PALM BEACH, FL – Rahm Emanuel once said, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste.” I’d bet that’s been on the mind of ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, these last couple weeks, as President and CEO, Göran Marby, announced the organization has decided to move forward with its controversial twenty-million-dollar deal, many feel is nothing short of a bribe, with its latest renewal of the .com Registry Agreement with Verisign. … [Read more...]
Global Epidemic Will Lead To Unusually Good Time to Buy Domain Names
PALM BEACH, FL – If you have been sitting on the sidelines wishing you had gotten into domain names sooner, now will be a very good time to jump in. Why? Because its going to be a very good time to buy domains – even better than it’s been these last few years. Yes, many know that it has been a buyers’ market for a while now and it’s going to get even better (for new comers and buyers). Here are just a few reasons why it’s been a buyers’ market: Parking revenue … [Read more...]
Surgeon General Upset Young People Not Visiting “SurgeonGeneral.com” – Parked
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Coronavirus outbreak is nothing to joke about, so this short article is not intended to embarrass or make fun of the fact that the web address was misspoken; it is to point out that it keeps happening, and that even younger people continue to just assume that their website is a dot com, just on basic instinct. Eight minuet video embedded below via YouTube.com This morning, I was surprised to hear during a breaking news video on the TODAY show, … [Read more...]
Feds Take Down First Coronavirus Scam Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The world’s first web site taken down of a fraudulent Coronavirus scam has taken place – and in record time. On Sunday, the US Department of Justice announced it had shut down a website in connection with COVID-19, the disease caused by 2019 Novel Coronavirus. The site, CoronavirusMedicalKit.com, promised visitors a free vaccine from the World Health Organization (WHO) and shoppers needed only to pay shipping costs of $4.95 to receive their cure, … [Read more...]
Will Coronavirus Create Pandemic Volatility and Effect The Domain Name Industry?
PALM BEACH, FL - According to the CDC, the corona virus, now known as COVID-19, is expected to create a pandemic in the United States very soon. There are already cases in the Boston area which are being closely monitored with some people in quarantine. California has also seen its first case at the LAX airport. It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country … [Read more...]
Federal Government Rolls Out Authoritative “.Gov” Domain Message to Top of Websites
PALM BEACH, FL – Today, I noticed that visiting websites of the Federal Government, now include a statement helping users better identify if they are truly visiting a government operated site. The quick to see message on top of sites seems extremely helpful and will better educate visitors that “.Gov” is indeed official. It also mentions that the domain ending “.Mil” should be equally respected. The message is used in an expandable drop-down which includes the following … [Read more...]
Nonprofit “ICANN” Exists to Serve the Public Good, Or Does It? What Say You?
PALM BEACH, FL – An important awareness message came out of The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) today, and it should make, even the least interested shopper, question whether or not price increases to consumers are justified when an item or service is purchased from a company with specific oversight from an authoritative body. Whether it is over domain names, or anything else, the question should be, when does a company - any company, which is permitted to … [Read more...]
First Ever Crime-Fiction Story Based Entirely On An Internet Domain Name Released
PALM BEACH, FL – What do you do with a domain name you can’t sell? Well, one thing you could do is make a book or movie out of it. That is, if you believe the name can grab some attention. Such is what I did with Murder.net, a domain name I scooped up years ago for a few thousand dollars as I thought it was unique. A single generic word .net that is highly searched, but hard to monetize. The reason why selling the domain name for a profit has been unproductive. That’s … [Read more...]
Bad News for ICANN: Pressure Intensifies for Decision Behind .Org Price Cap Removals
PALM BEACH, FL – Sometimes they say “where there is smoke, there is fire,” and the room keeps getting hotter for ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, for its poor, super-controversial and extremely suspect decision to allow the Registry Agreement with Public Interest Registry to renew without price-caps in place. The whole situation is turning into a hot potato / can of worm’s scenario where -if- any backroom deals or funny business exists; … [Read more...]
NamesCon Live Auction List with 136 Domains and Auction Order Published
AUSTIN, TX - If you are interested in one or more domain names going up for auction starting today, January 30, 2020 between 4:30pm CST- 7:30pm Central Standard Time, a list has been released by Monte Cahn, President of RightOfTheDot for those names which will be included in the live event. If you are not in Austin but still want to bid on domains, RightOfTheDot’s Proxibid system will be the live bidding platform used for the event auction. The remaining names will … [Read more...]
NamesCon Global 2020 Domain Auction to Include Two “Good Cause” Domain Sales
PALM BEACH, FL – If you will be participating in the live domain auction which will take place Thursday, January 30 at the Omni Hotel (Downtown) in Austin Texas, you’ll have the chance to not only scoop up what will likely be some great domain deals, but you’ll also be able to help contribute with two sales having a portion of their proceeds benefiting domainers directions.com and toolchest.com. When the action begins at 4:30 pm Central Standard Time, you’ll want to … [Read more...]
DOJ Seizes Domain Used to Sell Access to Hacked Personal Info and Account Logins
WASHINGTON – Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice announced that they have seized the internet domain name weleakinfo.com. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu of the District of Columbia and Special Agent in Charge Timothy M. Dunham of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The website claimed to provide its users a search engine to review and obtain the personal information illegally obtained in over … [Read more...]
Wyden: “I Will Explore Every Avenue To Ensure Users, Nonprofits Are Protected”
PALM BEACH, FL - In the ongoing debacle which has highlighted ICANN's unusual position on the .org registry sale which resulted in the billion-dollar sale of .org to a private equity company, US Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) told The Register that the response from Ethos Capital to his and several of his colleges concerns regarding the sale .org - just isn't good enough. Ron Wyden is very active on issues involving internet freedom and has been called a hero for introducing … [Read more...]
Laundry List of Questions on .ORG Sale Delivered by Congress to Ethos, IS, PIR
PALM BEACH, FL – A letter signed off by four U.S representatives, one of which is presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, was delivered to Ethos Capital, Internet Society and Public Interest Registry posing a long list of questions regarding the future operation of the .org domain registry. The letter signed off by four United States Representatives, all democrats, sending questions about the proposed .org registry sale. Among these questions, is what guarantee will … [Read more...]
Keep In Mind, New gTLD “Buzz Factor” SEO Ranking Weakens Over Time; Use Best URL
PALM BEACH, FL – About a year and half ago in April of 2018, I wrote about an out-of-the-ordinary domain name sale when the new gTLD domain “Vacation.Rentals” changed hands for a little over ‘half a million’ in cash, supposedly. I still sort of question the sale as either authentic and insane - or completely bogus, intentionally and strategically planned to not only create industry buzz, but boost sales for nGTLDs. Either way, and it probably doesn't really mater … [Read more...]