO’s Tweet Volume Hinted during IPO Filing - CEO slowed down tweeting in months leading up to IPO filing. What’s a sign that a company is getting ready to file its S-1 to go public? Check out the CEO’s tweet volume. Such was the case with Demand Media CEO Richard Rosenblatt. On August 8, just after his company filed to go public, Rosenblatt (@DemandRichard) tweeted “Sorry that my tweeting volume has dropped so much over the past months but I hope every now understands why”. Rosenblatt tweets a lot, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker’s Live Auction Catalog is Its Best Ever - Auction will be huge if those with big pockets show up. Next week Moniker will hold an auction at DOMAINfest New York. The list of domain names is by far the best Moniker has ever put together for a live auction. Just look at this sample: BabySitting.com ByOwner.com Cable.com Disco.com Grant.com Hamburgers.com Koran.com Patents.com Physicians.com Quotes.com Ravioli.com Stocks.com StockQuotes.com xxx.com It’s a fantastic list. That doesn’t guarantee success, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
t.Co Gets More Play with Tweet Button - .Co gets more recognition thanks to Twitter. Today Twitter launched its Tweet Button, which allows people to tweet links from web sites that have integrated the button: Twitter is great for sharing interesting things you find on the web. In fact, close to a quarter of all Tweets include a link in them. Despite the high volume of sharing, there is plenty of room to make it easier. Copying and pasting, link shortening, and bouncing between browser tabs just to share ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Two MeetDomainers Conferences and Auctions on Tap This Month - Two European domain conferences on tap for later this month. MeetDomainers is holding two domain name conferences this month in Europe, and each will include a domain auction. If you can’t make it in person, online bidding will be available. The first conference takes place August 19-21 in Poland at the Sofitel Grand Sopot Hotel. The live domain auction will include 44 domain names, mostly in the Poland country code (.pl). Domains include PR.pl, drinki.pl (drinks), ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
VeriSign Plans to Release 1 and 2 Character .Net Domains - .Net registry asks for permission to release short domain names. VeriSign has asked ICANN (pdf) to allow it to release one and two character .net domain names. In its proposal, VeriSign says it will auction the domain names in an English style auction with no end date. The auctions will continue until no further bids are received for a specific period of time. Once won at auction, these domains will act basically like any other .net domain names, with an important ... read more ...
Wed 11th August 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Should Domainers Invest In Their Own Top Level Domain? - A new opportunity for domain investors is on the horizon. Domain investing is about to enter whole new era with the launch of new top level domain names. Regardless of if they like the idea of new TLDs or not, a number of domainers are evaluating starting their own top level domain names. Consider it diversification or hedging their bets. I caught up with Antony Van Couvering of Minds + Machines to get a run down of what you need to think about if you want to participate. It ... read more ...