NEW YORK - An unprecedented theft has occurred in the domain space as the European Country of France has stolen the Internet domain name France.com from its owner, who according to a lawsuit filed this month in California "has lawfully owned and used the domain name in commerce since 1994." Although Networks Solutions (Web.com) is not party to the lawsuit, it seems they would be guilty of gross misconduct in my opinion and should also be sued for transferring the … [Read more...]
If You Didn’t Already Know, Facebook.com Was Sold for Just $200,000 in 2005
NEW YORK, NY – Way back in 2005, the huge social networking website known today as ‘Facebook’ began getting serious and received its first financial investment from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Shortly thereafter, the dorm room social project which began as TheFacebook.com, recognized the need for a shorter and better domain name, dropping the word “The” and becoming simply Facebook.com – the cost was $200,000.00. When asked in 2009 by a TechCrunch interviewer, what he … [Read more...]
You ‘Need Not’ Register A Domain to Keep Your Company ‘Tag Line’ or Slogan Safe
NEW YORK, NY – You might not need to bother registering a domain name to keep your brands tag line or slogan safe from violators – at least, that must be the general consensus within the industry as nearly none of the 200 company slogans and tag lines I’ve examined have done so. To my surprise, just a few have thought that registering their catchy phrase in a .com name is worthwhile. Below are a few of the companies which have their tag lines and trademark terms registered … [Read more...]
World Not Ready to Lose Access to ‘WhoIs’
NEW YORK, NY – There has been so much back and forth about the loss of ‘Who Is’ data that its been difficult to fully keep up on it. The ordinary availability of this critical industry information is expected to cease next month on May 25, 2018 when the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) becomes fully enforceable (it already went into effect this year but there is no recourse till May 25). However, today I received a meaningful update from the Internet Commerce … [Read more...]
Sedo.com Releases Weekly Domain Name Sales List 04/09/2018 – 04/15/2018
NEW YORK, NY – Just released is Sedo’s weekly sales list, a weekly list of public transactions above $2,000. This weeks highlights included the top .com sold as Stelline.com at $20,000 USD, the top ccTLD as Ilmiotappeto.it at 5,450 EUR and the top other as Penta.org at 5,000 USD. Here is the entire list for Sedo.com sales from 04/09/2018 - 04/15/2018. Domain … [Read more...]
Why I Purchased a New .Digital gTLD Domain
NEW YORK - Earlier this year I created a new company called Cars Digital Inc., a marketing company which specializes in advertising for used car dealers. As soon as I had realized that a new gTLD “.digital” domain name was available, I checked to see if “Cars.Digital” was already taken - and saw that it indeed was, so there was really nothing I could do about that and moved on with my daily routine. I had already registered the corporation and secured the .com domain name … [Read more...]
Call for Donuts to Release Proof of Original “Record Breaking” gTLD Sale in Late 2017
NEW YORK – With another ‘out of the ordinary’ new Generic Domain Name sale publicly announced by Donuts Inc. for Vacation.Rentals (reportedly acquired for $500,300.00 in an all-cash deal) this becomes their second earth-shattering alternative-dot transaction in the last twelve months of which many will agree, appears to be sent straight from the heavens above. In fact, all of their employees should vacate the Kirkland, Washington premises immediately and purchase lottery … [Read more...]
The Birth of ICANN: “The Green Paper”
NEW YORK - In 1997, the United States government under then President Clinton began processes to remove its control over the Domain Name System by creating research and dialog on how control of domain names and IP addresses should be handled in the future - by a non-profit organization in the private sector. This resulted in a document which has become known as "The Green Paper" originally named "A Proposal to Improve the Technical Management of Internet Names and … [Read more...]
Sedo.com Releases Weekly Domain Name Sales List 04/02/2018 – 04/08/2018
NEW YORK, NY – Just released is Sedo’s weekly sales list, a weekly list of public transactions above $2,000. This weeks highlights included the top .com sold as Closers.com at $50,000 US, the top ccTLD as Network.co.uk at 9,800 GBP and the top other as Live.casino at 24,500 GBP. Here is the entire list for Sedo.com sales from 04/02/2018 – 04/08/2018. Domain … [Read more...]
Is Dominion Registries Having Trouble Selling Their New Alternative Dots?
NEW YORK - According to a press release by Dominion Registries, a division of Dominion Enterprises, the company is removing a long list of previously implemented registrant eligibility verification restrictions for its new gTLD industry-specific domain extensions which consist of .AUTOS, .BOATS, .HOMES, .MOTORCYCLES and .YACHTS. The changes will be made this year, beginning first with .BOATS, which is now available to anyone at all, for just about any reason, defined … [Read more...]
Battle to Take-down Backpage.com Ends in Seizure, Criminal Indictments of Ownership
NEW YORK – A long-time battle to remove Backpage.com from the Internet has ended with the indictments of ownership and government seizure of its domain Backpage.com, which hosted a popular online classifieds site similar to Craigslist which allegedly was used heavily by escorts and massage providers far-bending the envelope between casual encounters, prostitution and human trafficking, according to investigators. Since 2010, Backpage.com has come under fire for its alleged … [Read more...]
Clever: Radix Bolsters New gTLD Adoption Through Sponsored Startups, Buzz, Goodies
NEW YORK - They say that 'money talks and bullshit walks' (at least that is what my father used to say) and no-one likely knows this better than domain registry Radix, who maintains and operates several new catchy gTLD domain endings such as .tech and .online. Since 2016, Radix has been helping startup companies by putting a little money where their mouth is and providing new startups sponsorship covering sometimes as much as 100% of their expenses for exhibit booth fees and … [Read more...]
An Unbiased New gTLD Case Study is Coming; Not Sponsored, Supported or in Anyway Influenced by Any Registry
NEW YORK - I'll have an interesting new gTLD case study coming in the next few days to a week or so. It’s going to be great, because I think it’s going to work. I think the position of the website in Google is going to improve greatly by doing nothing else but changing the URL to a new keyword rich gTLD. If I'm wrong I will have wasted another $150 on gTLDs, but either way I will learn and so will you. Now if you follow my updates you will be aware that I am usually more of … [Read more...]
Ad Revenue Down? Here’s the Latest Things That Could Be Affecting Your Revenue
NEW YORK – You might say that declining ad revenue is becoming a typical part of the business; if you feel like you are constantly trying to find new ways to build both revenue and traffic on your domains while increasing the number of channels and ad networks you rely on, you’re far from alone. Publisher revenues are being squeezed across the board, and while sometimes you might even feel that the more web traffic you build, the less it pays out – you’re probably correct in … [Read more...]
Removing WhoIs Data from Public View Only Removes Transparency from the Net
NEW YORK – There has been no shortage of Data Privacy Leaks in the world; it almost seems like there is a new one every day. However, removing the public registration data behind all domain name registrations makes no-one any safer, and only adds more obscurity and complications to the business for those who buy, sell and trade online, and not just in domains. It’s more a solution that’s looking far-and-wide for its problem. For instance, when someone registers a domain … [Read more...]