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 Is Web Site Hosting and Why Do I Need It? Seems Like A Monthly Rip Off
NEW YORK – Once in a while I come across a person, customer or prospect that doesn’t understand what website hosting is and why they might have to pay for it. They seem to feel that hosting is some unknown, unexplained add-on which seems confusing at best or a rip-off at worst. The particular people seem to think a website just 'exists' out there on the Inter-webs or are somehow part of the World Wide Web; they have trouble understanding what website hosting is and why … [Read more...]
Domains and Divorce, Are You Prepared for Your Domain Assets to Come Under Fire?
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – This is a very personal post today with thoughts you might find surprising, however, one thing that readers of my site will always get is honesty, good, bad, or ugly; you’re going to have the opportunity to read through the details of my experience on the web – with whatever it may be – and those who read these articles have come to expect and respect my honesty and thoughts where sharing my real world experience on the Internet and within circles of … [Read more...]
ICA Lays Ground for Compelling Argument Even the Most Bias of Opinion Cannot Deny
NEW YORK, NY – Two things happened on November 1, 2018, when the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it would renew its Cooperative Agreement with Verisign while removing price caps on fees it charges registries: Verisign’s stock (VRSN) shot up $25 per share in a single day (then levelling off at still a healthy gain), Verisign came out blasting domain industry participants, calling them “Domain Scalpers” near suggesting that … [Read more...]
Domain Name ‘Bill of Rights’ Proposed by Global Domain Name Registrar Uniregistry
NEW YORK, NY – This past week, the man who virtually created the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee, spoke about his “Contract for the Web” initiative; something he believes is fundamental to ensure a protected, free and open Internet for all of society. Early backers of the initiative, which can be viewed at ContractForTheWeb.org, include notable support from some of the webs largest innovators such as Google.com, Facebook.com, Craig Newmark (Founder of Craigslist.org), the W3C … [Read more...]
Alphabet Releases App to Prevent DNS Manipulation, Deter Online Censorship
NEW YORK, - Google’s Alphabet has released a new Android app called “Intra” which prevents “DNS manipulation”, a process used often by ISPs to redirect invalid domain name resolution to their own version of branded search results, usually accompanied by search engine ads – when used nefariously, it is also a tactic of hackers who steal and redirect users to phishing sites or to otherwise dupe them into downloading viruses and spyware. The app is made available by a company … [Read more...]
Domain Sherpa Welcomes ICA with Segment on Groups’ Important Work
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 Google’s Instant Answers Threaten, Even Destroy, Search Giant’s Future
LONG ISLAND, NY – This is a theoretical opinion and is far from fact, but I thought about it today and I’m going to share it with my readers, as I ordinarily do here on this site, a place where my thoughts about the Internet, meet the Internet itself - and my ramblings are meant, not just to entertain, or act as some therapeutic outlet, but to help form options, influence discussion, create dialog and educate. Today, we will touch on something that is a growing problem for … [Read more...]
Rand Fishkin: If I Could Go Back to 1991 and Get Any Name, I Would Grab Porn.com
NEW YORK – Rand Fiskin, the original founder of Moz.com, has gone out on his own new venture called “Spark Toro”, using the domain name, SparkToro.com. Lucky him, he’s fairly accurate when he said it is a decent name you can easily remember, proven to me by the fact that I did not need to go look it up (again); I did in fact remember it a day later as I write this article, but in full disclosure, I typed it in Google’s search box yesterday while watching the video and I … [Read more...]
Internet Sales Tax Law Could Change This June; Decision on South Dakota v. Wayfair
NEW YORK - The U.S. Supreme Court will make a critical decision in the coming weeks that could give states the right to tax small businesses on the Internet. What is being decided is whether or not a decision from 1992 should be upheld in a new case, which prevents States form being able to tax, audit or regulate businesses and individuals that do not reside in their state (Ex: online businesses, who are located elsewhere but do transact business in a state). If the … [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...]
In Wake of France Domain Theft, Geo .COM Name Space Owners Question Future?
NEW YORK - If you had not yet heard, the mega GEO domain “France.com” was recently ‘acquired’ by the European Country of France. Acquired can be a tricky word as the domain asset was, in this case, acquired through what I call an ‘unprecedented theft’ while readers commented that this event is likely the ‘biggest story in domaining during the last 20 years’, and I tend to agree; surprising there isn’t more Internet chatter on the subject. Coincidently, I’ve also noticed some … [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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
GDPR: The Entering of a New Era; User Data Privacy and Protection; Are You Ready?
NEW YORK, NY – The clock is counting down on a new set of rules to be enforced this May, which will affect not only UK based businesses, but all businesses operating in the digital realm, in the event they handle user data from UK based residents, to near any extent. There is a lot of preparation going on right now, and has been over the last year, in anticipation of these new rules. Some businesses may even disappear altogether. I for one, actually shut-down and sold-off … [Read more...]
Internet Veteran, Nat Cohen Discusses His Experience and the ICA with NamePros
NEW YORK, NY – Nat Cohen, an Internet entrepreneur who began his 20+ year journey in domain investing back in 1997, sat with popular domain name forum NamePros.com in a video interview conducted by domaining community speaker and moderator Braden Pollack which took place at the industry’s largest event, NamesCon in Las Vegas this past January. Worth mentioning, over 1,400 people from all around the globe gathered at this year’s event. In the interview, Nat goes into great … [Read more...]
Liking, No, Loving Uniregistry Domain Marketplace, Brokers, Little Bit More
NEW YORK, NY – The wonderful power of the Internet; when things go wrong it allows a venue to vent, warn, enlighten, even bitch and moan some, if and when deemed necessary. Yet, when things go right, you get to openly commend, educate, share, etc.. Today I have the delightful opportunity to share my positive experience with Uniregistry and their relentless domain brokers there, as I believe in giving credit where credit is due. If you have been reading my updates you're … [Read more...]
Publication with Intent to Deceive; Where Does the Wild Wild West Draw the Line?
NEW YORK, NY - First of all, I am the last one that wants to create more rules and regulations for the Internet. As a publisher of both print and digital assets, I value greatly the right to free speech and the freedom of expression, but a problem is brewing out there and it is brewing right before us. It's a pretty serious problem and one that reveals itself as a combination of fake news and what I would consider publication with intent to deceive. Let me explain... We … [Read more...]
False Narrative: The Never Ending Battle to Steal Your ‘Free and Open Internet’
NEW YORK - Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is suggesting that Facebook pay news organizations for the stories posted on its platform. How typical. Rather than news organizations having to innovate to keep up and remain relevant, competitive and profitable, just steal from others innovation. There has been a lot of buzz lately about fake news stories being found on Facebook and Google and traditional media is passing the blame onto these websites for allowing people to share and … [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...]
