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...]
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...]
Why Do My Search Results Look Different? “Determining Relevance Based On Users”
PALM BEACH, FL - Just because you see something in ‘search’ doesn’t mean someone else will see that same result. This is because more and more of the web, as well as the experience you receive on your mobile device – be it Netflix, YouTube, Amazon, Google, etc., is being influenced by your past search and browsing habits, as well as where you go and how valuable your visit might be, and/or how many times you might return for more - all of which are being done through various … [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...]
U.S. GDPR: The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Goes Into Effect January 2020
PALM BEACH, FL - The US's answer to European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), enacted in 2018, will create new consumer rights relating to the access to, deletion of, and sharing of personal information that is collected by businesses. It also requires California's Attorney General to solicit broad public participation and adopt regulations to further the CCPA's purposes. The proposed regulations will establish … [Read more...]
VPN.com Releases Promotional Sales Video for GEO Domain “SouthernCalifornia.com”
PALM BEACH, FL - Michael Gargiulo, best known for his acquisition of three-letter blockbuster domain VPN.com in which he is an “end-user” for his “VPN” business looks to have something else “pretty big” on the horizon; a domain name brokerage business. Although Gargiulo and I had talked before, I first learned of his brokerage business when I had the pleasure of meeting him “in-person” in Ashville at Rick Schwartz’s domain name gathering at The Omni Grove Park Inn (an … [Read more...]
How Google Became the Most Popular Search Engine; Eyes on Innovation
NEW YORK, NY – In the early 1990’s, the Internet was in its infancy. At that time, a great majority of information on this new and interesting "World Wide Web" was from colleges and universities. With the growth of this vast amount of information came interest in a better way for finding things which birthed some of the webs very first search engines, many of which you’ve likely never even heard of. Some who used the Internet at that time might be more likely to remember more … [Read more...]
What’s Next? Could Eminent Domain Be Used to Steal Your GEO Domain Name?
NEW YORK, NY – This will be a controversial subject for many if not all domain name owners, however, in light of the France.com domain seizure, every Geographic domain name ‘taking’ could be imminent. Sound insane? Read on. What’s Next? Could Eminent Domain Be Used to Steal Your GEO Domain Name? While researching how in the world this atrocity could have happened to the owner of France.com, (Jean-Noel Frydman), as a GEO domain name owner, I wanted to research the … [Read more...]
California.com Puts GEO Domains Back on the Map with “Mid-Seven Figure” Sale
NEW YORK, NY – According to Industry news site DNW.com, and a press release, the Iconic US State Name, California.com has been acquired, along with a group of related domain names, in the mid seven figure range. Not bad for a parked domain name. What is truly amazing about this sale, and near-every business broker will spin their head around about, is that the sale is for an asset by itself, a possible business at a great address, with NO BUILT IN REVENUE OR … [Read more...]
Supreme Court Win for Online Publishers
NEW YORK, NY - California’s Supreme Court has ruled that online review website Yelp can not be legally forced to take down libellous reviews, signalling a clear win for online publishers who allow user feedback, comments and reviews of businesses on their platforms. The ruling was related to a case on the books known as Hassell v. Bird, where Judge Donald Sullivan ordered Yelp to remove a users review of a law firm from the Yelp website. Yelp appealed to the Supreme … [Read more...]
Insane: France Seizes Geographic Domain Name France.com with Help from Web.com
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...]
Google Will Pay $22M in Class Action Involving Ads on Parked Domains
NEW YORK, NY – I received an email this morning alerting me that I may be a member of class action suit where Google Inc. will pay $22,500,000.00 in a class action settlement sometime after July 27th of this year. The case is named in the email notification as “In Re Google AdWords Litigation, No. 5:08-cv-03369-EJD” The suit alleged Google failed to disclose to millions of advertisers participating in Google’s AdWords program that it placed ads on sites without developed … [Read more...]