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 16th December 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN updates new TLD auction plans, still no fortitude for surreptitious contention - ICANN has published new rules for upcoming auctions which will resolve top level domain strings with more than one applicant. ICANN has published updated rules for its so-called “Auctions of Last Resort” to resolve new top level domain name contention sets. It has also published a draft schedule for the auctions. ICANN hopes to resolve 20 contention sets per month via auction. With 201 contention sets, this means the auction procedure could extend into 2015. This ... read more ...
Fri 13th December 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
See 21 companies that bought domain names final week - A new TLD registry was among the domain name buyers at Sedo last week. Domain name marketplace Sedo sold $1 million worth of domain names last week. Here are 21 that were purchased by “end users”. You can see previous end user sales reports here. duesseldorfkonzert.de 4,760 EUR- Web agency DKN GmbH Co KG. LEDLightBulbs.co.uk 4,000 GBP – CP Lighting Ltd in the United Kingdom. TECC.co.uk 750 GBP – The Electronic Cigarette Company in the United Kingdom bought ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
A small bit some-more about a Trademark Clearinghouse’s extended warning service - Answers to two questions about the TMCH extending alerts beyond 90 days. Yesterday I wrote about how the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) is extending the amount of time it will alert trademark holders if someone registers domains that contain their mark. Originally set for just 90 days, now the TMCH will extend the service for as long as a mark is registered with the TMCH. (For more background, see my previous story.) Some readers brought up good questions, which I ... read more ...
Thu 12th December 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Trademark Clearinghouse extends warning use over 90 days - Extension will mostly benefit companies that pay more for longer TMCH registrations. The Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) for new top level domain names has extended the amount of time it will notify rights holders that domain names matching their trademarks have been registered. As background, registering a mark with the TMCH provides three services to rights holders when it comes to new top level domain names: 1. Initial eligibility to participate in sunrise periods. 2. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
It looks like someone is already typosquatting on recently substituted tip turn domain names - Just a few dozen second level domain names for new TLDs have been registered so far. Yet it looks like people are already typosquatting on them. Last week .Club Domains LLC, the company that’s launching the .club top level domain name, bought nicclub.com for $3,500 on Sedo. Anyone who has been following new top level domain name delegations will immediately recognize this as a defensive move for what will become a typo of .Club’s first second level domain name, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Objection Panel goes Rogue and Kills .Hospital domain name - Two members of an objection panel come up with their own rules for whether a top level domain name is acceptable. An International Chamber of Commerce panel has killed the .hospital top level domain name by siding with the Independent Objector in a Limited Public Interest Objection against Donuts. I believe the panel wrote its own rules and came to its decision improperly. It went rogue. And to back me up, I have a concise and clearly written dissent (pdf) by one ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
A large website is going to go dim interjection to ICANN’s new Whois verification - New verification requirement is bound to ensnare some notable websites. ICANN’s 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement is slowly going into effect at major domain name registrars. The biggest change that people who register domain names will notice is whois verification. Starting January 1, when you register a domain name, you will have to verify your contact details with the registrar. Most registrars will send a verification email to you with simple verification ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy owner Bob Parsons joins The Giving Pledge - Bob and Renee Parsons pledge over half of their wealth to charitable causes. GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons and his wife Renee Parsons have joined The Giving Pledge, an initiative in which wealthy people pledge to give half or more of their wealth to charity. Parsons’ net worth is estimated at over $1 billion. The couple has already made a number of seven figure donations, including to veteran causes. For example, he gave $1 million to establish The Bob Parsons Veterans ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Ombudsman questioning unsuitable new TLD conflict decisions - ICANN’s Ombudsman is looking into consistency of new top level domain name objections. Both new top level domain name applicants and objectors have been grasping for options after falling on the adverse side of panels’ decision. Many have filed reconsideration requests with ICANN’s board, all of which have been denied so far. Others have turned to courts. ICANN seems content to sit on the sidelines and see how everything plays out. Which is why upset parties ... read more ...
Wed 11th December 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
16 finish user domain name sales including radar dector association Escort - Radar detector company is among those who bought domain names at GoDaddy last week. GoDaddy/Afternic sold $1.76M worth of aftermarket domain names last week. Here are 16 that were sold to end users. SurvivalCollege.com $1,000 – Survival College, LLC in San Antonio. Looks like the company is getting ready to launch. FlashbackMiami.com $1,200 – The Miami Herald. Maybe it has to do with this? MovingDollies.com $1,999 – Toolwell, a company that sells equipment ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Drug hulk Sanofi loses domain brawl interjection to committed settlement panelist - Despite no response from domain name owner, panelist considers all of the facts. I often call out UDRP panelists who “phone in” their decisions without considering the other site of the story. So today I’m happy to write about a case brought by pharmaceutical company Sanofi against the owner of Sinofn.com. Panelist Susanna H.S. Leong should be commended for taking the time to truly consider the case Sanofi brought, despite the domain name owner not responding ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Company behind UDRPSearch.com sues after being strike with a UDRP - Virtual Point responds to StableTable.com UDRP with its own lawsuit. Virtual Point, the company that runs the UDRP search and aggregation site UDRPSearch.com, has filed a federal lawsuit after being hit with a UDRP. Hedera AB, a Swedish company, filed a UDRP (pdf) against the company’s domain name StableTable.com on December 4. Rather than just wait for the World Intellectual Property Organization determination, Virtual Point filed a lawsuit (pdf) in federal court ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Ameritrade loses .broker conflict opposite association that spent $4.7M in IG.com - IG Group’s .broker top level domain name application survives objection procedure. TD Ameritrade has lost a Limited Public Interest (LPI) objection against IG Group’s application to run the .broker top level domain name. IG Group is the company that recently spent $4.7 million for the domain name IG.com. Both IG Group and Donuts applied for the .broker string, but IG Group plans to run the domain name as a “closed” registry. That, plus the fact that IG Group ... read more ...
Tue 10th December 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Hardheaded governments vs. Amazon.com - Amazon details some of the concessions it was willing to make to governments in the Amazon region. One of the more peculiar new top level domain name battles is the one between Amazon.com and and governments of the Amazon area, including Brazil and Peru. At the request of these countries, the Governmental Advisory Committee has effectively killed Amazon.com’s bid for .amazon and two internationalized equivalents in Japanese and Chinese. It’s sometimes difficult ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verisign loses new TLD conflict opposite .brand applicant M-NET - Verisign loses another string confusion challenge. Verisign, the registry for .net domain names, has lost a string confusion objection it brought against M-Net and its application for the top level domain .mnet. M-Net is a pay-TV channel in South Africa. It applied for .mnet as a closed .brand domain name, and the closed nature weighed heavily in the panelist’s decision. Verisign tried to argue that M-Net could change its business model in the future, and this could ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verisign is contrast reduce .com prices on deleted domain names - .Com registry offers $2 discount on deleting domain names. Verisign is testing lower wholesale prices for deleting .com domain names later this month. From December 15-31, registrars will be able to register .com domain names on the day they delete for $5.85. Regular wholesale pricing is $7.85 per year. The domain names must be registered before midnight on the day they are deleted. They must be registered through the auto batch pool, which is a secondary registry-registrar ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Some Bitcoin domain name owners have cashed in - Domain domain investors have made good money with bitcoin domain names. Bitcoins are hot, and some domain name investors are cashing in. Not by investing in Bitcoins, but by investing in Bitcoin domain names. Here are some recent sales involving Bitcoin domain names: Bitcoin.us 17,500 Bitcoin.de and Bitcoins.de for 29,750 EUR Bitcoin2014.com $1200 Bitcoinlive.com $521 BitCoin.be 1,500 EUR Keep in mind that, given the nature of Bitcoins, many Bitcoin domain name sales ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy has a $12,500 cost tab for Donuts’ Early Access Program - GoDaddy issues its pricing for jumping the line for Donuts’ domain names. Last month I wrote about how Donuts was eschewing a traditional “landrush” period for its domain names in favor of a so-called “Early Access Program”. The Early Access Program (EAP) charges significantly higher prices the earlier you register a domain name. It was clear at the time that pricing for the program would not be cheap. 101Domain already listed a price of $10,990 for the ... read more ...
Mon 9th December 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How we destitute another click rascal (and auction fraud) scheme - A silly mistake tipped me off to a click fraud and pump-and-dump scheme. Every once in a while, someone running a click fraud scam slips up. And sometimes they slip up in a big way: by accidentally tipping me off about it. For example, In August this year I uncovered one such scam after digging around following a suspicious phone call from someone pretending to be with ICANN. The people behind the scam had been boasting about how they’re making so much money with ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
You’d contend .com is dead, too! - It has a nice ring to it. Over the weekend Elliot Silver posted an ad with the headline “Dot Com is Dead” from Minds + Machines. I’ve seen a lot of other blog posts about how new TLD backers are beating the drum that .com is dead. Domainers commenting on the posts then typically say that the idea that .com is dead is ridiculous. Of course it’s ridiculous. But it’s also exactly what you’d say if you were a new TLD operator. It sure beats “.Com is the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.Music, .Song, and .Tunes new tip turn domain name objections opposite Amazon.com dismissed - Amazon.com prevails in dispute over three music related top level domain names. An International Chamber of Commerce panelist has ruled against the American Association of Independent Music’s (A2IM) community objections to Amazon.com’s bids to run the .music, .song, and .tunes domain names. A2IM is backing a rival bid for .music by Constantinos Roussos. A2IM filed objections against seven rival applications for .music. Each case will certainly be different. For ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Tony Willoughby finds another association guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - Panelist finds another company guilty of reverse domain name hijacking. World Intellectual Property Organization panelist Tony Willoughby has found Aero Club of New Delhi, India guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in a UDRP. This is Willoughby’s second RDNH finding in under a month. In both cases, it appears that the respondent did not specifically request the panelist to consider an RDNH charge. (Willoughby, like some other panelists, recognizes the duty to ... read more ...
Fri 6th December 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
26 finish user domain name sales from Sedo - A bitcoin marketplace is among the end users buying domain names at Sedo last week. Sedo closed $1.2 million of transactions last week, including five domain sales to one end user. You may view previous sales lists here. Bitok.com $15,000 – Purchased by Bitcoin Innovations Ltd. It looks like a bitcoin marketplace, including for buying and selling options on bitcoins. Brainlab.at 1,700 EUR – Brainlab, a medical device maker. It uses Brainlab.com for its web address. CoolCash.co.uk ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How did Verisign accommodate the 100% SLA on .com Whois in June? - Despite Whois problems in June, Verisign reported meeting its SLA for .com. Each month Verisign and the other domain name registries submit reports to ICANN that include their uptime and performance numbers. One of the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for Verisign’s .com contract is 100% uptime for Whois. While reviewing recent registry reports this week I was surprised to see that Verisign reported it met its 100% SLA in June. You may recall that Verisign had ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Heritage Auctions’ domain name auction tops $1.5 million as MutualFunds.com sells - MutualFunds.com highlights post-auction activity as sales reach into the seven figures. Heritage Auctions’ first ever domain name auction just became a much bigger success. The auction has now sold a total of $1.5 million worth of domain names including post-auction deals. That means around $1 million worth of sales have taken place since the auction. The most expensive sale is MutualFunds.com, which was sold by Marc Ostrofsky, the man who made headlines selling ... read more ...