Spainless - A problem at the .es registry shows the importance of stable registries with good technology backbones. Web sites using Spain’s .es domain disappeared from the world for a couple hours Tuesday. The problem was with the .es registry, Esnic, which is the equivalent of VeriSign to the .com and .net world. Think about the money that would be lost if something like this happened to a major domain? From news reports: Madrid, Aug 30 (DPA) The biggest blackout in Spain’s ... read more ...

Analyzing a Microsoft cybersquatter lawsuits - The domainer community was abuzz this week after Microsoft sued many individuals for registering domains with its trademark in them. If you search on Google news for “microsoft domain name” you’ll find over 130 hits about Microsoft’s lawsuits that were announced this week. Instead of filing UDRP complaints to get back domains that include Microsoft trademarks, the company decided to sue under the 1999 Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. This act ... read more ...

Will splogs kill .info domains? - An article in the September issue of Wired explores search spam and the role of .info domain names. The article, titled “Spam + Blogs = Trouble” is a good overview of the problems of search spam, blog spam, and other various forms of web activity designed to take advantage of search engines. (The article will be online September 5, but you can read it on page 104 of the print edition that is available to subscribers now). For those not versed in search spam, ... read more ...

New Zealand domain scammer during it again - According to PCWorld, Blair Rafferty has ressurected his brother’s domain name scam. Blair Rafferty’s brother Chesley Rafferty ran a scam that sent notices to domain name owners that looked like invoices. Chesley’s business partner in crime, Bradley Norrish, declared bankruptcy after facing a $1M+ legal judgement. When Norrish declared bankruptcy he showed lack of remorse for his actions, even suggesting he might return to the game. Now an article in PCWorld ... read more ...

Domain tasting hits .uk domains - Think domain tasting is only a problem for .com domains? Think again. Domain tasting, a.k.a domain testing a.k.a. domain kiting, is the practice of registering a domain only to delete it within the 5 day registry grace period. This allows the person registering the domain to get its money back. A common practice is to register tens of thousands of .com domains, see which ones get enough PPC revenue during the first few days to justify the annual registration fee, ... read more ...

Domain Marketplace in Morocco - The domain monetization discussion at the Marrakech, Morocco ICANN meeting on June 27 included lots of fireworks. First, a disclaimer. I wasn’t at the meeting. I just finished reading the transcript of the meeting. Much like reading an e-mail, sometimes it’s hard to understand the tone and meaning of things in writing. Now that the disclaimer is out the way, here’s my take on “Domain Name Marketplace Workshop” at the meetings. A killer workshop. Seriously. ... read more ...

OpenDNS - New system challenges scammers and typos, but does it go too far? A new service called OpenDNS officially opened its doors today. The service is an alternative DNS to those offered by ISPs and promises a faster, safer internet experience. Open DNS claims that by changing your internet connection’s DNS to OpenDNS, you can: -Reduce effects of phising attacks and scams -Get faster resolution of domain names -Automatically correct typos The last one might get some ... read more ...

Domain scammer declares bankruptcy - An Australian domain scammer has declared bankruptcy after facing $1M+ in legal judgements. The scammer Bradley Norrish, along with business partner Chesley Rafferty, ran a group of companies that sent fake invoices to UK domain holders in 2003. The suit was brought on by UK registry Nominet because Norrish launched a large-scale data mining attack on Nominet’s Whois database. But Norrish doesn’t seem to have any remorse for his actions. According to an article ... read more ...

Hawaii cybersquatting law one of a worst - A politician in Hawaii has bullied a political activist into giving up his domain name. In May I wrote about a law New York was trying to pass that would protect politicians’ names as domain names. In retrospect, the New York law was not so harsh: it would only punish someone who registered a politican’s domain name with the sole purpose of selling it. Although I don’t think states should regulate domain names, the New York law was rather narrow. Imagine my ... read more ...

Whois discuss continues - FTC defends availability of Whois, and you should too. The debate over availability of Whois information continued this week during the Morocco ICANN meeting. FTC Commissioner John Leibowitz presented several examples of how Whois helped the FTC shut down fishers, scammers, and various illegal activities. This is a hot topic, and ICANN CEO Paul Twomey discussed at Domain Roundtable the pros and cons of making this data available . Most domainers would like to shut ... read more ...

ICANN Domain Name Marketplace Workshop - This week’s ICANN meeting in Marrakech, Morocco will feature a workshop about current trends in the domain name marketplace. Jothan Frakes of Domain Roundtable/DomainTools.com will introduce the 3 hour workshop. The workshop was organized in response to requests from the ICANN community about the ways value is derived from domain names and questions about the appropriateness of some of these activities. Among the more controversial subjects to be discussed: Monetization ... read more ...

Vint Cerf in The Economist - A recent edition of The Economist magazine profiles Vinton Cerf, ICANN Chairman of the Board. A couple months ago I had the good fortune of having breakfast with Cerf at Domain Roundtable, where he gave a keynote address. He’s a fascinating guy who has played a major role in the internet and is known as “the father of the internet”. He has a witty comment in the article about this moniker: There were many of us [involved with the Internet’s creation]. As ... read more ...

Conflict of Opinion - If a UDRP panelist believes domainers are the same thing as cybersquatters, is he fit to arbitrate? I came across an editorial on CNET today by Doug Isenberg, an attorney in Atlanta and founder of GigaLaw.com, and a domain name panelist for the World Intellectual Property Organization. The guest editorial focuses on Whois privacy and why it’s imperative to maintain open access to registrant data for intellectual property and legal purposes. That’s a common opinion ... read more ...

VeriSign ICANN allotment gets political - Which politicians support VeriSign’s lawsuit settlement with ICANN? It depends on whom bankrolls the politician… CNET writers Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache published an excellent story about the VeriSign-ICANN settlement and how it is hitting Washington. The US Commerce department must bless this settlement for it to proceed without complications. A hearing of the House of Representatives’ Small Business Committee on Wednesday showed a variety of opinions ... read more ...

Fun and games with UDRP - Respondent maintains that it is a cat, that is, a well-known carnivorous quadruped which has long been domesticated. However, it is equally well-known that the common cat, whose scientific name is Felis domesticus, cannot speak or read or write. Thus, a common cat could not have submitted the Response (or even have registered the disputed domain name). Therefore, either Respondent is a different species of cat, such as the one that stars in the motion picture “Cat From Outer Space,” or ... read more ...

New York wants to umpire domain names - In a move that flies in the face of established international guidelines, the New York Senate is pushing through a bill that would forbid registering the name of a living person with the purpose of selling the domain to that person. The New York Senate’s bill is called “domain names cyber piracy protections act” and is championed by State Senator Betty Little (S2306). Generally speaking, registering a person’s name solely to sell the domain to that person ... read more ...

Domain Registry Support doesn’t know when to stop - One of the biggest domain scammers, Domain Registry Services, will eventually run into the law. Domain Registry Services is known for sending out misleading notices such as: FINAL NOTICE OF DOMAIN EXTENSION. yourdomain.us “has now become available for registration. Consequently the possibility of conflicting domain name registrations may occur.” REGARDING: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NOTIFICATION PROCESS and IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE UNITED STATES LEGAL CODE and You are ... read more ...

.Tel approved - .Tel sponsor Telnic says ICANN has approved the new TLD. On the surface this is one of the worst new domain names to be approved — let alone suggested. As I wrote last month: This idea makes sense for one group only: the registry that will make money selling the domains (oh yeah, and the registars getting in on the action). Why would we want something like .tel? You can do the same thing with .name or .com. The .tel extension doesn’t even enable the goal of the ... read more ...