Domain Updates

Facebook intends to buy Face.com for $100 Million

Domain News — Tue, 29 May 2012 04:26:56 +0000

According to CNET.com,Facebook intends to acquire the premium domain name Face.com for $80 million to $100 million.

Sedo to host Generic .IN Auction

Domain News — Tue, 29 May 2012 04:26:03 +0000

A Generic .IN auction is soon to be hosted by Sedo,the leading online marketplace.The auction features for now 120 .IN domain names.This is a great opportunity for domainers to claim a .IN domain name.

Top 10 most expensive .XXX domain names

Domain News — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:06:30 +0000

Investors are willing to pay big money in order to buy a .XXX domain name .Basically , a .xxx domain name is affordable for everyone.However,if you want to buy a valuable .xxx domain name expect to pay a lot more.

KFC files complaint over IranKFC.com domain name

Domain News — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:27:24 +0000

KFC has recently filed a complaint with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center,asserting legal rights over IranKFC.com domain name.

Afternic teams up with SnapNames for Summer Kick-Off Auction

Domain News — Mon, 28 May 2012 04:26:30 +0000

Afternic and SnapNames teamed up for the Summer Kick-Off auction.The auction features 92 domain names and will come to an end on June 21,2012 at 3:15 pm ET.

Air.me hits $2,500 in Sedo’s .ME Premium Auction

Domain News — Mon, 28 May 2012 04:25:43 +0000

The auction for Air.me is now live on Sedo.Air.me received 28 different bids and hit $2,500 with less than four days until the auction will close.

Microsoft files complaint over five "XBOX" domain names

Domain News — Sun, 27 May 2012 05:19:38 +0000

Microsoft,the company who sells video game entertainment systems,software and accessories under the “Xbox” brand,submitted a complaint to the National Arbitration Forum ,requesting the transfer of five “XBOx” related domain names.

.РФ Domain Registration hits 800,000

Domain News — Sun, 27 May 2012 05:16:04 +0000

There are now more than 800,000 active .РФ domain names,according to statistics on the Coordination Center for TLD RU,the .RU registry website.As of today there are 800.209 .?? domain names registered and the number is increasingly rapidly .

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. announces dates for Las Vegas conference

Domain News — Sat, 26 May 2012 03:29:01 +0000

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. organizers,Rick Schwartz and Howard New ,announced that next year’s conference will be held in Las Vegas.This is the 7th time the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference is being held in Las Vegas.

ICANN : Period of 24 May – 03 June 2012: Public Comment Periods Approaching Closing Date

Domain News — Sat, 26 May 2012 03:27:48 +0000

The Following Public Comment periods are approaching their Comment or Reply Period Close dates, 24 May – 03 June 2012. As a member of the ICANN community, your timely feedback is critical to our accountability and transparency efforts. For your convenience, we have included direct links below to comments that will soon close.

AFNIC CEO,Mathieu Weill invited in "Paris d’Avenir on BFM Business"

Domain News — Sat, 26 May 2012 03:26:29 +0000

Mathieu Weill was one of the guests of the television talkshow “Paris d’Avenir”, dedicated to new gTLDs that aired on BFM Business on May 22nd.

Hipsters.com for sale: Afternic teams up with SnapNames for auction and .Me kicks off at Sedo

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:19:52 +0000

Where are my black framed glasses?

SnapNames just started its “Summer Kick-Off Auction“, run in conjunction with Afternic.

Although most of the domains in the auction are owned by Afternic or an affiliate company, some of the domains appear to be owned by the company’s larger clients.

Compared to recent auction lists, this one looks to be a winner. My personal favorite: Hipsters.com for under $10,000. That’s a great domain.

Ambitious.com $10k-$25k
Authorization.com $10k-$25k
Delicacies.com $5k – $10k
FilmCareers.com $1,01-$2,500
Haggler.com $10k – $25k
Hikers.com $10k – $25k
Hipsters.com $5k – $10k

Over at Sedo, the company just started its .me auction. It features 188 .me domains, all with reserves under $500. So far the top bid is $1,100 for Air.me.

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Groupon registers domains for payment system and POS

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:01:27 +0000

Local deals company registers three domain names for retailer payment systems.

Groupon registered the domain names GrouponPayments.com, GrouponPOS.com, and GrouponTerminal.com on May 22.

Now we know why.

VentureBeat reports that the company is testing a payments solution to competed with Square and PayPal. Apparently the company is offering an iPod Touch with the card reader to merchants free of charge, and the service is priced very competitively compared to competitors.

The author of the VentureBeat article says an email from Groupon hints at a forthcoming point of sale system for iPod and iPad. Given the domain names the company registered, this appears to be on the product roadmap.

Here’s the whois record for GrouponPOS.com. The other domains have similar records.

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What domains Kanye West and others bought this week

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:49:16 +0000

Kanye West buys domain name for new short film.

Kanye West has made some interesting naming decisions in the past. So let’s give him credit for buying CruelSummer.com for $3,000. Cruel Summer is the name of his new short film.

Here are some other end user domain buys from the past week. All sales took place at Afternic unless otherwise noted.

Forbes writer Rich Karlgaard, who has written about the “Power of Pairs”, paid $1,595 for PowerPairs.com.

I wrote about this one yesterday: Warner Bros bought Injustice.com for $7,500 for a new online game.

Columbus, Ohio insurance company Smart Financial bought FreeMortgageRates.com for $2,100.

Heifer Project International, the non-profit that lets you give charity gifts of animals such as a sheep and llama, bought BeyondHunger.com for $1,995.

Bank marketing company Financial Marketing Solutions picked up BankSimply.com for $2,500 at Sedo.

The owner of VideoResults.tv upgraded to VideoResults.com for $1,300. Smart idea at that price.

DekBrands, which markets a “floating foundation” deck system, bought AllAboutDecks.com for a hefty $15,995. Congrats to fellow domainer Gregg Ostrick on the sale.

Printer cartridge recycling company Advantage Cartridge bought RecyclingAdvantage.com for $2,500.

Marketing firm GO media LLC, which owns Go-Media.com, paid $835 for Go-Social.com at Sedo.

Social Sector Ventures, LLC, a fundraising company, bought SocialSector.com for $1,288.

Corpac Steel Products bought Corpac.net for $1,388. Its web site is CorpacSteel.com.

Applications2U shortened its URL from Applications2u.com to a2u.net for $1,500.

iCrossing UK, a Hearst company, bought DirectDigitalBroadband.com and FreeBroadbandNow.org at Sedo for $1,250 each.

Dating site One2One.com paid $2,000 for AmericasMostEligible.com

Washington State Parks paid $4,388 for the clever marketing domain AdventureAwaits.com.

Louisville heating and cooling company Allgeier Air bought LouisvilleHeating.com for $796 at Sedo. This company gets it; it already owns LouisvilleAir.com.

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TRAFFIC sets dates for Las Vegas show

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:07:31 +0000

It’s a year away, but dates are finalized.

For a while there were too many domainer-targeted domain conferences. Then the pendulum swung the other way.

TRAFFIC is adding an additional show in 2013, and today it announced the final dates. The show will begin Wednesday, May 29th in the evening. It will conclude with breakfast on Saturday, June 1 2013.

The event was originally planned to start earlier in the week, but organizers received concerns about its proximity to Memorial Day.

TRAFFIC Las Vegas will take place at the Bellagio.

Show organizers Rick Schwartz and Howard Neu also announced that they “expect to be there for both 2013 and 2014″ as well.

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Olympic Committee sues guy it won UDRP against

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:02:37 +0000

USOC claims person continues to infringe on its trademarks.

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has filed a lawsuit (pdf) against Alan Bachand, an individual with whom the organization has a history when it comes to domain names.

Back in 2009 the USOC objected to Bachand’s use of the domain name OlympicsBestHotels.com to pitch hotels for the Vancouver Olympics. It ended up filing a UDRP against Bachand and won control of the domain.

Now the USOC is objecting to his use of the Olympics trademarks on a number of other sites, including SuperHotelRooms.com, 14sb.com, and LuxurySuperBowlHotels.com.

USOC says it reached out to Bachand about the infringing use, but he hasn’t made all of the changes it requested.

Its suit claims that Bachand is violating the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act and the Lanham Act.

In the UDRP all Bachand lost was his domain name. With a lawsuit, he could face financial penalties if he loses.

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Vint Cerf Calls For ITU To Be Kept Away From Internet Governance, Including ICANN

David Goldstein — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:41:37 +0000

Vint Cerf is critical of plans by various countries over a battle for the internet that is opening at the International Telecommunications Union in this opinion piece in the New York Times.

Moniker Featured Auction is now underway

Domain News — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:04:00 +0000

Moniker Featured domain name auction is underway and will be ending June 19,at 3:15 PM ET .There are some premium domain names in the inventory,including Crylist.com,FreeGirlGames.com and ToaBoa.com.

Nicole Richie wins domain case covering two domains

Domain News — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:28:03 +0000

An arbitrator with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center has awarded nicolerichiefragrance.com and nicolerichieperfume.com domains to Nicole Richie.

Sedo’s Premium .ME auction is now underway

Domain News — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:26:56 +0000

Sedo is hosting a premium .ME domain name auction .The auction runs for seven days and finished on May 31st,2012 at 12 noon EST.

MarkMonitor To Host New gTLD Informational Webinar

David Goldstein — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:13:31 +0000

MarkMonitor is hosting a webinar on 31 May entitled ‘New gTLDS: Are You Ready for the Big Reveal?’ The webinar will begin at 10:00 Pacific Time.

Chicago Tribune wants to take down “Occupy” sites

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:42:23 +0000

Sites claim to be news for the 99%.

The Chicago Tribune Company has filed a complaint with World Intellectual Property Organization over “occupy” web sites using its brand.

The complaint targets occupiedchicagotribune.org and occupychicagotribune.org, the former of which is a web site that states “We’re proud to have no affiliation whatsoever with the 1% Chicago Tribune or the Tribune Co.”.

The site states:

The Occupied Chicago Tribune is an independent media source for those who do not see their struggles and views represented in the mainstream press. We created this paper to provide an outlet for reporting, commentary and analysis on the growing Occupy movement, its unique application in our city and the struggles of the 99%.

These “occupiers” are going to flip out even more against the man when they learn about trademark law.

The Occupied Chicago Tribune also links to similar sites, including Occupied Wall Street Journal and Occupied Oakland Tribune.

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MarkMonitor will host a new gTLD informational webinar on May 31st

mcohen — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:30:25 +0000

It was just announced that next Thursday MarkMonitor will be hosting a live webinar that will discuss new gTLD’s. It will feature an interactive Q&A session. Elisa Cooper and Matt Serlin will also cover and review the MarkMonitor new gTLD application database with a live demo, strategies for objection filing and response as well as rights protection mechanisms, including updates on the trademark clearinghouse.

ICANN will reveal the list of new gTLD applications soon, a significant milestone according to MarkMonitor. Every brand owner needs to review this list carefully to identify problematic applications, and if necessary, submit comments or file formal objections. While the formal objection period will run approximately 7 months, comments submitted within the first 60 days will be taken under consideration by the evaluators.

To simplify the process, MarkMonitor is planning to release its New gTLD application database which will allow users to quickly search all new gTLD applications. The database will be available shortly after ICANN releases the list of applicants. MarkMonitor will provide access to the data at no cost

The webinar which starts at 10:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time on May 31, 2012 requires registration. You can sign-up here by filling out the form here.

MarkMonitor is headquartered in San Francisco and has regional offices and operations centers in London, Boise, and Washington, D.C. As the global leader in enterprise brand protection, MarkMonitor currently safeguards more than half of the Fortune 100 brands including Google, Apple and Facebook.

Jeweler sues Oversee.net for cybersquatting

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:12:13 +0000

Jeweler files claim over six domain registrations.

Jewelry company Tacori Enterprises has sued Oversee.net in U.S. District Court for cybersquatting.

Tacori alleges (pdf) that Oversee.net is cybersquatting with at least six domain names:

Taccori.com
Tacorri.com
Tacoriiv.com
TacoriRings.com
Tacoti.com
Tracori.com

Tacori alleges that Oversee.net “is a serial cybersquatter who registers, uses, and traffics in domain names that are confusingly similar to famous or distinctive trademarks owned by others, including Tacori trademarks.” It also alleges that Oversee.net intentionally failed to maintain accurate whois records for the domains.

Tacori is represented by Howard Kroll and David Steele of Christie, Parker, and Hale, LLP. The two are no strangers to cybersquatting lawsuits; they’ve represented Verizon in multiple cases.

When asked for comment, Oversee.net responded “We are reviewing the lawsuit and plan to defend our position vigorously.”

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Mayor arrested after illegally accessing GoDaddy account and cancelling domain

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:10:51 +0000

Mayor and his son accused of hacking into email and then illegally accessing GoDaddy account to cancel domain name registration.

West New York mayor Felix Roque and his son were arrested after allegedly working together to hack into an email account to gain access to a GoDaddy account and take down a domain name related to a recall effort against the mayor.

The complaint alleges that Roque’s son, Joseph Roque, was first able to compromise the email address for the owner of RecallRoque.com. Once he had access to the email he then was able to reset the password on the GoDaddy account that held the domain name. He subsequently logged in to cancel the registration, taking the recall web site down.

The complaint also alleges that the pair accessed communications from the registrant’s email account to harass people who were contributing information to Roque’s recall campaign.

It’s a rather fascinating read about how someone used the internet to figure out how to hack into an email account, and subsequently access a registrar account.

Forget worrying about losing your job as mayor. How does ending up in the slammer sound?

[note: the title of this post was updated to avoid confusion. The mayor's son compromised an email account which was then used to do a password reset at GoDaddy.]

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Warner Bros buys Injustice.com for $7500 – a new online game?

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:28:47 +0000

Movie studio buys domain Injustice.com — for a new online game or movie?

Movie studio Warner Bros. has purchased the domain name Injustice.com for $7,500 through Afternic.

This is one of those domains with many uses, but that the owner must have known could end up being the title of a movie or game. It’s kind of like Invasion.com, which is in Sedo’s Great Domains auction this week. However, Injustice.com has a lot more commercial uses than Invasion.com.

It doesn’t appear that Warner Bros. has any announced movies named Injustice. There’s a documentary about class action lawsuits by this name that’s gaining steam, though. Perhaps the movie studio has bought the distribution rights.

There’s one more clue in the whois record that suggests and entirely different use. The DNS records for the domain have been set to ns1.dns.turbine.com. Turbine.com is owned by Turbine Games, a Warner Bros. company that hosts Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and Asheron’s Call.

I’ll let any movie buffs or online gamers chime in here if they know more.

[Update: Looks the game theory is right. See comments below.]

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ICM Registry Launches XXX.XXX – a directory for developed .XXX websites

Domain News — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:32:21 +0000

According to a report by Michael Berkens ,ICM Registry,the company behind .XXX extension,launched a directory for developed .XXX websites.

Interest.me wins weekly sales list at $80,000

Domain News — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:33:20 +0000

Interest.me domain name sold for $80,000 through Sedo,topped Domain Name Journal weekly sales list of reported domain names for the week ending Sunday,May 20. There were no six figure domain name sale this week .

.NXT Conference Postponed

Domain News — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:31:42 +0000

The .nxt conference organizers announced recently that they have decided to postpone the conference,scheduled for June 20th-22nd in London.

Fellowship Application Round Opens for ICANN International Public Meeting 45 in Toronto, Canada

Domain News — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:30:53 +0000

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is now accepting online applications for the 17th round of the Fellowship program. Successful candidates will participate in the ICANN meeting to be held in Toronto, Canada from 14-18 October 2012.