Tag Archives: registrars

Tue 20th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Registrars Often Blamed for Customers’ Mistakes - Critical customer mistakes often blamed on domain registrars. When online backup service CrashPlan.com went down earlier this month, the company was quick to blame its domain name registrar GoDaddy. Code 42 Software, which runs the CrashPlan.com service, tweeted about how GoDaddy “mistakenly removed our root nameserver entry”, “inappropriately took over our DNS”, and did a DNS “hijack”. What Code 42 Software never tweeted was that it had mistakenly ... read more ...
Mon 19th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
InternetX Reseller Problem Turned on Domain Registrants - Domain registrar asks domain registrants to pay up after reseller doesn’t pay the bill. A reseller of domain name registrar InternetX didn’t pay for its customers’ registrations, and now the registrar is asking domain registrants to foot the bill. The company sent an e-mail to customers of one of its resellers that demanded payment for domains the customers already paid for, or face deletion of the domains: Dear Sir, dear Madam! At the registry, which is in ... read more ...
Fri 16th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Registries Clarify Stance on Registry-Registrar Separation - Afilias, PIR, and Neustar explain their position on a critical change to the domain name sales channel. Domain registries have a lot to lose if registry/registrar separation ends with the introduction of new top level domain names. Representatives of several registries, including Afilias, Public Interest Registry, and Neustar, have sent a letter (pdf) to ICANN’s board and CEO that says ICANN is misstating the registry constituency’s position on registry/registrar ... read more ...
Wed 14th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Launching GeoDomain Search Tool - Registrar is launching tool to make finding location-based domain names easier. [Update: the tool is now live] Domain name registrar GoDaddy is launching a GeoDomain research tool to help domainers find local domains, such as cityHotels.com. The tool will be launched no later than Monday. Users enter a location (such as a city or state) and can also add keywords, such as “hotel”. The tool then loads a map of the area with pinpoints on each location, which represent ... read more ...
Tue 13th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How To Get Your Domains Listed for Sale in GoDaddy’s Registration Path - Registrar gives your aftermarket domain great exposure through Premium Listings. One of the most effective ways to sell domain names to end users is to market to them at the exact moment they’re searching for a domain name. That’s why NameMedia’s partnership with GoDaddy to display “premium domains” during the searching/registration process is so successful. But few people know that GoDaddy gives everyone the opportunity to list their domains in the “premium ... read more ...
Tue 6th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dark Blue Sea and GoDaddy Get Back Together - Australian domain company signs new sales agreement with Go Daddy. Dark Blue Sea, parent company of Fabulous, has had a rough year. It probably hit bottom back in July, when GoDaddy pulled out of a sales distribution agreement with the company. Perhaps it’s one of those on-again, off-again relationships, as the two registrars have inked another sales agreement. This is good news, given that an outside investor is currently trying to takeover the company. I ... read more ...
Fri 2nd October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Files 3 Patents for Domain Suggestion and Advertising Method - Company files patents for improving current domain suggestion and advertising systems. Go Daddy Group, Inc., parent company of domain name registrar GoDaddy, has filed three patents for a method of suggesting possible domain names. The applications also suggest this method can be used for targeted advertising, search results, and web site content. The applications were filed in 2008 and published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on October 1. In the patent ... read more ...
Thu 1st October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Takeover Bid Launched for Dark Blue Sea - Photon launches takeover of Dark Blue Sea. Photon Group has launched a takeover bid for Dark Blue Sea, parent company of Fabulous. Photon currently owns 30.55% of all issued ordinary shares of Dark Blue Sea. The company is offering to buy outstanding ordinary shares for 30 cents per share, which it says is a 56% premium to the average share price over the past month. Dark Blue Sea’s second largest shareholder, Huon Capital, says it intends to accept the offer ... read more ...
Wed 30th September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Distribution Network Partners with Moniker - Sales network picks up inventory and distribution. Dark Blue Sea’s Domain Distribution Network (DDN) has partnered with Oversee.net and its Moniker and SnapNames divisions. Customers that have their domain names at Moniker and list them for sale can have the domains syndicated through Domain Distribution Network’s partners. If a domain sells, fulfillment will be automatic and not require any action from the domain seller. Other distribution partners currently ... read more ...
Fri 25th September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Go Daddy Files Patents for Enhanced Whois and DNS Records - Go Daddy files three patents for whois and DNS. Go Daddy Group, Inc., parent company of domain name registrar GoDaddy, has filed three patents related to interactive and enhanced whois and DNS records. The three applications were published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday. The applications cover various aspects of how to add additional information to whois and DNS records, such as information about whether the domain name is for sale and ... read more ...
Thu 24th September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker and Transamerica to Enter Mediation - Lawsuit heads to mediation. Moniker and Transamerica will enter into mediation to try to resolve their legal battle. Transamerica sued Moniker, claiming that Moniker owned domain names that infringed Transamerica’s trademarks and set up fictitious entities to hide its ownership. Transamerica later amended the complaint to suggest that Moniker didn’t own the domain names, but enabled the real owners hide their identity. Earlier this week Moniker filed a motion ... read more ...
Tue 22nd September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
As New Domain Registrations Fall, Domain Registrars Get Desperate - Domain registrars seek new profit opportunities. Yesterday’s news that new domain name registrations are down sharply and the total base of domains registered is stagnant is bad news for domain name registrars. For years, registrars have been able to count on new registrations to fuel growth. Although the margin on new registrations is small, registrars earn money by cross selling other products to registrants. So the typical margin on a domain may be only $2, ... read more ...
Mon 14th September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Lawyers: We Started Investigating Moniker in 2005 - Lawyers say investigation against Moniker has been long-running. For the record, I have no idea if any of the allegations in Transamerica’s lawsuit against Moniker are true. But I do know that its lawyers bungled the first complaint they filed. It was rife with many “gotchas” that could be proven false with cursory investigation. So I was somewhat surprised to see, in an opposition to Moniker’s request for more time to make a filing, that the law firm says ... read more ...
Fri 11th September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Launches GoDaddySaves.Me - Domain registrar launches new online savings site, but misses an obvious typo. Domain name registrar GoDaddy has launched GoDaddySaves.Me, and online savings network. Members get discounts at a number of online merchants, ranging from Kohls to FTD.com. Membership costs $9.99, but includes a $10 GoDaddy gift certificate, making it essentially free. Beyond the revenue potential for GoDaddy, the site also continues a trend of the company using the .me domain name. ... read more ...
Thu 10th September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
New Restrictions for Domain Name Resellers are Coming - New restrictions face domain name resellers. Domain name registrar resellers will face new restrictions under ICANN’s new registrar accreditation agreement. Several of these restrictions were spelled out in an email from eNom to its resellers yesterday: 1. If, in the future, eNom is obligated to provide a link to an ICANN webpage, Resellers must also provide such a link (at this time no link is necessary). 2. Resellers are prohibited from displaying the ICANN or ... read more ...
Fri 4th September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker to (Again) Request Sanctions Against Transamerica - Moniker plans to file another request for sanctions against Transamerica. Moniker has notified the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida that it plans to file another request for sanctions under Rule 11. Transamerica first filed suit against Moniker and many other defendants a couple months ago for cybersquatting. The complaint had many flaws that showed that Transamerica’s lawyers didn’t understand the domain name system. Last month Moniker ... read more ...
Wed 2nd September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Transamerica Files Amended Lawsuit Against Moniker - Transamerica’s lawyers get a quick education in how the domain name ecosystem works. Life insurance company Transamerica has amended its lawsuit against Moniker, Oversee.net, and many John Does for trademark infringement. The original lawsuit claimed that Moniker used fictitious entities to register trademark-infringing domain names on its own behalf. It frequently used quotes to refer to Moniker’s “clientele” and “customers”, as Transamerica alleged ... read more ...
Tue 1st September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Network Solutions Displays Customers’ Whois Queries to a Public - Domain registrar displays customers’ whois lookups for all to see. Here’s an interesting new “feature” on Network Solutions’ web site: a list of domain name whois searches performed by customers in the past day. That’s right. Do a whois lookup on Network Solutions and you can tip your hat to thousands of onlookers. Think of all of the fun things you could do with this information: …Figure out domains people are looking to buy and beat them to it …Find ... read more ...
Mon 31st August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dark Blue Sea Profit Plummets 74% - Company’s portfolio still profitable, but challenges abound. Dark Blue Sea has reported its annual results for the period ending June, and it isn’t pretty. The company reported profits plunged 74.38% to only $695,955 AUD for the year. This is well below the company’s guidance just a couple months ago. In the prior year the company earned $2.72M. Revenue fell 14.9% to $26.65M. Working capital fell from $5.18M at the beginning of the period to $4.1M at the ... read more ...
Tue 25th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
DNW’s 10 Step Guide to Transferring Domain Names to GoDaddy - Your step-by-step guide to transferring a domain name to GoDaddy. A couple weeks ago I had to transfer a domain name to GoDaddy as part of sale. The buyer was supposed transfer the domain to his account at GoDaddy from mine at Moniker, but he through up his hands in frustration. Given that the buyer is an IT manager at a technology company, I decided to take another look at GoDaddy’s transfer-in process. No wonder he was frustrated — the user interface and ... read more ...
Sun 23rd August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
ICANN Fails to Deal With Warehousing & Registrars Conduct In Its “Expired Domain Policy Review” - ICANN announced this week,  the opening of  the comment period for the “Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery Working Group”, seeking opinions certain matters from the registrant point of view, but failed to follow its own staff recommendation that it should address warehousing by registrars. What ICANN called for comments on this week were: “””Whether adequate opportunity exists for registrants to redeem their expired domain names; Whether expiration-related provisions in typical registration ... read more ...
Mon 17th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dark Blue Sea Hires Advisor, Defeats Board Resolutions - Domain company wins board battle but hires outside firm to consider strategic options. Dark Blue Sea has hired an advisor to explore the company’s strategic options, and has won a challenge to its board makeup. The company, which operates domain registrar and parking company Fabulous, hired mid-market advisory firm Allier Capital to help it “explore a range of strategic options”, the company announced. The company has been shopping around its service businesses ... read more ...
Fri 14th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Tucows on NameJet, MLS, Candy.com, and Its Domain Portfolio - Conference call sheds light on the domain name market. Tucows (AMEX: TCX) held its quarterly investor conference call last night, which helped shed some light on the state of the company and the domain name market as a whole. NameJet: Tucows is seeing increased auction revenue of about $100,000 (presumably per quarter) through its expired domain deal with NameJet. Tucows’ Portfolio: The registrar continues to grow its own portfolio of domains faster than it sells ... read more ...
Thu 13th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy’s 2008 Revenue Nearly $500M - Company’s revenue up 2.5x in three years. [Update: 2009 revenue was about $750 million.] The Go Daddy Group, parent company of domain name registrar GoDaddy, generated nearly a half billion dollars in revenue in 2008 according to the recently released Inc. 5000 list. Inc. magazine reports the company pulled in $497.9 million in 2008 compared to $139.8 million in 2005, a growth of 256%. That’s good enough to earn it spot number 1,241 on Inc.’s list for revenue ... read more ...
Wed 12th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Tucows Reports Strong Earnings and More Stock Buybacks - Registrar turns in solid numbers and plans to buy back more shares. Tucows, the world’s third largest domain name registrar, released earnings today that show its business is weathering the economic downturn well. It also announced another offer to buy back shares in the company. Tucows (AMEX: TCX) reported net income of $4.48M for the second quarter 2009, compared to $2.21M for the same quarter last year. It’s hard to compare the quarters thanks to extraordinary ... read more ...