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 15th August 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Donuts beats the third conform code in tip turn domain disputes - Coach, Inc. lost its objection to Donuts’ .coach application. New TLD applicant Donuts has now successfully defended itself against three fashion brands in Legal Rights Objections over top level domain applications. After beating The Limited and Express, the company can add Coach to its list. Coach, Inc., a $15 billion (market cap) company known for its purses, is the only other applicant for .coach. By filing a Legal Rights Objection, it hoped to win the string ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
22 finish user domain name sales - It’s a little late, but here are 22 end user domain name sales from Afternic. End user sales reports are back! I was out of town last week. That, combined with a change by GoDaddy’s whois format to comply with the new RAA set me back a bit. It’s resolve nowd, so here we go. This report is Afternic’s report from last week, so sales are two weeks prior to now. There were a lot of companies “upgrading” from .org or .net to .com, and quite a few ccTLD owners ... read more ...
 
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8 new TLD auctions net $9.65 million - Second round of private new TLD auctions closes. Innovative Auctions has completed its second round of Applicant Auctions to settle new top level domain name contention sets. 8 contention sets were resolved in this round for a total of $9,651,000. Here are the winners: .guide: Donuts, Inc (beat TLDH) .construction: Donuts, Inc (beat Dot Construction, LLC) .storage: Extra Space Storage (NYSE:EXR) (beat Donuts) .desi: Desi Networks LLC (beat Afilias) .expert: Donuts, ... read more ...
Wed 14th August 2013
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Sedo income down 17% though miscarry in series of domains for sale and parked - Sedo’s revenue continues downward trend but company reports a rebound in domains for sale and parked since the end of 2012. Sedo Holding’s domain marketing segment, which most in the domain name industry know as simply Sedo, posted a sharp revenue drop in the first six months of 2013 compared to 2012. The company reported today that revenue was down 17% in the first half of the year at €13.7. Domain sales were fairly steady compared to last year, but the company ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
IPC wants Uniform Rapid Suspension supplies in .org, .biz, and .info contracts - Intellectual Property groups already asking for way to add URS to existing top level domain names. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. The ICANN Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) has asked ICANN to insert a provision into registry agreements for existing TLDs that could lead to Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) expanding beyond new top level domain names. URS is a faster and cheaper form of Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). It was designed ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Chicago.com investment, finish user sales reports, and more - What’s going on with a major geo website and AWOL end user reports. [Update: the sale has been confirmed.] I spent last week vacationing in Seattle and central Washington. There was a lot of news last week and I did my best to stay on top of it (despite complaints from my wife). One potentially big piece of news last week that I didn’t cover was a development at Chicago.com. Dan Pulcrano of Boulevards New Media, Inc. had a well researched story about the Sun-Times ... read more ...
Tue 13th August 2013
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Test pushing .co’s new Pop.co - New TLD hopefuls should take a look at Pop.co. .Co continues to innovate around how people register domain names and get online. Yesterday it launched a new company, Pop.co, to make the process of getting your domain and a basic web presence insanely easy. The idea is summed up quite nicely at Pop.co: It’s as easy as they suggest. First, you select a .co domain name to use. For my test, I chose TestingPop.co. Then you enter your name and mobile phone number. After ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
First 12 New TLD fibre difficulty objections denied - ICDR panels deny first 12 string confusion objections. The International Centre for Dispute Resolution has issued its first 12 decisions regarding string confusion objections for new top level domain names. All 12 objections were denied. The denied objections were: Universal Postal Union vs. Deutsche Post AG for .epost The UPU operates the .post top level domain name. Verisign vs. Google for .new Verisign vs. NEC for .NEC Verisign vs. Donuts for .Vet Verisign vs. ... read more ...
 
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Sedo’s Q2 marketplace investigate and where a tip 10 sole domains are now - Sedo releases market data from second quarter plus a few new end user sales revealed. Sedo released its second quarter market study today in a new infographic format. The data show that sales volume and dollar volume were down slightly from the first quarter. The company sold 9,589 domains in the quarter. Total sales for Q2 were $17.5 million, down from $17.9 million in Q1. April was the strongest month with $6.8 million in sales. The infographic reports the median ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.Secure applicant files heading focus for SAFETLD - Artemis files application for SAFETLD mark for its .secure top level domain. Artemis Internet, part of NCC Group plc, has filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “SAFETLD”, most likely tied to its .secure TLD bid. The company is one of two applicants for the .secure top level domain. It faces Amazon.com in the contention set. The trademark application (pdf) identifies the services as: Business services, namely, formulation ... read more ...
 
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This is dirty: HelpScout.net owners files lawsuit opposite HelpScout.com - Company formed in 2011 claims domain names registered in 2009 infringe its trademark. Brightwurks, Inc., which owns support service Help Scout, has filed an in rem lawsuit (pdf) against the domain names HelpScout.com and Help-Scout.com. Here’s what happened: In 2009, Andy Eder of Germany registered the domain names. In 2010, the plaintiff registered the domain name HelpScout.net and started building a business on it. He obviously chose the .net because the .com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
Tradeshow association sues Citigroup over domain name - Company that lost UDRP seeks to block transfer and claims reverse domain name hijacking. Tradeshow exhibit company Creative CitiGroup Inc. has filed a lawsuit (pdf) against banking giant Citigroup in an effort to keep its domain name CreativeCitigroup.com. Creative CitiGroup says it has been in business since 2008 and registered the domain name back then. In June 2012, Citigroup filed a UDRP against the domain name. Creative CitiGroup didn’t respond to the UDRP ... read more ...
Mon 12th August 2013
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TLDH to attend in 4 private domain auctions - Company will challenge three competitors in private auctions. Top Level Domain Holdings announced today that it will participate in 4 private auctions to settle top level domain contention sets. The four auctions will resolve these contention sets: .GUIDE (versus Donuts) .CASA (versus Donuts) .网址 (“web address” in Chinese) (versus HU YI GLOBAL INFORMATION RESOURCES) .FISHING (versus United TLD/Demand Media) Top Level Domain Holdings (TLDH) was initially opposed ... read more ...
 
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Former GoDaddy General Counsel to run for Arizona Governor - Jones jumps headfirst into politics with gubernatorial bid. Christine Jones, former General Counsel Corporate Secretary for GoDaddy, announced that she will run for Governor of Arizona. Jones left the company last year after a decade in high profile roles at the fast growing domain name registrar and web services firm. Having a leading role at a company that created thousands of jobs in the state will no doubt help her bid. Jones and other GoDaddy executives have ... read more ...
 
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Demand Media gains $1.2 million from new TLD “withdrawals” - Demand Media records seven figure gain from new TLD withdrawals. Demand Media recorded a gain of $1.2 million last quarter from withdrawals of its interest in new top level domain name applications. Here’s how it’s worded in the company’s 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: In the three month period ended June 30, 2013, the net gain related to the withdrawals of our interest in certain gTLD applications was $1.2 million. The company ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
How would we deposit $5 million in a domain name business? - Where’s the greatest opportunity right now to invest $5 million in the domain name business? There are a lot of ways people make money in the domain name business. There are people who invest in domain names, people who own service providers (such as domain name registrars and domain marketplaces), and people investing in new top level domain names, to name a few. Here’s a hypothetical I’m curious about: if someone handed you $5 million to invest in some way ... read more ...
 
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Scripps Networks loses second new TLD objection, this one for .diy - Scripps learns that DIY, like the word Food, is generic. Scripps Networks has lost its second legal rights objection against a top level domain name application, this time losing .diy. It previously lost an objection for .food. Scripps, which owns home improvement media company DIY Network, filed the complaint against Google. Scripps and Google are the only two applicants for the domain name. Panelist Scott Blackmer determined that the term “DIY” is generic, standing ... read more ...
 
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Lisa Box joins Endurance International - Box leaves Moniker:SnapNames to take role with Endurance. Lisa Box has joined Endurance International Group as Senior Director of Domains, the company announced today. Box has been in the domain name industry since 2007, when she joined Internet REIT as Vice President of Sales Marketing. She then joined Oversee.net as Senior Director of Sales. When Oversee.net sold Moniker:SnapNames to KeyDrive Group, she went along to the new company as Vice President of Business ... read more ...
 
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CentralNic skeleton IPO - Domain name registry plans to file for initial public offering. Domain name registry and backend services provider CentralNic is planning to officially announce an initial public offering tomorrow, The Telegraph reports. The company, which today is known mostly for selling third level domain names under domains such as .us.com and .uk.com, hopes to raise £5 million through the offering. It will use the funds for its top level domain name investments. It will list ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
USPTO considers trademarks for tip turn domain names - In the future, top level domains could be trademarked in the U.S. under limited circumstances. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is seeking feedback on a plan to allow companies to trademark top level domains – albeit under limited circumstances. The plan would not allow companies to get trademarks on top level domain names they don’t have under contract with ICANN, nor would it allow them to trademark most generic TLDs. However, it would be a shift from the ... read more ...
Fri 9th August 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN
A .pro domain name speckled in use in Austin - Audio visual company uses .pro to promote its business. Fellow Austinite and domain name investor Ramiro Canales must have done a double take when he was driving in traffic the other day. He sent me this photo: Yes, that is a .pro domain name on the back of the van. It’s ConceptElectronics.pro, which is used by a home automation and audio visual company. At the time the company registered the domain the matching .com, .net, and .org domains were registered. Given ... read more ...
 
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Demand Media successfully defends Motorola plea for .moto - Google subsidiary loses legal rights objection over .moto. Motorola, now part of Google, has lost its legal rights objection against Demand Media subsidiary United TLD over the .moto top level domain. United TLD plans to offer the domain names for motorcycle enthusiasts, while Motorola uses it as a brand for mobile devices. Motorola also applied for .moto through Google subsidiary Charleston Road Registry. Amusingly, Motorola tried to paint United TLD in a bad light ... read more ...
Thu 8th August 2013
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How field comparison their new tip turn domains - Here’s how new TLD applicants decided which strings to apply for. Some new top level domain applicants picked one or two domains to apply for. Others applied for dozens. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall when these companies debated about which ones to apply for. From talking to many applicants, I’ve discovered a number of approaches they took to creating and finalizing their list. The data junkie I crunched existing domain name, search, and marketing ... read more ...
 
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How JustDropped.com increase from domain names by focusing on volume - Behind a popular expired domain site lies a business model of selling lots of domain names for under $100. There are a handful of people and companies that make a living buying and selling domain names. There are some, like Frank Schilling, who make money selling a small percentage of their portfolio each year for very high prices. There are others, like NameMedia, who sell a bigger, but still small, percentage of their portfolio with a typical price of under $2,000. Then ... read more ...
 
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Dish DBS ruled a tip turn domain cybersquatter - Dish’s .direct application tossed out; Donuts is sole applicant remaining for .direct top level domain name. It’s notable that the two applicants deemed to be attempting to cybersquat top level domain names thus far aren’t nefarious cybersquatters, as industry groups suggested would happen. Instead, it’s two members of those types of trade groups that have lost the two Legal Rights Objections for new top level domain names. First, there was Del Monte International ... read more ...