Tag Archives: registrars

Wed 5th November 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Tucows Sells Afilias Stake for $7.4 Million - Registrar continues to divest of non-core assets. Domain registrar Tucows has sold its stake in domain name registry Afilias for $7.4 million. Tucows owned 7.38% of Afilias, which pegs a valuation on the registry of about $100 million. However, the payments to Tucows will be spread across the next 13 months with $3.2 million today; $2.1 million in June 2009; and $2.1 million in December 2009. Tucows has already sold off its web hosting business and recently launched ... read more ...
Tue 4th November 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Gets Stolen Domain Name Back to Owner - Domain registrar secures popular blog domain for real owner. It’s every web site owner’s worst nightmare: having a domain name stolen and the thief holding it for ransom. That’s what recently happened to MakeUseOf.com, a popular blog about web applications and software. But as in many cases, MakeUseOf.com blamed GoDaddy for losing its domain when it wasn’t the company’s fault. In a blog post on blogger and another one on its site, MakeUseOf.com pins the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Tests Parking Pages on 404 Pages - GoDaddy tries monetizing error pages with parked pages, but will discontinue practice. GoDaddy is concluding a test in which it ran parked domain name ads on error pages of its customers free hosting accounts. The tests were limited and only showed the ads on non-existent pages of sites that used GoDaddy’s free, ad-supported service. Interestingly, the ads were not part of GoDaddy’s feed but instead a full landing page served by DomainSponsor. In the example ... read more ...
Sat 1st November 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
eNom Phishing Attacks Continue and Morph - Latest attack is seemingly innocuous maintenance notice. Domain registrar eNom, the second largest domain registrar in the world, continues to be hit with phishing attacks. The first attack resembled an inaccurate whois report. The new one is a routine maintenance reminder. What’s interesting about the latest phishing attempt is that it doesn’t compel recipients to visit Enom’s site to take any action. Typically phishing attacks scare recipients into taking ... read more ...
Fri 31st October 2008
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Tucows President Responds to Our Post About YummyNames.com - Elliot Noss, the President and CEO of Tucows has responded to our post of a few days ago regarding the YummyNames.com, the site Tucows set up to sell some of the domains it acquired from it’s customers after they expired. The comments from Mr. Noss are unedited. Our comments will follow but feel free to comment: “””””I wanted to weigh in here and provide my view very specifically. apologies in advance as I am famously long-winded (stop laughing berryhill) first. what do we do? we have ... read more ...
Wed 29th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
EstDomains Loses Accreditation, 280k Domains adult for Grabs - Registrar loses ICANN accreditation. Domain registrar EstDomains, Inc has lost its ICANN accreditation. The registrar had been the subject of many negative stories, including allegations that it perpetuated malware and spyware sites as well as spam. EstDomains also resold Directi services including its whois privacy service. (Directi is parent company of domain parking service Skenzo). Directi pulled the plug on offering privacy protection to EstDomains, thus ... read more ...
Tue 28th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Site Parodies Sarah Palin and GoDaddy: But How Would Bob Vote? - GoMilfy.com uses GoDaddy look to parody Sarah Palin. DNForum member Acro has done a great job parodying Sarah Palin using the same look of GoDaddy’s web site: The attention to detail is stunning and hilarious. Be sure to check out Acro’s version of the GoDaddy Girls. You can visit the parody at GoMilfy.com. In a blog post, Acro suggests that GoDaddy likely endorses Barack Obama for president. No so fast, Acro. GoDaddy chief Bob Parsons has given generously ... read more ...
Mon 13th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Releases SmartSpace Based on Patent Filing - GoDaddy’s new product linked to recent patent filings. A few months ago I noticed that GoDaddy filed a few patents related to social networking portals. GoDaddy just released SmartSpace, which appears to be include features referenced by the patent applications. SmartSpace enables you to register a domain and instantly turn it into an active web site with a blog, photo album, etc. It also includes “SocialSpace”, which seems to be what the company’s patents ... read more ...
Sun 12th October 2008
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Fabulous.Com Makes It’s Case To Investors And Puts Together The Best Explanation of a Industry I’ve Ever Read - Dark Blue Sea which operates Fabulous.com, made a presentation to investors today which you can download and view here. It’s a very interesting presentation of not only it’s own business, but in great detail outlines the case for the domain industry as a whole. It’s probably the best explanation I have ever read about the domain industry.  You can direct all those people who never understood what you did for a living to this report and they will understand what you do after they read it. Some ... read more ...
Fri 10th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Strong Domain Registrars Will Win in Downturn - Cash-rich domain name registrars can take advantage of economic downturn. In any economic downturn, the strong companies come out ahead and the weak ones die. The same thing will happen in the domain registrar business over the next few years. Cash-rich domain registrars will be able to buy flailing registrars for pennies on the dollar. Even if domain registration rates remain strong, registrars that over leveraged themselves, created inefficient organizations, ... read more ...
Thu 9th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker: Kentucky Cannot Have Our Customers’ Domains - Moniker assures its clients that their domain names are safe. In case there were any doubts (and I heard some), Moniker customers can rest assured that the company is fighting to keep your domains from ill-advised state governors. Speaking specifically about the situation with the Kentucky governor, Moniker founder and president Monte Cahn released the following statement to Domain Name Wire today: Moniker strives to protect the rights of domainers. While it has ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Sends Breach Notice to Joker.com - ICANN says Joker.com and DNS.com.cn aren’t enforcing whois accuracy. Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has sent breach notices to two large domain name registrars warning them they may lose their accreditation. In May Joker.com and Beijing Innovative Linkage Technology Ltd, doing business as DNS.com.cn, received “notices of concern” from ICANN that they were not properly taking action when they received inaccurate whois notices. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Official GoDaddy Statement on Kentucky Domains Case - What is GoDaddy doing with gambling domains? Here’s the official word. There have been a number of rumors swirling around about whether GoDaddy has handed over domains that Kentucky wants to seize as it cracks down on illegal gambling. A number of online gambling news sources have reported that GoDaddy capitulated and turned over the domains, but a look at the whois shows the domains are still in the original owners’ names. (Compare this to the domain names ... read more ...
Tue 7th October 2008
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
New .Info Policy Announced - Afilias, a global provider of registry services, announced today a new registration policy that will go into effect on November 6, 2008, which prohibits registrants from using .info domain names for “abusive behavior” Abusive Behavior includes, but is not limited to: phishing, e-mail spam and other types of spam, the willful distribution of malware, the use of botnets and fast-flux hosting, distribution of child pornography, illegal access to other computers or networks, ... read more ...
Mon 6th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Threat Watch: “Bank Run” on a Domain Registrar? - Threat of a “run on the bank” scenario at domain registrar exists. In November 2007 I wrote an article “A Run on the (Domain Name) Bank“. I discussed the potential for rumors about a domain registrar’s demise to cause a panic. Domain registrants would transfer their domains out in droves, further deteriorating the registrar’s business and pushing it under. Earlier this year I wrote an article “The Danger of a Domain Registrar “Run on the Bank”“, ... read more ...
Fri 3rd October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Register.com Home Page is a Winner - Re-designed web site is simple. Competitors should take note. I had to make one of my infrequent visits to Register.com today to unlock a backordered domain for transfer. When I arrived at the home page I was greeted by a simple, yet bold home page: In a business where many companies believe “more is better”, Register.com is going for simplicity. You can’t miss the domain search box as it’s not shoved in between 50 promotions. The phone number is right ... read more ...
Wed 1st October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dotster Picks Up Domain Names from BestRegistrar.com - Deal provides new home for 5,400 domain names. Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has selected Dotster to receive of bulk transfer of domain names from de-accreditated domain registrar BestRegistrar.com. BesRegistrar.com had about 5,400 gTLD domain names that will be transferred to Dotster. The transfers do not include any extension to expiration term, so BestRegistrar clients should renew domains at Dotster. If a domain expires within ... read more ...
Thu 25th September 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
I’ve Got Domain Renewal Fatigue; 5 Days to Go - Looming price hike means it’s time to renew your domain names. Over the past few days I’ve renewed thousands of dollars worth of domain names. The price of renewing most domain names will shoot up on October 1 as many of the registries increase prices. That includes VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN), which runs .com and .net. Registrars will pass these price hikes to customers. Last time before prices increased I renewed domains a couple months out. This time, thanks ... read more ...
Tue 23rd September 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Launches New Site Design - Registrar launches new web site design with clearer navigation and design. Domain registrar GoDaddy has redesigned its web site making it easier to use. The design has simple navigation controls at the top, less clutter, and a new left panel that shows the user’s products. Upon your first visit to the redesigned site there’s a quick tour feature. The design carries over from the home page to the internal pages of the site including when customers log in. The ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Files Patent for “Domain Name Hijack Protection” - Patent covers system to automatically reject domain name transfers. GoDaddy has filed a patent for a system to protect against domain name theft. The patent lists GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons as the sole inventor and was filed last year, but was not published until this month. United States Patent Application 20080215716 describes a service subscribed to by customers in which domain transfer-out notices are automatically ignored. A notice is sent to the customer informing ... read more ...
Mon 22nd September 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
LogicBoxes Helps Domainers Set Up Domain Registrars - Long-running program being marketed to individual domainers. LogicBoxes has been providing consulting services to help companies set up their own domain registrar for years. But this week the company unveiled a new push to help individual domainers set up their own registry. Owning your own registrar gives your more security (remember RegisterFly?) and the lowest price since you don’t have to pay a registrar’s markup. Many large domainers, including Frank Schilling, ... read more ...
Mon 15th September 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Tries Paper Domain Renewal Notices - GoDaddy is sending snail mail domain renewal notices Over the weekend I received a snail mail from GoDaddy. Yeah, one of those things you get in the metal box with a flag on it. Big bright orange letters on the outside read “RENEWAL NOTICE!”: This is the first time I recall receiving snail mail from GoDaddy. At first I assumed GoDaddy was trying paper mailers to improve domain renewal rates. But all of the domain names listed in the renewal letter are set ... read more ...
Thu 11th September 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Drops .Net and .Org Prices - Seesaw price changes head in a good direction. A week after increasing .net and .org domain registration prices, GoDaddy has dropped the price. This is the third price change in recent weeks. First, prices went up to $13.19 each. Then they shot up another $2.00 to $15.19. Now they are $11.19 each including fees. It’s clear that GoDaddy is testing pricing to see its effect on volume. My guess is the increase to $15.19 dropped new registrations and add-on sales ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker Drops .Com to $7.29 Ahead of Registry Fee Hikes - Moniker joins other registrars in “renew before the increase” promotions. Domain registrar Moniker has just cut the new registration and renewal price on .com domain names to $7.29 until the end of the month. Moniker joins other registrars in offering promotions prior to a wholesale price increase that goes into effect October 1. The current wholesale price of .com domains, including the ICANN fee, is $6.62. The price jumps to $7.06 on October 1. eNom is ... read more ...
Fri 5th September 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GoDaddy Jacks Up Domain Prices — Again - .Net and .Org prices jump to $15.19. Just a few days after we swallowed the news that GoDaddy increased .net and .org prices to 13.19, and a few weeks after the company claimed Yahoo “Jumped the Shark” by raising its domain prices to $35, GoDaddy has hiked prices again. .Net and .Org domain names will now set you back $15.19. It’s not as big of a deal as Yahoo’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) hike to $35, but it seems odd to call out a competitor for drastically raising ... read more ...