The smartest domainers of the past decade Rather than complain about outside forces destroying their business, they grabbed the bull by the horns. The past decade has been one of ups and downs for domain name investors. Domain parking busted around the same time the overall economy imploded. Domain values faced downward pressure as investors no longer had rich parking profit...
Domain Name Wire - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - 11:45
Expired domain guru wanted to write for DNW Are you an expired domain junkie? Do you follow and actively participate in expired domain auctions at NameJet, SnapNames, and (perhaps) even GoDaddy auctions? Do you also enjoy writing? Domain Name Wire is seeking someone to write a weekly expired domain article that covers both recent sales as well as hot domains coming up in [R...
Domain Name Wire - Monday, April 14, 2014 - 17:21
WTF: No reverse domain hijacking if you try to buy domain first Panelist says no reverse domain name hijacking because domain owner didn’t respond to purchase inquiries. Today’s “WTF, why isn’t this reverse domain name hijacking” case comes courtesy of panelist Alistair Payne and Czech Arbitration Court (CAC). The case was filed by the proprietor of French trademarks...
Domain Name Wire - Monday, April 14, 2014 - 15:9
CTIA kills Amazon.com’s bid for .mobile domain name International Chamber of Commerce decision eliminates Amazon.com’s plans to run the .mobile top level domain name. CTIA, a trade group representing mobile phone carriers, has successfully objected to Amazon.com’s application to run the .mobile top level domain name domain name. CTIA filed Community Objections against appl...
Domain Name Wire - Monday, April 14, 2014 - 10:36
Wolfram doesn’t use computation in URS dispute A lot of brain power missed the connection. Wolfram Research, Inc. has lost a Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) case for mathematica.guru and wolfram.ceo, and the case is noteworthy for a couple reasons. First, the domain names were owned by two different people. One of the whois records has privacy on it, and companies often file [R...
Domain Name Wire - Monday, April 14, 2014 - 10:3
Sedo hacked over the weekend Intrusion resulted in confirmation emails sent to a “small number” of customers. Sedo was compromised over the weekend due to a security hole. This resulted in a number of registered Sedo users, including myself, receiving an email asking them to confirm their account. The confirmation email started: Dear Andrew, Thank yo...
Domain Name Wire - Monday, April 14, 2014 - 9:32
Uniregistry Whois tells you why a domain isn’t available Whois explains if domain is on name collision list. One of the most frustrating challenges of pre-registering new top level domain names is having the registrar return a search “not available”. You end up asking yourself “why isn’t it available?” The first instinct is to blame the registry for holding ba...
Domain Name Wire - Friday, April 11, 2014 - 15:25
Dune.com hit with UDRP Generic word targeted with UDRP filing. The generic domain name Dune.com has been hit with a UDRP at World Intellectual Property Organization. The case was filed by Dune Holdings Limited, a London-based seller of shoes and accessories. The company uses the web address DuneLondon.com, so it’s no wonder that it wants the shorter ...
Domain Name Wire - Friday, April 11, 2014 - 12:3
Famous Four submits .Sport reconsideration request…with Ombudsman’s support Ombudsman recommends new panelist hear .sport community objection. I haven’t written about many new TLD objection appeals (reconsideration requests) because there are so many and few have a chance of succeeding. But a recent one from Famous Four Media (pdf) for .sport is unique: ICANN’s Ombudsman has supported the company...
Domain Name Wire - Friday, April 11, 2014 - 10:8
More new TLD auctions on tap, and Uniregistry appears to be participating Private auctions taking place later this month. With the start of ICANN’s “Auctions of Last Resort” quickly approaching, some new top level domain applicants are working on last minute contention set resolutions. Minds + Machines Group Limited (AIM: MMX), the band formerly known as Top Level Domain Holdings, says it...
Domain Name Wire - Friday, April 11, 2014 - 9:30
21 end user domain name sales up to $39,200 Afternic’s strong week included a number of large end user domain name sales. Afternic and GoDaddy combined to sell over $2 million worth of domain names last week. Here’s a look at some of the domain names that were purchased by end users. You can view previous end user sales lists here. TailLights.com $39,200 – [&...
Domain Name Wire - Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 14:5
Money talks, and Verisign is doing a good job quashing new TLDs Marketing programs help .com get top billing, but other registrars can play this game too. New top level domain names represent a growth opportunity for domain name registrars, many of which have seen domain registrations plateauing over the past year. That’s why 1&1 spent $50 million promoting new top level domain pre-reg...
Domain Name Wire - Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 11:18
Next week is colorful for new TLDs: 5 Schillings, Afilias colors, and a bit of buzz Lots of new domains enter general availability next week, and only two of them are from Donuts. Only two of Donuts’ new top level domain names enter their “true” general availability phase next week. It will still be a big week for new TLDs as other applicants launch domains. April 15 .Buzz gets buzzing on […]
Domain Name Wire - Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 10:29
Ready to .Party: Famous Four wins contention set for .party domain Famous Four uncorks the bubbly as it seals deal for .Party top level domain name. Famous Four Media has resolved its contention set with Oriental Trading Company for the .party top level domain name. The agreement was made through private negotiations; not an auction. Financial details were not disclosed. Famous Four Media now has 13...
Domain Name Wire - Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 9:23
Verisign: 271 million domain names registered Universe of registered domain names slowing ticking upward. Verisign has resumed publishing its Domain Name Industry Brief, a report it used to publish quarterly. The company reports (pdf) that there were 271 million domain names registered as of December 31 across all top level domain names. That’s a 1.9% increase over the pre...
Domain Name Wire - Wednesday, April 9, 2014 - 16:51
Best WHOIS email address. Ever. One domain owner is making a clear statement with his email address. I was going through Afternic’s weekly sales list to prepare this week’s end user sales list when I came upon a very long email address in a WHOIS record: Do_not_contact_unless_6_figure_offer(at)ImmersiveGames.com * Well, that’s one way to prevent l...
Domain Name Wire - Wednesday, April 9, 2014 - 16:18
Last chance: please take the 2014 Domain Name Wire Survey Survey closes next week. The Domain Name Wire survey will officially close on April 15. If you haven’t taken 5 minutes to complete it yet, I’d appreciate you doing it today. This year’s survey is different from the past 8 years. The survey asks about the domain business, domain parking, registrars, etc., but without...
Domain Name Wire - Wednesday, April 9, 2014 - 12:50
How domain registrars and merchants accept Bitcoin without currency risk Several companies make it easier to accept digital currencies with reduced risk. I’ve always wondered how companies like Overstock.com and NameCheap.com accept bitcoin payments while avoiding the risk of an exchange dying (e.g. Mt. Gox) and currency fluctuations. I got the answer last week when I ran in to Jessica Besseling at ...
Domain Name Wire - Wednesday, April 9, 2014 - 11:26
Another 0-for-18 with new TLDs I tried to register 18 new domains today. I failed once again. Five more of Donuts’ new top level domain names revert to standard pricing today — .florist, .solar, .coffee, .house, and .international. I came up with 18 domains that I thought might be worth registering in these new extensions. Regrettably, I went 0-for-18....
Domain Name Wire - Wednesday, April 9, 2014 - 10:27
17 end user domain sales up to $24,000 Kim DotCom’s Mega among end user domain name buyers. I’m still playing catch-up, so these are end user sales from the list Sedo sent last week. You can view previous end user sales lists here. HomeLane.com $24,000 – HomeVista Decor and Furnishings in Bangalore. Mega.io $10,000 – Kim DotCom’s Mega CruxEng...
