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 1st June 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Should Create Filter Before Opening Comments on New TLDs - Advocacy groups will have open season on new top level domain name applications. On page 1-6 of the fourth draft applicant guidebook for new top level domain names, ICANN has moved its language regarding a comment periods. I hadn’t really paid attention to it before. Essentially, once applications for new top level domains (such as .sport or .nyc) are posted, anyone will be able to submit a comment that will be considered by the application evaluation team: In ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
No Country Names in New TLD Round - So much for .zimbabwe. The latest version of the draft applicant guidebook for new top level domain names prohibits country names (e.g. .mexico) from being registered. It’s a good thing, really. It eliminates another conflict ICANN would have to deal with: ruthless dictators hoping to spend more of their ill-gotten gains on a new top level domain name might not pass the background check. The background check will cover a number of items, including -Corruption ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
$100k Go Daddy Commercial Winner Pulled Ad Together in 19 Days - Team pulls together winning TV commercial in 19 days. 19 days. That’s how much time the winners of Go Daddy’s TV commercial contest had to pull it all together once they heard about the domain name registrar’s contest. But for producer Jessie Ottolini, director Francis De La Torre, and writer Lisa Waugh, it was worth the stress — they’re now a hundred thousand dollars richer and have been pushed onto the national television commercial stage almost overnight. I ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Warning: This NPR Story About Domain Names Might Enrage You - Story labels domainers cybersquatters, and then some. Don’t click through to this NPR Marketplace story if you’re agitated today. It will only flip you off the edge. In a story today titled “Biz model for domain names to change”, things don’t start off well: Ever wonder why the address for the photo-sharing website Flickr doesn’t have an E in it? It’s because — and this is a true story — the founder liked the name “flicker” — E, R — but ... read more ...
Mon 31st May 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Original Registrant of CamRoulette.com Sued - CamRoulette.com subject to lawsuit. It’s the deal that keeps on giving. The domain name world was shocked when CamRoulette.com sold for $151,000. The original registrant of the domain name was kicking himself for selling it for only $1,400. But now he has bigger problems: another person says he had an agreement to buy the domain name for $700. He’s suing for $150,300, the difference between what he offered to buy the domain for and what it sold for at auction. The ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Top Domain Name Wire News Stories of May 2010 - May domain name news in review. Memorial Day is coming to a close, and that means May is wrapping up. Here’s a look back at the top five stories on Domain Name Wire in May, ranked according to total views. 1. Breaking: Sedo to Sell Sex.com Domain Name – Sedo had been in talks with some of Escom’s owners to broker Sex.com for a while, but not all of the partners agreed. Now, assuming the bankruptcy court gives its blessing, Sedo will get its chance to broker ... read more ...
Sat 29th May 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Beware GoDaddy Whois Update Phishing Scheme - Scam makes its rounds with a new phishing URL. [Updated: Go Daddy has successfully shut down the phishing site. But the offender will surely just set up another. So here are a couple points from Go Daddy: -Official Go Daddy e-mails will always address you by name, unlike those from phishers (who do not know this information). -Customers are also reminded never to provide credentials to an unsecure website. Always make sure the web address starts with “https:” ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Florida Company Loses Grab of BGT.com, But No Reverse Hijacking? - Panel gets decision right, but misses mark on RDNH. Burn World-Wide, Ltd. d/b/a BGT Partners of Miami, Florida, has lost a UDRP case to get the domain name BGT.com from Banta Global Turnkey Ltd, which is now part of RR Donnelly. The facts of the case are pretty egregious. Banta was founded well before BGT Partners and even registered the domain name before BGT Partners was formed. The three person arbitration panel found that the domain name wasn’t registered ... read more ...
Fri 28th May 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Security: Dynadot Offers Two-Factor Authentication - Dynadot secures domains with mobile phone security. In April I wrote a few stories about domain name security tools offered by various registrars. One tool I missed was Dynadot’s SMS security tool. It works like this: Account holder receives a 6-digit code (sent via SMS) on his cellphone and then enters the code in his Dynadot account before he can do the following: – Get a domain’s auth code – Unlock his domains – Change his account information All 6-digit ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verizon Gets Back Into UDRP Game - Verizon files four separate UDRP cases in past couple days. For a while it seemed like Verizon had basically given up on filing UDRP cases. Instead, it opted to just file lawsuits against anyone with trademark typos, even small fry. That may be changing. The company has filed four separate UDRP cases at World Intellectual Property Organization within the past two days. One of those cases is for wwwverizon.com – a typo that should have been at the top of Verizon’s ... read more ...
Thu 27th May 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
25 Years of .Com Gala Celebrates Web Innovators - Gala celebrates big companies and players in the dot.com revolution. Last night I had the honor of attending VeriSign’s “25 Years of .Com” gala at city hall in San Francisco. It was a fantastic event with a lot of the companies and people that made the internet what it is today in attendance. After cocktails, comedian Dana Carvey took to the stage to warm up the crowd. “Welcome. How many people have a net worth over $10 million? Don’t think, just raise ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
DOMAINfest Europe to Mix Business and Fun - DOMAINfest sets preliminary agenda for Prague show and opens registration. DOMAINfest has opened registration for its European show taking place Wednesday and Thursday, October 6 and 7, 2010, at the Hotel InterContinental in Prague, Czech Republic. The agenda looks very different from most of the company’s previous events, as the second day is dedicated to fun networking and social events. Wednesday will include a number of session geared to the European audience ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Owner Caught Fabricating Response in UDRP - Respondent says he met actor in 1999 – 28 years after the actor’s death. When I first saw the domain name Texican.com was in dispute, I thought the domain owner would win. After all, there are plenty of companies and entities that use the name “Texican”, so why should one complainant get the domain unless it was clearly targeted (not that that hasn’t happened before). It’s also a generic slang term. But in this case the respondent would have been better ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Finally, a UDRP Panel Respects a Scope of a Policy - Panel refuses to find in favor of complainant in case outside scope of policy. UDRP was originally created to handle clear cut cases of cybersquatting. Since its launch panelists have stretched the scope of the policy. But a three person panel has injected a breathe of fresh air in the decision of HRCIstudy.com. The domain owner registered the domain name for his business of providing tutoring courses for Human Resource Certification Institute exams. HRCI argued ... read more ...
Wed 26th May 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Live Coverage of VeriSign .Com Gala Tonight - VeriSign celebrates 25 years of .com this evening. I’m off to San Francisco for the 25 Years of .Com Gala this evening. The event will be hosted by one of my favorite comedians, Dana Carvey (Saturday Night Live, Wayne’s World, etc). The evening will celebrate the “.com 25″ honoring “remarkable innovators, entrepreneurs and companies whose inspiring contributions were fundamental in shaping the Internet and, thereby, forever changing the way we think and ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Neustar Proposes Release of 1 and 2 Character .Us Domain Names - Short .us country code domain names in the works. Neustar, the registry that manages the .us top level domain name, is proposing to release available one and two character .us domain names for registration. In a post on its new .us blog, the company explains that its distribution of one and two character domains will be handled in a matter similar to what it did with .biz domain names: (1) an RFP round that invites interested registrants to propose specific plans ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Epik Acquires Domain Development Company DevRich - Epik adds to development capabilities. Rob Monster’s Epik has acquired domain name development company DevRich. The transaction was an all-equity transaction and the valuation was not disclosed. This is both a talent acquisition and a technology acquisition. Luke Webster, President of DevRich, will become SVP Operations of Epik. He will continue to run DevRich, which will be a division of Epik. I met Webster and his business partner at DOMAINfest this past January, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Nelson Brady Comes Clean in Response to SnapNames Lawsuit - Brady acted alone, says he wanted to generate money for long term health care. Nelson Brady has responded to a lawsuit filed by Oversee.net and SnapNames regarding the company’s bidding scandal. Brady admitted to many of Oversee’s allegations. The response does not implicate any other employees in the scheme, indicating that Brady acted alone and other employees did not know about his activities. Brady admitted that he used the Hank Alvarez (halvarez) account ... read more ...
Tue 25th May 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Two Defendants Respond to Verizon Cybersquatting Lawsuit - Response filed in Verizon domain name lawsuit. Two defendants in a lawsuit filed by Verizon alleging cybersquatting have responded to the suit. Both The Producers, Inc., and Michael Gardner have responded to Verizon’s allegations that they registered domains related to Verizon trademarks. The somewhat bizarre case revolves around what DirectNIC does with domain names when they expire but are not yet deleted. Like most registrars, DirectNIC removes the registrant’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sedo Keeps Growing and Growing and Growing… - Brokerage and parking company continues to grow customer numbers. The Sedo customer base continues to grow, according to the company’s first quarter 2010 report (pdf). The domain name brokerage and parking company now has 1,051,000 registered members, 16.1 million domain names on its platform, and 7.1 million domain names available for sale. The same can’t be said for the company’s financials, as sales dropped 6.7% from the same quarter last year. Earnings ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google: Ad Clicks More Valuable Than Organic Clicks - Good news for publisher from Google economic report. Google has released an economic study showing its impact across the United States. Here’s one of the more interesting tidbits for publishers and domain owners: Google assumes that a click on an Adwords ad results in more revenue to the site owner than a click on an organic ad: However, clicks through search results may not be as commercially valuable as ad clicks, so we want to be conservative: we estimate that ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.Sport Whines Again: Please Don’t Allow .Football! - Group again asks ICANN to not allow any individual sports to get top level domain names. Last August the so-called .Sport Policy Advisory Council (basically a group that wants to launch the .sport top level domain name) told ICANN it was unhappy with the idea that there could be individual sports (such as .baseball) as top level domains. At the time, the .Sport Policy Advisory Council wrote: We cannot accept ICANN approving any applications for top-level domains ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Lawsuit Filed Against Live Current Media CEO and Board Members - Complaint alleges CEO and board members have neglected their duties. In what is the latest in the continuing saga of Live Current Media, its former CEO and other plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit (pdf) against current CEO Geoffrey Hampson and each of the company’s board members. The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois in the Chancery Division. The suit goes after Hampson for alleged fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties, ... read more ...
Mon 24th May 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Flying.com Acquires UsedAircraft.com - Flying.com parent company adds another web site to its collection. UsedAirplanes, Inc., the parent company of Flying.com and UsedAirplanes.com, has purchased the domain name and web site UsedAircraft.com to add to its expanding arsenal of web properties. Earlier this year the company acquired Flying.com for $1.1 million. I interviewed company President CEO Mark J Horne at the time, and he explained the decision as a “no-brainer”: “On an investment standpoint, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Travel Survey – Poll FAIL - ICANN wants your feedback on international meetings, but it won’t be easy. ICANN is kicking off its “Meetings for the Next Decade” consultation process to figure out how to handle its international meetings. ICANN has been criticized for its large travel budget for many years. I remember at DOMAINfest last year Steve Wozniak joking about when he was asked to join the ICANN board, and how he viewed it as just a way to take some free vacations during the year. ... read more ...