'Act of God' May Extend Expiring Domains
What happens if your domain is expiring and you can't reach the registrar's web site? There have been many stories about connectivity problems in Asia due to the earthquake in Taiwan, which severed underground cables. The China International Network Information Center (CNNIC) is considering extensions for 10,000 domain owners who lost their expiring .com domains when the couldn't reach the registrar's web site to renew them.
"Because the domain names are lost due to an act of God, enterprises and individuals involved may be appropriately compensated by the domain name server, but the scheme is still under discussion," the Xinhua new service quoted a source close to the CNNIC.
Posted by RichM 
January 5, 2007 | Permalink | Newsletter
September 13, 2006
5 Million Domains for .ORG Registry
The Public Interest Registry (PIR), managers of the .ORG registry announced today that 5,000,000 .ORG domains have now been registered worldwide. The growth of .ORG was boosted in July of 2005 by PIR"S decision to offer .ORG registrars discounts targeting developing regions of the world, including South America, Asia, and Africa. The promotions have resulted in a 50 percent increase in .ORG domain registrations in the targeted regions. In India, growth has reached a 93 percent annual increase.
"This is a significant milestone for the .ORG registry and we are excited that the number of .ORG registrations worldwide has increased by over 25 percent in less than 1 year," said Edward G. Viltz, President and CEO of PIR. "PIR is especially pleased that the global noncommercial community has an expanding online presence to support their organizational objectives. In addition, commensurate with this growth, the PIR Team is committed to continue expanding our support of the .ORG community on relevant Internet issues and to ensure community interests are represented within the domain name space."
Posted by RichM September 13, 2006 | Permalink | Newsletter
July 5, 2006
Why Google Is A Domain Registrar
It's been 18 months since Google became a domain registrar, a move that initially shook up the domain and hosting businesses amid the notion that Google might make domain names available for free. Before long, Google watchers advanced an alternate theory: that Google would use its access to the list of recently sold domains to clean up its search results, resetting a site's PageRank when its domain changes hands.
That theory has now been confirmed, thanks to the sharp-eyes of Kevin Murphy at Texturbation, who noted comments by Google employee (and ICANN chair) Vint Cerf in the recent domain marketplace discussion at ICANN's conference in Marrakech. Here's the cogent excerpt (from a much longer transcript):
VINT CERF: When a domain name has expired, and then it's re-assigned to someone else, what happens to the SOA (Start of Authority) record for that domain name as to its start date? Does that change automatically or does it stay the same or are there circumstances where a domain name changes hands but it doesn't look like it has if you are looking at its birth date?
Posted by RichM July 5, 2006 | Permalink | Newsletter
June 1, 2006
Angelina Jolie Snaps Up ShilohJoliePitt.com
Angelina Jolie doesn't waste any time when it comes to the business end of the celebrity baby game. Within hours of the birth of Shiloh Nouvel Jolie Pitt, the actress' reps had registered the domain name ShilohJoliePitt.com, heading off a name grab by domain speculators. The name was registered Saturday at 8:27 pm, with Angelina Jolie listed as the owner of record. For someone who just gave birth, the actress was pretty efficient, grabbing shilohnouveljoliepitt.com as well, along with the .net, .org, and .info extensions for both names.
It seems the quick action was warranted, as the .biz and .us extensions - which were left unprotected - were snapped up within hours. The quick action appears to have been the actual handiwork of Jolie's lawyer, Evan Spiegel of Lavely & Singer.
Brad Pitt's not listed anywhere. So if Angelina and Brad ever break up, Angelina gets custody of the domains.
Posted by RichM June 1, 2006 | Permalink | Newsletter
May 21, 2006
Domains and RSS Services - Perfect Together?
Are RSS services the next business opportunity for domain registrars? Dave Winer believes registrars could be key players in the future of RSS feed management services such as Feedburner, Pheedo and the new FeedPass service, which has prompted renewed debate about the repurposing of feeds. As a FeedBurner user, I love the added functionality it allows me add to my RSS feeds. But I'm also aware that there's huge headache potential if Feeburner fails or is sold. There are serious trust issues in branding my feed with a URL I don't control.
That's where registrars come into the picture. Combining domain management and RSS management would address many of the control issues, as Dave explains in a post titled How to Compete With FeedBurner.
First, I'd either do a deal with a registrar, become a registrar, or merge or partner with one. It's absolutely essential that the user own the domain that their feed is hosted at, so that, in case of emergency, they can switch to a different hosting service. If they don't own the domain, it doesn't matter how many promises the vendor makes, or how well-intentioned they are, an act of god could result in a blackout of
a huge portion of the RSS network. It's irresponsible to host a large percentage of the net's RSS feeds at one domain. I would set it up so it's the other way around. My hosting service won't host your feed unless you own the domain.
Dave emphasizes that he's not launching such a service, but would invest in one.
Posted by RichM May 21, 2006 | Permalink | Newsletter
February 10, 2006
Business Models and New TLDs
Bret Fausett of Internet Pro Radio has a dynamite podcast that examines the business models of new top-level domains ("after the dot" extensions such as .web, .pro, etc.) and the considerations that go into developing a gTLD that will make money AND whose domains will be used (as opposed to being redirected to an existing.com). Bret moderates a conversation with three veterans of both ICANN policy and the domain business, Anthony Van Couvering (Names@Work), Chris Ambler (Image Online Design) and Elliot Noss (Tucows).
It was fascinating conversation, and helped me consider the domain name business model from yet another perspective. I'm used to thinking about domains as an owner, and have become familiar with the business issues for registrars and domain investors. But what about the operator/registry of a top-level domain? How do they make money, and how do the business models of the other domain stakeholders influence their decisions? Great stuff.
Posted by RichM February 10, 2006 | Permalink | Newsletter
September 16, 2005
Are Registrar Deals Shrinking Inventory?
Domain Name Wire notes that the largest registrars are continuing to shift all the secondary market action "in-house," so they can capture backorder and resale fees that previously would have gone to drop-catchers. SnapNames seems to have successfully positioned itself as the leading outsourced solution for registrars without an in-house system to generate fees on expiring domains. An excerpt:
Is Enom's Club Drop doomed? Can Pool.com survive? According to DNJournal, expired domain heavyweight SnapNames has signed an exclusive agreement with Register.com to snap its expiring domains. SnapNames already has a similar agreement with Network Solutions. Since these were the two large early registrars, they have some of the best expiring domains.
Posted by RichM September 16, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter
August 23, 2005
US Likes .xxx as Trademark, not Domain
ICANN Watch notes that while the U.S. Department of Commerce is objecting to the creation of a .xxx top-level domain, the U.S. Patent Office has no problem accepting fees to issue a trademark for "sex.xxx." The registrant is Grant Media LLC, which owns sex.com and runs a pay-per-click advertising network.
Posted by RichM August 23, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter
June 20, 2005
Register.com Rejects Takeover Bid
Register.com has rejected a takeover bid from RCM Acquisition Co. LLC, deeming the $7.10 a share bid "inadequate." In the press release announcing its decision, the language suggests that Regsiter.com may be fishing for a sweetened offer from its suitor. "We have instructed our financial advisors, Credit Suisse First Boston, to consider all available alternatives to maximize shareholder value, including potential further discussions with RCM," Register.com said in its statement.
The market is clearly expecting that someone will make a higher offer, as the share price of Register.com jumped to $7.40 per share in afternoon trading, 30 cents higher than RCM's initial bid.
Posted by RichM June 20, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter
June 2, 2005
Everyone's Talking About .xxx
ICANN has approved the proposed .xxx top-level domain (TLD) and entered negotiations with ICM Registry to work out the details. Here's ICM's description of .xxx and how it envisions it will work:
The .xxx sponsored top-level domain will create a clearly identifiable area of the Internet that will empower families and help protect children and others from unwanted or inappropriate content. The existence of the sponsored TLD would facilitate meaningful, voluntary self-organization and self-regulation by responsible adult-entertainment website operators.There's lots of commentary on the .xxx TLD in the domain blogosphere (see below for links). My two cents: The notion that this will lead to any meaningful quarantine of porn sites is absurd. If you're a network admin for a corporation or school, you can eliminate a headache by filtering out the entire .xxx TLD. So which porn sites will move to .xxx, abandoning any visitors from those networks? Oh, yeah - the "responsible" adult-entertainment sites. Call me crazy, but I'm guessing those aren't the same folks who are using zombie botnets to inundate my email Inbox and weblog comments with porn spam. So why approve it? Some say its politics, but I think politicizing TLDs leads to more headaches, not fewer. What's left?
Money, of course. For starters, fees to ICANN, and the registry, which will charge $75 per domain. Given adult sites' success using domains to build traffic, we may see a land rush once the .xxx names are released. Even if a porn site doesn't want to operate within the new TLD, they may want to buy the domains associated with their brands as a defensive move.
Here's some other commentary from domain blogs:
Posted by RichM June 2, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter
May 11, 2005
Register.com Delay Endangers NASDAQ Relisting
Register.com says its quarterly SEC 10Q filing and earnings reports for the first quarter of 2005 will be delayed as it grapples with "certain material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting." The company said it will be out of compliance with NASDAQ marketplace rules as a result of the late filing.
The announcement comes as NASDAQ was ready to relist Register.com, which has received a delisting notice April 5 because of similar delays filing its annual report. The new delay is likely to postpone any relisting, the company said. Shares of Register.com were down slightly following the announcement.
Posted by RichM May 11, 2005 | Permalink | Newsletter