Domain News

Aftermarket.com released a short list of some of the domain names that they will be auctioning at the TRAFFIC Down Under show on November 20th (November 19th for us in North America) in Queensland, Australia.   The list of the domains released today is below.  The company announced earlier that they would be focusing on an auction with 100 “competitively priced” domains and will be including a minimum of 25 .com.au domains. The auction will also have 50% of the inventory sold with no reserve price.

• Refrigerate.com
• Veg.as
• StartingCapital.com
• Somehow.com
• Southwest.asia
• Camp.com.au
• MyVision.com
• 2o.com
• Exhilarating.com
• Saws.com
• Hunting.com.au
• DownloadIt.com
• Enter.com.au

Disclosure : DNN.com editor Adam Strong works with DomainConsultant which is assisting with the selection of the TRAFFIC Down Under Aftermarket.com auction inventory.

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Original post by Frank Michlick

Tucows (AMEX:TCX,TSX:TC), one of the first software download sites on the internet (and also a wholesale registrar), has announced the launch of Butterscotch.com, a new online video network offering instructional shows and technology tutorials for the average consumer.

The Fall lineup includes a wide variety of shows that will help make technology fun and easy to understand including “A-List”, a show about the top viral videos; “Miss Download”, a show that highlights the best file downloads available; “Lab Rats”, a wild tech advice show that currently has over 150,000 downloads; “The Noob”, a show aimed at beginners; and more.

“We’re proud of Butterscotch.com’s Fall lineup of technology shows and look forward to adding more content that will wow and educate viewers about technology,” said Andy Walker, the General Manager of Butterscotch.com. “We’ve expanded on what Tucows.com is all about and continue to provide fantastic content to help consumers fully enjoy the benefits of technology and how it fits into their every-day lives.”

The site recently launched with 35 video tutorials and plans to have over 500 clips by next spring.

[via Newswire.ca]

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Original post by Chad Kettner

The igen.com auction at NameJet is currently at $100,000 USD and ends in 1 hour. Recent high-price auctions for Vida.com (75k) and lets.com were re-auctioned again on NameJet (as reported by TheDomains), after the original buyers backed out.

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Original post by Frank Michlick

Tucows (AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC) has sold its 7.38% stake in Afilias, a domain name registry, back to the company for $7.4 million.

The $7.4 million will be paid to Tucows in three cash installments over the next 13 months: $3.2 million today, $2.1 million in June 2009, and $2.1 million in December 2009. The sale puts Afilias’ total value at approximately $100 million.

“This sale is another step in our stated goal to divest non-core assets in order to unlock hidden value for shareholders,” explained Elliot Noss, President and CEO of Tucows Inc. “The proceeds of the sale provide additional funds that will be used to fund further share repurchases.”

Tucows also recently sold off its web hosting business and launched a website to sell some of its domain names.

[via DomainNameWire]

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Original post by Chad Kettner

KillerStartups.com, a premier Internet startup blog which receives over 1.5M visitors per month, has purchased Startups.com and plans to use the site as a hub for startup-related websites offering quality content and services.

In 1998 Startups.com, founded by Donna Jensen-Madier, was a venture-backed accelerator which would partner with other startup companies to help them get started. Their services included real estate planning, interior design, technology infrastructure, telecommunications, legal and accounting, payroll, benefits and staffing, insurance, marketing, event launches, and more! Some of their clients included Google, Epinions, and GuruNet (now Answers.com). The company eventually faded and went out of business in 2002 due to the dot-com bust.

Thankfully, Jensen-Madier held on to the domain name knowing it could be used for a great business opportunity in the future. By selling the Startups.com domain name to KillerStartups, she will also serve on the advisory board of the Startups.com Network.

KillerStartups has received angel funding from Matias de Tezanos. De Tezanos is a domain developer from Guatemala who has built a remarkable domain empire from scratch. His portfolio of internet startups includes ClickDiario.com, HealthCare.com, and Hoteles.com. DN Journal had a great feature story on de Tezanos a few years ago.

Startups.com Network plans to launch several startup-related sites by the end of 2008 and is actively seeking more sites to acquire. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

[via TheDomains]

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Original post by Chad Kettner

After DNForum launched a special forum in July where users could list expiring domains from their portfolio that they were not planning on renewing, Domaining.com has launched ExpiringDomains.com yesterday. The service allows you to list domain names from your portfolio that you are not planning to renew. The listing is free and domains prices always start at $100 and are dropped by $10 per day (at 5pm EST) if the name is not sold. The service charges a 30% commission if a name sells. New domains are added every day at 3pm EST for premium members and 4pm EST for all members.

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Original post by Frank Michlick

As DNN read in a thread at NamePros it seems the domain name SarahPalin.com is up for auction. But if you take a closer look at the auction listing at eBay, you will note that the auction is actually not for the domain itself, but rather for information on how to contact the owner:

Okay here’s what is up for auction. Information. I’m auction off information on how you can get in touch with the Webmaster who owns SarahPalin.com

[…]The domain is currently in privacy protection and its nearly impossible to get in touch with the owner of this very important domain name. Please understand what you’re bidding on.

Any bid that is made 100% will be donated to The Boys and Girls Club.

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Original post by Frank Michlick

Yes, you read it here first on Domain Name News. Aftrenic.com is for sale.

Of course the auction for Aftrenic.com is being conducted by Sedo There were 11 bidders and the bidding had reached $160 with the reserve being met.

Good luck to all parties (including their lawyers) involved.

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Original post by Adam Strong

A teenager in North Carolina has changed her name to a domain name.  Jennifer Thornburg is now officially recognized as CutOutDissection.com.  Nineteen year old Thornburg changed her name to CutOutDissection as a protest to schools dissecting animals. The teen was quoted saying “Once they find out what my name is, they want to know more about what the Web site is about.”   Of course they do.

I don’t recall a person changing their name to a domain, but this doesn’t seem like something that is new. Someone out there surely has done this before right ? I bet there’s parents who have named their kid with a domain name extension.  I’m not referring to naming a child something like John Jacob Smith and then buying JohnJacobSmith.com.  I’m talking about naming the child something that reflects a domain presensce in their name and putting it right on the birth certificate, JohnJacobSmith.com.  If this hasn’t happened yet, just give it a little time. Maybe some corporate marketing VP is reading this right now saying “YES! that’s it !”

Corporations have pulled similar stunts in renaming other things with a domain extension. Back during the “.com boom” a small town in Oregon changed their name to Half.com to promote the site and later in 2005 Santa, Idaho became SecretSanta.com.

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Original post by Adam Strong

Rick Latona's Internet Retailer Ad

Rick Latona announced in August that he would be advertising in Internet Retailer magazine and, as is typical of Latona, he went big. (Check the picture).  The ad takes up the middle spread of the magazine in the October issue. It’s the first thing I saw when I opened it up. Since the issue is light on content (only 64 pages) the magazine almost immediately opens to the center spread.  Some of the names like LotteryNumbers.com or DayTraders.com don’t seem to be targeted to the Internet Retailer audience, but the ad surely makes an impression.  I’m surprised others like Buydomains, Sedo and Fabulous haven’t made a splash like this before now.

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Original post by Adam Strong

Rick Latona's Internet Retailer Ad

Rick Latona announced in August that he would be advertising in Internet Retailer magazine and, as is typical of Latona, he went big. (Check the picture).?? The ad takes up the middle spread of the magazine in the October issue. It’s the first thing I saw when I opened it up. Since the issue is light on content (only 64 pages) the magazine almost immediately opens to the center spread.?? Some of the names like LotteryNumbers.com or DayTraders.com don’t seem to be targeted to the Internet Retailer audience, but the ad surely makes an impression.?? I’m surprised others like Buydomains, Sedo and Fabulous haven’t made a splash like this before now.

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Original post by Adam Strong

Patnent Kinetics, an east coast IP firm, announced today via PRnewswire the auctioning of the domain name Cold.com.  The domain name has a minimum bid price of $1million.

The press release describes Patent Kinetics as “an Intellectual Property strategy, evaluation, and brokerage company specializing in patents, trademarks, copyrights, and high value Internet domain names.” This is the first domain name auction DNN has seen from this company.  We’d sure love to see another high profile sale like this go through especially from a relative newcomer.  We tend to agree with Mike at TheDomains that, given the current economic climate and other factors, the company has probably overpriced the domain.

Interested bidders can find the instructions on the sealed bid process at the Cold.com website.

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Original post by Adam Strong

In an announcement earlier today, Qinetics was awarded the contract to run the .OM registry.  DNN contacted the press agent on the matter to follow up with a few question.

Will the registry be opening the registration to a global customer base or will the .OM extension only be available to residents of Oman ?
Will the registry be auctioning any domain names ?
Will there be a wild-carding of non-registered domain names such as what is being done on the .CM (cameroon) extension?

In response we were sent the following:
“As answers your questions, the proposed domain name policy framework is currently in public consultation stage, the details are available at TRA’s website

From the consultation document, it can be seen that Oman’s intention is to limit .om domain names to Oman companies. As for wildcard and auction, we apologise that we are not the decision makers so it would be inappropriate for us to comment.”

According to the framework paper, an applicant for the .OM must be “an excellent company registered with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Sultanate of Oman” and is required to show documentation to that effect.  The paper also identifies names that the registry will reserve, forbids the sale of domain names by registrants and addresses the issue of “misspellings and close and substantial connections” in a rule about typos. TRA is still accepting public commentary on all of these proposals through email at fpconsulting@tra.gov.om.

In addition to providing us with this document, RegistryASP responded to our article by issuing the following statement on their blog :

Sorry to burst the bubble for domainers who seeks to monetize on typos but .OM ccTLD registry intent to only limit Oman companies to register domain names. You can read more about their policies over here.

Since the concept of wild-carding these domains doesn’t seem to clarified, these potential typos may still be monetized.  Oman and the registry operators seem to be making an effort try to prevent “domainers” from monetizing these domains with these policies. If there is anything that has been proven over the years, there are plenty of people who will find a way around “policies” to make a buck, “domainer” or not.

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Original post by Adam Strong

Verisign has closed a deal to acquire Global Name Registry, the London-based company that runs the .name registry. This move adds to Verisign’s control over the domain industry, as the company already operates the registry for the .com, .net, .cc, and .tv domains while also running the DNS servers for .edu and .jobs.

Although the deal isn’t official, Verisign announced the move in an email to registrars. This email was obtained and posted on TechCrunch by Michael Arrington:

We are pleased to announce that VeriSign closed on an agreement to acquire Global Name Registry, Ltd., which includes management of the .name top level domain on October 1, 2008. We believe the addition of .name is a natural fit, as we have run the technical backend in support of .name for more than five years.

What does this mean for existing registrars?

Your interface to VeriSign for .name domain names will continue to operate as it has in the past with no changes.

We are currently assessing enhancements to the service offering that meet the needs of the registrar channel in servicing the consumer market. Please look for service notices in the coming weeks that will outline those changes and the steps you need to take advantage of those features.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service at info@verisign-grs.com.

Very truly yours,

PJ Bolanos
Vice President, Global Customer Support
VeriSign, Inc.

Northzone Ventures and Verdane Capital also invested in the company, although the details of the transaction are not expected to be released.

[via TechCrunch]

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Original post by Chad Kettner

A new association is being launched to help Canadians domainers protect their investments and increase the value of their domain names.

The Domain Owners Association of Canada will have its inaugural meeting at the Domain Convergence conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on October 7. The association is primarily focused on giving a voice to Canadian domainers in order to address their key concerns.

“It’s high time Canadian domain owners get their voices heard,” said Peter Maxymych, founder of the Domain Owners Association of Canada. “Domain owners in Canada have often felt like they are working alone. This does not have to be the case. With this association we can work together to promote our interests in domaining.”

The association’s website, DOAC.ca, will be accessible once the association is officially launched later this month. In the meantime, you can contact Zak Muscovitch, the association’s solicitor, at zak (at) muscovitch.com for more information.

[via Domain Convergence]

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Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Original post by Chad Kettner