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 24th June 2014
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Why Google is apropos a domain name registrar & what it means for a business - Google is becoming a public domain name registrar. Here’s why. A few months ago a prominent figure in the domain name industry told me a prediction: in a short time, GoDaddy will no longer be the top domain name registrar. It will be Google. That was quite a bold prediction given that, at the time, Google didn’t even offer domain name registrations to the public. It only referred people to other registrars. Yesterday Google announced that it’s moving into the ... read more ...
 
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Google’s CIO to plead new TLDs during Google I/O - Session will help progress toward universal acceptance of new TLDs. Google’s developer-focused conference Google I/O kicks off tomorrow, and one of the sessions will focus on new TLDs. CIO Ben Fried will lead a presentation about new top level domain names at 1PM CDTPDT on June 25. The presentation will be streamed live on the web. Here’s the description: Who cares about new domain names? We do. If you want happy users, then you should too The first new generic ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Over 800,000 domain names dangling due to 2013 RAA - Verification requirement ensnares hundreds of thousands of domain names. One of the requirements for domain name registrars under the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement is that they must verify the contact details of registrants. Most registrars are fulfilling this requirement by sending an email to registrants asking them to click a link to confirm. Registrars must suspend domain names if owners don’t verify their information. We’ve had one-off examples of ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Web.com and Endurance shares pummeled in arise of Google’s registrar play - Web.com and Endurance get hit in wake of Google registrar announcement. Some publicly traded domain name registrars have seen their stock prices hammered this morning after Google announced its entry into the retail registrar market yesterday. Shares of Web.com (WWWW) are down about 18% with at least one analyst lowering its outlook for the stock due to Google’s move. Endurance International (EIGI), which is generally considered the second largest domain name registrar ... read more ...
 
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Uniregistry inks placement understanding with GoDaddy - Frank Schilling’s registry finally comes to agreement with GoDaddy. Frank Schilling’s registry Uniregistry has signed a registry-registrar agreement with GoDaddy, paving the way for its top level domains to show up on the world’s largest domain name registrar. The ink on the agreement is barely dry, so you won’t find Uniregstry’s names on GoDaddy just yet. It’s possible they’ll be available at the registrar before the general availability of .christmas ... read more ...
Mon 23rd June 2014
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What domain names Colgate, AOL and others bought - Colgate buys a domain for its teeth whitening products. Sedo sold about $1 million worth of domains the week before last, including some to big brands. Here’s a look at some of the end user sales. You can view previous end user sales lists here. Want to sell domain names on Sedo? Read this report to learn best practices. Heals.com $16,800 – Furniture store Heal’s, which uses the domain name Heals.co.uk. Tokin.com $35,000 – Electronics company NEC. One of ... read more ...
 
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Rightside to switch to EAP in lieu of normal landush - Domain name registry to switch up the phase between sunrise and general availability. Rightside, applicant for dozens of top level domain names, is replacing its traditional landrush phase with an Early Access Program (EAP). The switch will occur later this summer when the company releases .attorney and .lawyer. Prior domains launches will still have a normal landrush. EAP, which was pioneered by Donuts, is a sort of dutch auction. The seven day EAP period will have ... read more ...
 
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Cleveland Clinic’s .Med domain name focus is behind on a table - Medistry’s application for .Med is alive and well following a decision Friday by ICANN. ICANN ruled that the Independent Objector should not have been able to file a community objection against Medistry’s application because there were no informal objections to the application. Medistry is backed by Cleveland Clinic. I described Medistry’s appeal in detail in this prior post. Medistry provided letters from two groups that were thought to have objected to its ... read more ...
 
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MM.com domain name sells for $1.2 million - Two letter domain name sells for $1.2 million. No, it wasn’t bought by a candy company. Sedo domain name broker Dave Evanson just posted on Facebook that he has brokered the sale of MM.com for $1.2 million. The whois record recently updated to show Hangzhou Duomai E-Commerce Co., Ltd as the new owner. I believe that’s the company behind Chinese domain name marketplace 4.cn. The company also owns Game.com, JZ.com and a bunch of number domain names. The most recent ... read more ...
Fri 20th June 2014
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UDRPsearch owners sues after being threatened with UDRP - Virtual Point sues after person threatens UDRP if it doesn’t sell a domain for $1,000. The owner of UDRP database site UDRPSearch.com has filed a federal lawsuit (pdf) after being threatened with a UDRP. Virtual Point Inc filed the lawsuit after an individual tried to buy the domain name ALFinancial.com and allegedly threatened to file a UDRP if Virtual Point did not agree to a low price. According to the filing, Joseph Rosenzweig contacted the plaintiff about acquiring ... read more ...
 
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Vistaprint might have only behind .Web by filing an Independent Review - Vistaprint challenges (again) string similarity between .web and .webs. What does this man for the .web timeline? Vistaprint is the latest new top level domain name applicant to invoke the Independent Review process regarding an application. The company is upset that a domain it applied for, .webs, has been placed in a contention set with Web.com’s bid for .web following a string similarity objection. It already filed (and lost) a Board Governance Committee “appeal” ... read more ...
 
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Michael Berkens wins UDRP box involving dual colorful lawyers - Randazza and Berryhill square off over X-Videos.com. Two of the most colorful lawyers in the trademark/UDRP business squared off in a UDRP over one of Michael Berkens’ domain names. Marc Randazza’s law firm represented WGCZ S.R.O., which filed a UDRP over Berkens’ domain name X-Videos.com. John Berryhill represented Berkens. Anyone familiar with the work of Randazza and Berryhill would expect rather colorful submissions by each party. Indeed, the three person ... read more ...
Thu 19th June 2014
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Several general domains strike with UDRPs recently - A handful of generics are hit with UDRPs, and one previous complainant called me… I’ve noticed a handful of seemingly generic domain names get his with UDRPs over the past few days. Here are some that have hit my radar: southpaw.com qiq.com verb.com emoney.com There can always be extenuating circumstances behind a UDRP filing, such as domain theft. But on the face of it these look like losing cases. That brings up something interesting that happened over the weekend. ... read more ...
 
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Retweet.com Resold and other lapsed domain sales - People inject new words into language constantly.  “Tweet” has taken on new meaning thanks to Twitter, while “Retweet” would have meant nothing a decade ago.  Yet in that short space of time, this formerly unknown verb cannot only become commonplace but even sell for over $24k. A dangerous term to own, possibly.  Moreover, an interesting question for IP attorneys.  What is Twitter’s claim on a word associated exclusively with their brand but perhaps ... read more ...
 
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Amazon fires adult defensive domain registrations for Fire Phone - Amazon registers 200 or more domain names related to new phone. Amazon.com unveiled its Amazon Fire Phone yesterday. At the same time, it went on a defensive registration binge for names related to the new product. I count 200 domain name registrations yesterday related to the Fire Phone. This will give you an idea of the breadth of Amazon.com’s defensive registration efforts: 4gFirePhone.com, amazon-firephone.com, amazonfirephonecover.com, amazonfirephoneunlocked.com, ... read more ...
 
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I got my initial giveaway .XYZ domain name offer today - Network Solutions finally got around to offering me a free .xyz domain name. The .XYZ top level domain name continues to grow by thousands of registrations each day due to a Network Solutions giveaway. I got my first such free domain offer today. It’s interesting to see how the company handles the promotion. As you probably know by now, Network Solutions’ program is “opt out”, meaning the domain name is put in your account unless you specifically decline. Interestingly, ... read more ...
Wed 18th June 2014
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Yes, P&G lied to try to take a Swash.com domain name - PG launches a completely new product called Swash. Here’s the backstory on the domain name. Remember last year when Procter Gamble was found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in a case over Swash.com? The company claimed to have a long running product by the Swash name that had generated $40 million in sales over the past four years. When pressed, it admitted that it had only sold $60,000 worth of Swash items over that four year period. Marchex, the respondent ... read more ...
 
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Sedo is #1 registrant of .Berlin domains - .Berlin’s second day of free domains is a lot slower, but German domain seller is a big boost to the TLD’s numbers. .Berlin received a lot fewer registrations on the second day of its free domain giveaway. DomainIncite Pro reports 5,227 new registrations in the zone file, leaving .Berlin in second place behind .xyz. An interesting tidbit has emerged: Sedo is now the number one registrant of .Berlin domain names. According to stats collated by nTLDstats.com, Sedo’s ... read more ...
 
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No some-more GoDaddy/Afternic sales reports during Quiet Period - Quiet period eliminates weekly data on aftermarket sales. GoDaddy’s planned initial public offering means no more weekly domain name sales reports for a while. Afternic has long sent out weekly aftermarket sales reports including total sales numbers and specific domains with sale prices. GoDaddy took over that responsibility when it acquired Afternic. These reports are the basis for Domain Name Wire’s end user sales reports. With GoDaddy’s IPO filing, the company ... read more ...
 
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.Berlin cancels giveaway domain name giveaway - Citing too much demand, .Berlin registry halts marketing program for free domains early. The .Berlin domain name registry has cancelled its free domain name giveaway that was supposed to run through Friday. According to participating registrar 101Domain, .Berlin cancelled the promotion due to demand “exceedingly above their anticipated volumes.” Over 67,000 domain names were registered on the first day of the promotion, more than double the existing number of ... read more ...
Tue 17th June 2014
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Minds + Machines pays dearly for .Fashion tip turn domain name - Company essentially swaps five new TLD applications for .fashion. Minds + Machines has paid a significant sum to win a four way auction for the .fashion top level domain name. Although the company did not disclose the actual price, it disclosed this stunning fact: after considering its payoffs from losing .cricket, .pizza, .restaurant, .coupon and immo and its payment for .fashion, plus the refunds it received in withdrawn applications, it netted just £250,000 in ... read more ...
 
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.XYZ 1-ups .Berlin in giveaway domain giveaways - .Berlin more than doubles it registrations overnight. .XYZ calls. Starting yesterday, certain registrars started offering free .Berlin domain names to customers in a promotion that will run through the end of the work week. I posed the question if this promotion would enable .Berlin to overtake .xyz at the top of the top level domain charts. After one day it would seem the answer could be yes. But I forgot to consider another factor: .xyz could rev up its own free ... read more ...
 
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Over 2,200 purebred for 50th ICANN assembly in London subsequent week - Over 2,200 people have registered for next week’s ICANN meeting. Next week’s ICANN meeting in London is sure to be big. And not just because it’s the big 5-0. The 50th ICANN meeting, which officially kicks off on Sunday, June 22, already has 2,200 registered attendees. I’m one of those 2,200. I haven’t been to an ICANN meeting in a while, and here’s why I picked this next one to attend: 1. It’s in London. It’s a world city that’s easy to get to from ... read more ...
 
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.Bid/.Trade domain name auction closes with no sales - Auction attracts bidders, but none are willing to pay the reserve prices. A domain name auction on Sedo for registry-reserved .bid and .trade domain names has closed with no sales. The auction included 35 domain names, 10 of which received bids. The top auction was PPC.bid at $1,050, which was below its stated reserve of between $1,000 and $5,000. The nine other domains that received bids all closed below $1,000 but had reserves above $1,000. Personally, I’m a ... read more ...
 
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Rightside releases Premium Domains during reg price for .Pub - Thousands of domains that would normally carry a premium are being offered at registration fee. Rightside, backer of an increasingly large pool of new TLDs, is trying something different with its upcoming launch of .Pub. The company’s previous new TLD launches have included reserved domains (called Platinum) and premium domains. The premium domains were sold through registrars but at higher prices that most domains. For .Pub, which just entered landrush, Rightside ... read more ...