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.

Thu 29th August 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
6 of tip 20 websites exposed to conflict that took down NYTimes.com - Amazon.com and Pinterest among those sites more vulnerable to unauthorized nameserver changes. Yesterday I wrote about how NYTimes.com could have avoided its nameserver hijacking on Tuesday had it paid about $50 a month for a service called Registry Lock. As the 55th most trafficked website (Quantcast), it seems like a small price to pay to avoid downtime. But The New York Times, which has since added Registry Lock, is not the only large website that hasn’t taken ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Here are a blank Amazon and .Pets new TLD documents - Domain Name Wire data recovery services to the rescue. This morning I read Amazon.com’s spirited response to the Governmental Advisory Committee’s advice to kill .amazon. This afternoon, shortly after Top Level Domain Holdings CEO Antony Van Couvering tweeted about the response, he noticed that the document suddenly disappeared from ICANN’s website. Indeed, here’s what you’ll see next to .amazon on the GAC advice page: What happened? It’s hard to say. ... read more ...
Wed 28th August 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
A dozen finish user domain name sales during Sedo final week - End users ranging from a pest control company to a lender bought domain names at Sedo last week. Sedo sold $1.7 million worth of domain names last week. It’s a higher-than-usual total, thanks in part to at least one undisclosed sale. Here are a dozen end user domain names sales that were among the 646 domain names sold. French financial firm MeilleurTaux bought meilleureassurance.com for 14,995 EUR. Brand protection and intellectual property company Kallard Group ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN to start constrictive routine on “uncalculated risk” strings - Applicants can start the contract process but can’t sign agreements yet. ICANN has released an update on how it’s handling potential name collisions with new top level domain names as it relates to contracting. The group will move forward with the contracting process even on strings that fall into the “uncalculated risk” bucket – but it won’t execute the contracts just yet. ICANN anticipates it will take 3-6 months to further study the potential effects ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
25 finish user domain name sales during Afternic - Here are 25 domain name sales to end users at Afternic last week. Let’s start this week’s Afternic end user sales report with a look at FAB.net. I tweeted about this $39,000 sale by Frank Schilling on Monday. (You do follow Domain Name Wire on Twitter, right?) The domain’s whois is protected by privacy. But just a couple weeks ago someone in Santa Monica bought Fab.us for $8,995. Is it the same person? What are their plans? It’s hard to say, although I’m ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Marchex’s Archeo auctioning off 71 domains in SnapNames auction - Archeo runs month long auction on SnapNames platform. Marchex’s soon-to-be spin-off Archeo just started an auction on SnapNames that will run for a month. The auction includes 71 domain names and shows both the breadth and quality of Archeo’s portfolio. That said, I think most of these domains names will sell better through negotiation than through an auction. Three domains have seven figure reserves: Decals.com, Locksmiths.com, and Peliculas (movies in Spanish, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How The New York Times could have prevented yesterday’s conflict for only $50 - Adding Registry Lock service to a domain name prevents unauthorized name server changes. Yesterday the nameservers for The New York Times’ NYTimes.com domain name were altered, allegedly by the Syrian Electronic Army, which led to some internet users not being able to access the company’s website. The New York Times could have easily prevented this from happening at a cost of under $50 a month. All it needed to do was add a product called Registry Lock to its ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verisign wins conflict opposite .ecom tip turn domain name - Panelist says .ecom may rise to the level of being “deceptive” compared to .com. Verisign has killed off eCommerce Inc.’s application for the .ecom top level domain name by winning a string similarity objection. Verisign, which acts as the registry for .com domain names, said it was probable that internet users would be confused by web addresses ending in .com and .ecom. It also said it is worried that registrants of .ecom domains might be confused, thinking ... read more ...
Tue 27th August 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Daniel Negari has confidant ambitions for changing a domain space with .XYZ - Daniel Negari is on a mission to brand .xyz as the go-to domain name. He has big ambitions, and he’s not afraid of putting his money where his mouth is. Daniel Negari, founder of .XYZAt just 27 years old, Daniel Negari has already proven his knack for smart investments. He’s built up both a physical real estate portfolio and a virtual one in the domain name business. An active domain investor, Negari also founded the third level registry .com.de, runs a web design ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN renews contracts for .org, .biz, and .info - New registry agreements don’t include URS, but do include 10% annual price hikes. ICANN’s Board of Directors approved the renewal of contracts for .org, .biz, and .info last week. The board declined to add a provision to the contracts that could require the registry operators to add Uniform Rapid Suspension in the future. The Intellectual Property Constituency had asked ICANN to add this provision, arguing that adding it later may be part of a messy policy process. Of ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
30 Community and Limited Public Interest objections withdrawn - 30 new top level domain name objections filed with the International Chamber of Commerce have been terminated. Objectors have withdrawn 30 new TLD objections filed with the International Chamber of Commerce as of yesterday, according to the group’s updated list of objections. 27 are community objections and three are limited public interest objections. Although some of the objections have been withdrawn because the top level domain application withdrew its application ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Kudos to a World Intellectual Property Organization - WIPO’s online reporting functionality beats its competitors. I write a lot of articles bashing decisions made by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) panelists in UDRPs. So I think it’s only fair that I give the group props when it’s deserved. The new top level domain name objection process has reminded me how WIPO’s online reporting systems are way, way better than the competition. Three organizations are handling top level domain name application ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Melbourne IT a diseased couple as Twitter and NY Times domain names compromised - Two big sites have their domains compromised — and both use the same domain name registrar. Twitter and the New York Times have apparently had their domain names compromised, and the two companies have one thing in common: they both use MelbourneIT as their domain name registrar. As of right now, the New York Times whois record reads: Twitter’s whois record seems to be fine when I look it up on Melbourne IT. As the domain registrar for the domain, MelbourneIT’s ... read more ...
Mon 26th August 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google buys AfricaConnected.com domain name from Mike Mann - Search giant acquires domain name from domain investor. Google has acquired the domain name AfricaConnected.com, likely for its efforts to bring internet access to more people in Africa. It looks like Google acquired the domain name with the help of Mark Monitor through its NameAdvisers group. Until July 11, Mike Mann’s Domain Asset Holdings was listed in whois as the owner. Mann runs DomainMarket.com. The whois then switched to NameAdvisers before changing over ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Five domain name sessions pitched for SXSW 2014 - Four Five domain name sessions have been proposed for SXSW Interactive 2014. Voting ends September 6. Voting for which panels will make the cut at next year’s SXSW Interactive conference is underway. I identified four five submissions this year that are related to the domain name industry. Voting ends September 6. The Discussion’s Over – New Domains Are Here – Vote Sedo’s Jeremiah Johnston hopes to return to SXSW for a third straight year to discuss new ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Nau strikes again: Google wins .tours conflict opposite Donuts - .Tours and .Tour top level domain strings found too similar, will be placed in contention set. Another day, another inconsistent string confusion objection for new top level domain names. This time Google has won an objection (pdf) against Donuts’ application for .tours. Google applied for .tour, and now .tour and .tours will be placed in a contention set as a result of the ruling. Once you see the panelist’s name for this decision, you won’t be surprised by ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
planet.ECO loses conflict opposite TLDH for .eco tip turn domain name - TLDH gets a victory in fight over .eco. The latest salvo in the fight for the .eco top level domain name has been successfully defended by Top Level Domain Holdings. A World Intellectual Property Organization panel denied planet.ECO, LLC’s Legal Rights Objection against TLDH for .eco. planet.ECO has a U.S. trademark for .eco, which was granted because the applicant shielded the fact that it was to be used for a top level domain name. Panelist Luca Barbero determined ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Mex.com auction ends tomorrow - Sedo auction for Mex.com ends tomorrow and has just two bidders so far. [Update: the auction closed at 29,111 EUR.] Here’s an interesting auction for a three letter domain name at Sedo that closes tomorrow: Mex.com. Bidding is currently at 10,100 EUR with just two bidders. It seems that the auction began after someone bid 10,000 EUR. As far as three letter domains go, this is a winner. It’s not a winner for the typical reason a lot of three letter domains are ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dish DBS and .Hotel applicant record “appeals” to new TLD conflict decisions - Two companies appeal to ICANN’s board for reconsideration of new TLD objections. The first of what are likely many “appeals” of new top level domain name objections have been filed with ICANN’s board in the form of Requests for Reconsideration. Both Dish DBS and Hotel Top Level Domain S.a.r.l. filed Requests for Reconsideration with the board on Friday. Each request blames the process created by ICANN as well as the decision making by the panelists. Dish DBS ... read more ...
Sat 24th August 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Do usually 4 new TLDs have a possibility of going live this year? - Barring a flurry of activity at ICANN or changes to the name collision mitigation plan, the launch of new TLDs won’t be a 2013 event. ICANN released updated contracting statistics for its new top level domain name program yesterday, and applicants will be sad to see that there are still just four signed registry agreements. Although a lot of applicants are going through the process, it has been slow going. For example, the applicant for the Arabic IDN that means ... read more ...
Fri 23rd August 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How String Confusion Objections Became a Clusterf@ck - There are a number of reasons for contradictory String Confusion Objections for top level domain names. The guy in the middle got the right panelist.Of the four types of objections that could be lodged against new top level domain name applications, it would seem that string confusion objections would be the most basic. Is one string confusingly similar to another? Yet, while most people (other than the losers) haven’t had issues with Legal Rights Objections, there ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verisign and PIR get wins for IDN tip turn domain names - Company that offered pseudo-domains loses objections to IDN top level domains. Verisign and Public Interest Registry have successfully defended applications for internationalized domain names that are transliterations of existing top level domain names. Regtime Ltd. and Legato Ltd filed legal rights objections against Verisign’s application for .ком and PIR’s application for .орг. These are transliterations of .com and .org, respectively, in Cyrillic. The ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy CEO named as probable inheritor to Steve Ballmer during Microsoft - Wall Street Journal says Irving might be a candidate for Microsoft’s top spot. With Steve Ballmer heading to the exit at Microsoft within the next year, speculation about his replacement is rampant. One name that has come up: Blake Irving, who took over the reigns at domain name registrar GoDaddy earlier this year. Wall Street Journal published a story naming five possible successors, including Irving. Apparently the list was conjured up after the reporter spoke ... read more ...
Thu 22nd August 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
California wineries are a bit dipsomaniac over .wine tip turn domains - Two groups representing the same wineries take opposite views on .wine and .vin top level domains. When you’re around a cellar full of wine, it’s understandable that your judgment might get a bit cloudy. Does that explain the apparent contradiction between two different California wine groups and their view of geographic second level domains in the .wine and .vin top level domain names? Here’s the contradiction. In June, the Wine Institute sent a letter to ICANN ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
More trouble: apparently .Sport and .Sports are also confusingly similar - Panelist sides with SportAccord in objection against .sports. International Centre for Dispute Resolution has posted an updated list of string confusion objections, and there’s more trouble. SportAccord, an applicant for the .sport domain, has successfully objected to Donuts’ application for .Sports. SportAccord argued that “a significant degree of confusion would occur between any TLD string that is understood to be the plural of another TLD string.” Panelist ... read more ...