Disney Enterprises,the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world submitted a complaint to the National Arbitration Forum,requesting dealsdisney.info to be transferred to them .
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
Program is intended to encourage companies and organizations to share their ideas for the development of .ME premium names.
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
Sedo,the leading online marketplace for buying and selling domain names and websites announced another five figure sale : admedia.com ,sold for $50,000 .
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
A few days ago,Rick Latona announced that he and his partners are thinking to rename their company Cyberspace.com .
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority, which administers the dot-ca domain name, held its AGM this week.
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
According to the Internet Commerce Association (the ICA), the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) proposal, will NOT be included in the third version of the Draft Applicant Guidebook for new gTLDs to be released by ICANN in the first week of October.
According to the ICA the disclosure came in the testimony of ICANN’s COO Doug Brent, at a hearing on “The Expansion of Top level Domains and Its Effect on Competition” held last week by the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy.
In its posting on its site, the ICA states:
While some of the IRT recommendations will appear in the next GuideBook, such as: “the “thick” Whois information proposal (the requirement that a registry maintain and offer Whois information in a centralized way), and a dispute mechanism for use after a registry has been created” the URS will not be.
Even if you have no interest in the new gTLD’s, this decision is very important to domain holders, as ICANN already stated the URS proposal was going to apply to current domain names including .com’s
If you are not familiar with the URS proposal, you should check out some of our other posts on this important issue
Of course the URS could come back at us at some point in a later GuideBook or as a separate proposal.
This is just another example of why I continue to be a strong supporter of the ICA and urge all domain holder to at least spend a few hundred bucks and become a member.
Once again the ICA is the only organization lobbying on behalf of domain owners.
Let me remind you that trademark holders that didn’t think the URS was strong enough.
The ICA was also instrumental in defeating the Snowe Bill a proposed law that would criminalized domain ownership.
The other interesting development coming out of last week as noted by the ICA, is that ICANN and the US Government have come to an agreement in which the US will give up some control over ICANN to the “World Internet Community”.
We predicted this would happen in our post of our predictions for 2009.
The ICA states on its site:
“”” The Economist reported, that a new agreement of unlimited duration will be announced in which the U.S. cedes some of its authority over ICANN to the “Internet community”. Indeed, we have just received an invitation to an ICANN graduation party to be held on October 1st at the Altitude Ballroom/Rooftop Terrace of the posh new W Hotel in downtown Washington “to recognize the conclusion of the Joint Project Agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce and to acknowledge ICANN’s continuing responsibilities to Internet users globally”. We shall wait to read the reportedly 4-page “Affirmation of Commitments” (let’s dub it the AOC, since everything ICANN requires its own acronym) but we suspect its wording will allow ICANN to argue to foreign regimes that it has been set free from U.S. control, while telling Congress that the U.S. retains a special and timeless relationship. Unfortunately, the greater oversight role that it reportedly carves out for foreign governments will likely translate into ICANN’s ostensible private sector leadership yielding some ground to multinational politics.””””
You should check out the full post of the ICA on their site, as there is a lot of important information.
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
As we all surf around the net, in search of the next great domain to acquire, you come across those domains that you just shake your head at in disbelieve that someone would use a great domain in such a fashion.
So we are starting an award for the “Worst Use Of A Great Domain”
So here is our pick for this years award:
You will have to click on it to see what I mean.
Why is Justin.com a great domain?
Well for one, there is the hugely successful Justin.tv, maybe the most famous and most visited .tv site in the world.
Then you add the fact that one of the most popular and most search celebrities in the world is Justin Timberlake.
Finally the domain Justin.com is listed on the first page of Google under the keyword Justin.
I’m sure you have your own nominee for the “Worst Use Of A Great Domain”.
Parked domains are not eligible.
Why?
Although most parked page would be make better sites, at least they are making money.
Place your nominations below
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
In a recent 4 week period, I was up and down the I-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando, several times a week.
I noticed as a “industry” no one group advertises on billboards more than lawyers.
More than 1/2 of the billboards I saw didn’t even have a domain name on the billboard.
The billboards almost all had phone numbers, 99% of which I still can’t remember even having seen the boards several times a day.
The billboards which did have a URL with rare exception used a domain name containing the law firm’s name.
Billboards along I-4 especially around the amusement parks rent for $5K a month.
There was one firm, which after several boards using the domain overchuck.com
It took me until the third week of seeing the boards, before I could actually remember the domain overchuck.com , and even then it was just because it sounded like a medial condition, where you throw up too much.
Why do I care?
Because I own a ton of very good lawyer generic broad based domains, like Triallawyers.com and Geo lawyer domains like OrlandoDivorceAttorney.com.
We sell a few a year, but very few considering all the lawyer domains we own, and get very few inquiries on them.
So why a law firm would spend $60K a year or more on a billboard space, but doesn’t spend $20K on memorable domain like OrlandoBankruptcyAttorneys.com?
It just blows my mind.
And makes me want to chuck.
Or should I say Overchuck
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
It’s becoming very frustrating for domainers to know what the status of the law is regarding UDRP’s, as decisions are all over the place an seem to have little consistency.
In a decision released today, Porsche the car maker, filed a UDRP on the domains porscheexperience.com and porscheguides.com.
The owner of the domain according to the facts, offered to sell the domains to Porsche for 5,000 euro’s. or around $7,500 at today’s exchange rates.
Despite offering to sell the domains to the trademark holder, the Sole Panelist found no bad faith existed on the domain holders part, saying:
“””The Respondents …. did not register (the domains) primarily for the purpose of sale, even though the Respondents subsequently offered to sell them for a substantial price to the Complainant.”””
Say What??
The panelist went on to say:
“””Although the Complainant’s mark has a very high reputation, it does not follow that any use of it in a domain name would be in bad faith for the purpose of the Policy.””
One of the domains, porscheexperience.com was used by the domain holder to promote a e-book on Porsche Cars, at some point, but when the complaint was filed neither domain was resolving or being used by the domain holder in any manner.
It was at this point Porsche demanded the domains be transferred to it at which point the domain holder told Porsche to buy it from him.
So domainers, I share your frustration with UDRP’s.
I have seen cases where non use has been held to be bad faith.
I have seen a ton of cases where once the domain holder offers to sell the domain to the trademark holder for anything more than registration costs, the domain holder loses.
Here the domain holder wins.
Here’ the frosting on the cake, the domain holder didn’t even respond to the complaint.
About 10 days ago, in response to post about another UDRP decision, I had many domainers tell me, if you don’t respond to a UDRP, your’e going to lose.
So I’m totally confused on how any UDRP will be decided.
The lack on reliance on any one case to the next and total inconsistency in rulings, leaves us all vulnerable to UDRP’s which seems to now be giving everyone a “gamblers chance” for a win or loss.
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
According to the Wall Street Journal, Twitter is about to get another $100 million from investors.
The new money is coming from mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price, private equity firm Insight Venture Partners, and existing Twitter investors Spark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners.
After the funding, Twitter will be valued at about $1 billion.
The $100 million investment is twice as much as Twitter had been expected.
The participation of T. Rowe Price, a mutual fund is quite surprising and indicates to many that Twitter maybe bought in the near future by a Google, Yahoo or Time Warner or or become a publicly held company, through an IPO.
Do I need to remind you that Twitter is only a couple of years old.
Posted under Domain Parking, Domain Registrars, Domain Sales, Domain Services
This post was written by Andrew on September 28, 2009
