NEW YORK, NY - The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) joined Domain Sherpa this week to let viewers know about the organization and exactly what it is, what it collectively does and who’s involved. The segment stated out with Kamila Sekiewicz, Executive Director, who introduced the board of directors and a little about the organization basically stating that it is an “essential organization” for the domain industry, which seems well put and accurate if you ask me. The mic … [Read more...]
Will .COM Domains Get More Expensive with Expiration of “Cooperative Agreement”?
LONG ISLAND, NY – The “Cooperative Agreement” between NTIA (The National Telecommunications and Information Administration ) and Verisign includes a price-cap on .com domain names, however, this agreement must be renewed by November 30, 2018. This means that sometime very soon the price you pay for all of your .com domain registrations and their renewals may be raised, and there is no telling how much this increase might be. The NTIA, an agency of the U.S. Department of … [Read more...]
Donuts Acquisition of BudURL Makes Good Use of New Top Level Domain Names
NEW YORK, NY – Donuts Inc, the company behind hundreds of new domain name extensions has acquired a link shortening service formally known as BudURL, and rebranded it as BL.INK. The service had been around for ten years and was founded by Andy Meadows. The acquisition took place sometime in 2017 according to a company press release, yet Donuts had been operating it in “stealth mode” quietly building in key features which will enhance the services ability to customize URLs … [Read more...]
Will Internet Remain Safe Place to Invest and Conduct Business in Years to Come?
NEW YORK – Back in 2016, the ICA, (The Internet Commerce Association) asked me a very important question; they asked what I thought would be some of the biggest challenges the domain industry would face in the coming years. While some might answer that question with suggestions about the difficulties new gTLDs may bring toward branding, or monetization strategies with domain parking from declining CPCs, my answer was likely very - very different than most domainers. This … [Read more...]
After 18 Years of UDRP, ICA Says, Time for Discussion, Re-evaluation, Improvements
NEW YORK – Back in 1999, ICANN adopted the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”) and its related Rules (the "UDRP Rules") for the resolution of certain limited kinds of domain name disputes between registrants and third parties, i.e. abusive registration of domain names, otherwise known as “cybersquatting”, which is the practice of registering a domain name in bad faith. The ICA, (“The Internet Commerce Association”) believes that although the UDRP process has largely … [Read more...]
Behind The Scenes: Sometimes Good Stuff Is Happening That You Should Know About
NEW YORK, NY - Imagine if you had your super premium domain name stolen from you, legally, and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it - and nothing you could have done to prevent it, because you never actually did anything wrong in the first place? Holy Smokes; Sounds Terrible Right? Here is the Scenario. You register a domain name for a unique word or phrase which is not currently in use. There are no current sites using the word, no trademarks on the term, and … [Read more...]
Episode 128 of Domain Name Wire Features Internet Commerce Board Member
NEW YORK, NY - This week, listening to the Domain Name Wire podcast (Episode #128), not only will you find out all about what’s happening in the domain space recently, but you’ll also have the opportunity to listen to a board member, Zak Muscovitch, discuss what exactly the Internet Commerce Association is and why it exists. “For the Interest of Domain Name Investors and Domain Name Owners” That’s basically what the ICA is, according to Muscovitch. DNW host Andrew … [Read more...]
Sometimes You Just Cannot Have the .com Name That You Want; Now Move On
It’s aggravating to find frivolous lawsuits such as one I will talk about today where someone fighting for a domain just doesn’t get it. The single thing that takes a negative situation like this and shows some positive light is when you find that there are good - no great people such as David E. Weslow (handling the case pro-bono) and organizations like the Internet Commerce Association (how I found out about this) which help tilt the scale in the other direction. Situations … [Read more...]
Comment Period Closing on .US Premium Domain Name and Privacy Plan Proposals
Now could be a very good time to pick up a few solid .US domain names just in case, or in preparation for, what could become a landslide increase in the use and demand for the domain extension ending in “.us” for the United States. NEW YORK, NY – Neustar, the registry which manages the .us domain name extension, is seeking public comment on a recommendation that it should release one and two character domain names (previously held) as well as consider certain domains as … [Read more...]