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 20th January 2015
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
MomAndMe.com spared in UDRP. Should have been RDNH? - Indian company should not have brought case. A single member World Intellectual Property Organization panel has ruled against Mahindra Mahindra Limited of India in its UDRP against the owner of MomAndMe.com. Even though the domain name owner didn’t respond, this case should have been a candidate for reverse domain name hijacking. The complainant claims rights dating as far back as 2007. The domain name owner appears to have registered the domain name in 2000. Case closed. More worrisome is how ... read more ...
 
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Architelos gets obvious for NameSentry - Certain aspects of abuse monitoring and management solution for top level domain names is now patented in the United States. The U.S. Patent and Trademark office granted U.S. patent number 8,938,801 (pdf) to Architelos today for “Managing domain name abuse”. The patent is related to the new TLD services company’s NameSentry product for monitoring domain name abuse within a top level domain name. As described in the patent and marketing materials, NameSentry is a sort of dashboard for managing ... read more ...
 
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17 End User Domain Name Sales - Recent end user domain name sales at Sedo. I’m a week behind on end user domain name sales reports since I was busy at the NamesCon conference last week in Las Vegas. This report contains sales made at Sedo two weeks ago, when Sedo handled 593 transactions worth $1.6 million. Here’s the list. (You can view previous lists like this here. If you’d like to learn how to sell your domain names like these on Sedo, download this report.) CapitalConfirmations.com $799 – Capital Confirmation, Inc. ... read more ...
Mon 19th January 2015
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This week in new TLDs: Belgium geos, .RIP and a singular landrush - A couple geo domain names are among this week’s new TLD launches. I usually don’t write about landrush phases, but .Space has a landrush this week that is rather unique. It starts today, lasts just one week, and most registrars have it priced at or near the cost of the domain name when it hits general availability. 101Domain, for example, is charging only $10.99 for a .space domain in landrush, the same price as it will ask next week when it hits general availability. ... read more ...
 
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GoDaddy’s Domain Business with Mike McLaughlin – DNW Podcast #016 - A look inside GoDaddy’s domain name business. How is domain name registrar GoDaddy handling the influx of new top level domain names? What is it doing to improve its domain name aftermarket and what’s the latest on Afternic? How does GoDaddy handle a growing number of search results for domain names? GoDaddy SVP and GM of Domains Mike McLaughlin joins us on the show this week to answer all of these questions. Also: a recap of NamesCon including a million dollar ... read more ...
 
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A Review of final week’s NamesCon conference - Fantastic content and networking at second annual NamesCon conference. You really missed out if you didn’t make it to Las Vegas last week for NamesCon. About 900 tickets were sold, making it the largest domain name investing conference ever. Here are my thoughts on the show. Venue The Tropicana has fantastic meeting space for an event of this size. The three main session rooms were accessible directly from the exhibit floor. Everyone gathered on the exhibit hall ... read more ...
Fri 16th January 2015
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More new TLD complexity: transferring reward domain names - Article points to further complexities with new top level domain names. With new top level domain names now entering their renewal cycle, you might be tempted to transfer domain names from one registrar to another. This could prove challenging if the domain name you bought is a “premium” domain name in which the registry charges higher than standard pricing. That’s what Kevin Lisota found out while testing out Google Domains: Google Domains does sell .tips domains, ... read more ...
 
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“Legitimate companies don’t censor their hit details” - Is using whois privacy or proxy services a red flag? I was reading a story this morning about problems at Bitcoin payment processor EgoPay. The author noted that the EgoPay.com website is devoid of contact information and that the domain name is protected by whois privacy. The author concludes that “Legitimate companies don’t hide their contact details.” I agree to an extent. A combination of not disclosing contact details on a site and using whois privacy ... read more ...
Thu 15th January 2015
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Rothwell.com, OmahaHomes.com and other Expired Domain Name Sales - Joseph Peterson’s weekly wrap-up of expired domain name sales. Names get around. For instance, take Rothwell.com, which expired and sold at NameJet during the past week for $8,100. King John – the villain of Robin Hood legends and real-life signatory of the Magna Carta – granted a tiny town of Rothwell in Northamptonshire the perpetual right to hold a Monday market, which they still celebrate with a “guard of halberdiers” and drinks of “rum and milk”. Over ... read more ...
Wed 14th January 2015
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Thoughts on yesterday’s $1 million domain name auction - A strong auction with a headline-grabbing .club sale but dominated by .com. By now you’ve probably read a bit about yesterday’s Right of the Dot domain name auction at NamesCon. Here are my takeaways: 1. The auction sold just shy of $1 million worth of domain names. It’s not the glory years of 7 or 8 years ago, but that’s a total I don’t think we’ve seen in a while at a domainer conference auction. 2. The sell-through rate of about 65% is excellent. ROTD ... read more ...
 
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Chris Sheridan and Steve Banfield are withdrawal Rightside - Two key figures at eNom are moving on. A longtime fixture in the domain name industry — as well as a newer hire — are leaving domain name company Rightside. VP of Business Development Chris Sheridan is leaving the company this week to join website maker Weebly. His experience at Rightside, where he worked on the eNom business, will be highly relevant to Weebly. Prior to eNom/Rightside, the “selfie king” worked at Verisign. Sheridan’s former clients and other ... read more ...
Tue 13th January 2015
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$55k Stolen domain name CIN.com returned around UDRP - Company paid $55,000 for domain name before it was stolen. Corporação Industrial do Norte, S.A (CIN) has recovered the domain name CIN.com, a domain name it says was stolen from it, through a UDRP. The company acquired CIN.com for $55,000 last summer. It alleges the domain name was then stolen and transferred to domain name registrar eName. (eName has apparently become a favorite registrar for domain name thieves. I see lots of allegedly stolen domain names ending ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Company creates Magical Mystery claims, loses UDRP - Motive behind creating ad agency website and trademark claims are questioned. San Francisco company Hippie Tours LLC has lost a UDRP against the domain name HippieBus.com. It made a number of Magical Mystery claims in its UDRP. John Berryhill represented domain name owner Mansour Elseify in the case. On the surface, this case appeared to be one where a clueless complainant went after a domain name registered many years before the complainant started its business. ... read more ...
 
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GoDaddy SVP explains because new TLDs are struggling - Head of domains at largest domain name registrar says new TLD registries are failing small business owners. Why are new top level domain names struggling to grow their registration bases? GoDaddy Senior Vice President of Domains Mike McLaughlin told a large audience at NamesCon today that registries are making it difficult for small businesses to buy their domain names. Registries need to focus on accessibility and usability if they want to see their domains succeed, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
[Video] An sparkling speak during NamesCon - Howard Lefkowitz wakes up hungover crowd at NamesCon. Let’s face it, sessions at domain name conferences are usually less than stimulating. Sure, there’s good information, stuff you can learn…but they usually feature a couple people sitting down holding a mic. Not today at NamesCon. Howard Lefkowitz’s talk about what he’s doing with new TLDs featured showgirls, lighting effects and confetti cannons. Lefkowitz is doing some bold things with new top level ... read more ...
 
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.Buzz domain names to be featured on Wheel of Fortune - Multiple sites on .buzz domain names will be promoted on popular game show. .Buzz domain names are about to get a lot more buzz. Howard Lefkowitz presented his plans for almost 400 .buzz domain names today during a NamesCon presentation. The majority of his domain names are city names, but also include travel.buzz. For two weeks starting February 2, particular .buzz domain names will be the prize sponsors for Wheel of Fortune, one of the most-watched TV shows in America. Lefkowitz ... read more ...
 
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Vegas.club changes hands in $100k deal - Vegas.club site plans unveiled during NamesCon. .Club has a second $100,000 deal under its belt as part of its Startup.club initiative. One Degree World Systems, Inc. acquired the domain name Vegas.Club and plans to launch a members-only site for deals, concierge services and more. One Degree CEO Howard Lefkowitz unveiled plans for the site today at NamesCon in Las Vegas. You can see video of the presentation here. Although the $100,000 price is nice for .Club, ... read more ...
Mon 12th January 2015
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2015 Domain Name Predictions – DNW Podcast #015 - Domain name industry experts predict what will happen in 2015. In this special episode of the Domain Name Wire Podcast, 9 domain name industry experts look into the crystal ball and make predictions for what will happen in the industry in 2015. You’ll hear from representatives of Escrow.com, Rightside, Donuts, Sedo, DirectNic, .Club, dotTBA and InternetX and ParkLogic. Also: GoDaddy adds bidder verification, Afilias cancels IPO and an existing TLD goes to the auction ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
eBay takes down over 1,000 domain names with a singular UDRP - eBay wins a massive UDRP case. eBay has successfully taken down over 1,000 domain names containing its trademark, many of which were set up as commerce sites. The online auction company filed a UDRP against the owner of 1,153 .com and .net domain names. All of the domain names contained “ebay” followed by a series of numbers, such as ebay962.com, ebay623.net and ebay389.com. The domain names were protected by a privacy service. When the privacy was removed, the ... read more ...
 
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Heritage Auctions finalizes list for disdainful Feb Auction - Auction will have just 30 lots. Heritage Auctions has finalized the list of 30 lots it will auction off in next month’s domain name auction. This is probably the smallest number of domain names to be auctioned in a live auction event, and it will be interesting to see how this approach works. Some of the more interesting domain names include: NL.com AT.com Future.com SmartWatches.com Quick.com Import.com Equity.com Arcade.com Classic.com Corn.com An LLL .net Portfolio ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
This week in new TLDs: We are a .World - .World among this week’s new top level domain launches. A few new top level domain names hit general availability this Wednesday, and an intriguing domain name enters the early access program. On Wednesday, Donuts’ .world exits the early access program and becomes available at regular prices. There are lots of good SLD-TLD combos on this one, similar to .place, .zone and similar generics. Also on Wednesday, two of Rightside’s domain names hit general availability: ... read more ...
Sat 10th January 2015
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
These guys suspicion Mike Berkens was toying with them… - Podcast tells the story of guys who tried to buy a domain name from Michael Berkens. I just listened to a very interesting podcast called Reply All. This particular episode talks about two guy’s effort to buy a domain name from Michael Berkens. The guests run a site at Longform.org and wanted to buy Longform.com. But Berkens owned it. After many failed attempts to buy the domain, they tried one last time. The last time, they let is slip that they owned the matching ... read more ...
Fri 9th January 2015
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Categorizing Top Level Domains: “nTLDs” - Joseph Peterson asks, “when is new not really new,” and proposes new terminology to clarify it. Going into the new year, I decided to make a little glossary of domaining definitions. That includes words many people use already, some terms I’ve been tossing around privately for years, and a few I’ve invented on the fly to clarify what (to me) seems vague. This sounds presumptuous, but I’m not insisting on any of this lingo. This isn’t the “right” ... read more ...
 
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How to get a many out of NamesCon - A few quick tips to get the most out of your conference-going experience. Heading to NamesCon next week? You’re not alone. More than 800 people are expected to attend the conference, unless mother nature gets in their way. (We’re even expecting a little ice in Austin tomorrow!) Here are some tips for getting the most out of the event. Content There are more than 150 speakers and panelists at the event, and there will be multiple content sessions going on at the ... read more ...
Thu 8th January 2015
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GoDaddy Auctions implements bidder verification - I think this is fairly ironic news, considering how much trouble they have with the simplest things such as auto charging a paypal account. My partners and I have a Paypal agreement with GoDaddy and have for some years. We keep a balance of a min of $30k in it at all dues as a float. Due to sales, etc., sometimes it even has over $100k in it. Yet GoDaddy auctions consistently fails to auto charge it several times a month. I’m on many platform, and depend on these pieces of software ... read more ...