iEstates.com

Sedo today announced an exclusive auction of premium .ME domain names. The company has successfully brokered the sale of more than 1,000 .ME domain names, totaling nearly two million U.S. dollars, including such premier names as Business.Me for €40,000, and online meeting platform Join.Me for $45,000. Global brands such as WordPress (wp.me), Facebook (FB.Me), Porsche (Porsche.Me) and Yahoo (ME.Me) have taken advantage of the .ME domain name extension.

Running in partnership with the .ME registry, Domain.Me, the auction begins on February 2, 2012 and runs until February 9, 2012. The auction will include a wide range of prices and a unique selection of premium .ME domain names such as:

• Hotel.Me
• Singles.Me
• Boats.Me
• Yoga.Me
• Creditcard.Me
• Gift.Me
• Movies.Me
• Webhosting.Me
• Friends.Me

The complete list of .ME domain names available for auction on Sedo.com can be found at http://www.sedo.com/ME.

Disclaimer: Managing Editor Frank Michlick of DNN also is working as a consultant for SedoMLS.

(c) 2011 DomainNameNews.com (8)

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The .FR registry AFNIC, is celebrating their 25th anniversary today. As a birthday present to itself, the company has updated its logo, webdesign, anniversary magazine  and is launching a contest “The French Connection” that rewards five .FR websites to “showcase the best Internet experiences in .fr domain names“.

The highlight of the program will be a special event held on 11 October on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower with the French internet community to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the .fr namespace. There will an award ceremony for the winners of the contest, at which more than 300 guests are expected.

[via Press Release]

(c) 2011 DomainNameNews.com (9)

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auDA, the .AU domain administrator, has recently found that a reseller for the NetRegistry Group, NetAlliance Pty Ltd trading as NetFleet, has breached the .au Domain Name Suppliers’ Code of Practice (2004-04) by mass emailing 1,200 clients of another .AU drop catching service (Dark Blue Sea owned drop.com.au). The email addresses had apparently been collected from whois.

According to the ruling, the actions of the reseller caused the accredited registrar, TPP Internet to be in breach of their accreditation agreement.

To rectify the breach, NetFleet and TPP Internet have undertaken to destroy or permanently erase all records of any information including, without limitation, any domain name or registrant contact record obtained as a result of the breach.

In addition, NetFleet personnel must undertake auDA policy training, and the company must conduct a comprehensive review of all its procedures and systems to ensure compliance with its obligations

[Ed. Granted, this may not be exactly "up to the minute", as this happened on Feb 24th, 2011]

[via auDA]

(c) 2011 DomainNameNews.com (9)

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As reported earlier the Cyrillic .РФ IDN ccTLD launch had reached a stunning number of 500,000 registrations in the first week. Considering the numbers, it was obvious that speculators were playing the TLD, but apparently six registrars are involved in registering many of the names for resale & auction and are now involved in a legal dispute as reported by TheMoscowNews. Many of the registered names have been frozen by the registry.

The accused registrar, RU-Center said there are no plans to stop sales, with spokesman Andrei Vorobyov saying: “We do not believe we have violated the law or the rules of the co-ordinating centre.”At the end of last week the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) launched legal action against six registrars claiming they had broken competition laws.

Apparently the RU-Center itself bought 38% of the names registered and acquired another 48% of the registered domains through partner companies – a total of 86%.

[via TheMoscowNews & DomainIncite]

(c) 2010 DomainNameNews.com (2)

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DomainConvergence 2011, May 12-13, Montreal, Canada

While some of the .CA registrars are apparently still having problems with this morning’s switchover of the .CA registry to EPP, the registry appears to have successfully completed their migration. So what do the changes mean, aside from another backend protocol being used for registrars to connect to the registry?

• Registrants will now generally only deal with their registrars and not have to interact with CIRA directly.
• There are no more CIRA user IDs
• Domains are Auto-Renewed on a Registry level – just like COM/NET/ORG the registry now automatically renews the domain at the expiry date and charges the registrar account. It is to be expected that registrars will however delete any domains that are not set to auto-renew on the registrar level, just like for the gTLDs.
• New 3rd and 4th level domains are no longer supported with the exception of 4th level municipal domains. Existing 3rd and 4th level domains will be grandfathered.
• Registrars can now offer their own whois privacy system for individual registrants.
• The number of contacts per domain is now limited and not maintained across registrars.
• New Data used to validate Canadian Presence Requirements (CPR) will be required in 2011.
• Domains can only be transferred to another registrars 60 days after their initial registration or a previous transfer.
• An ownership change of a domain does not require a renewal of the domain name any more.
• “Critical changes” are now processed immediately.

As part of the switchover the registry operator also temporarily disabled the domain deletions, which were usually happening once a week. The process is going to restart on November 3rd, 2011.

(c) 2010 DomainNameNews.com

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In 2008 Jothan Frakes held an impromptu survey for registry service providers for new gTLDs at the ICANN meeting in Paris. The results were then consolidated into a matrix and published on the Names At Work blog by his friend Antony van Couvering – unfortunately DNN could not locate the information on the site today. Now, two years later and a bit further into the introduction process for new gTLDs- ICANN has published the 4th revision of the Applicant Guidebook for New gTLDs – Jothan Frakes has started a follow-up survey.

The first survey also seems to have had a big part in funding of the new gTLD service & consulting company Minds + Machines, which Frakes was part of. Now that he is not with the company any more, he can once again collect data in an independent survey of the registry services industry.

The survey will run until August 4th, 2010 and service providers (for ccTLDs & gTLDs) interested in having their information included can participate here: Registry Service Provider Survey

[Via Jothan Frakes' Blog]

(c) 2010 DomainNameNews.com

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Luxembourg based Domain Invest SA has just announced the purchase of “call.me” for 20,000 Euro (appx $27,000 USD). The company plans to develop the website in order to allow visitors to place sponsored calls from it.

See the full press release after the jump.

Luxembourg, April 6th, 2010 –DI SA (www.domaininvest.lu), a leading company in the internet domain name monetization, is proud to announce the acquisition of the domain name Call.Me, which will become one of the first virtual telephone booths.

Call.Me will enable visitors to call online from the website www.call.me any landline or mobile phone worldwide without having to install any software.

“The Internet is a virtual world which, by all means, should have a virtual telephone booth. It’s simple, but brilliant,” notes Natasa Djukanovic, Marketing and Sales Director of the .ME Registry. “The dot-ME domain, Call.Me, is perfect example of how our extension can be used as a call to action. We are thrilled to see this kind of technically advanced, easy-to-use service offered with a dot-ME name.”

Domain Invest (DI SA) operates a targeted online media business. The company owns and acquires thousands of undervalued internet domain names, with the aim of monetizing the traffic they receive through advertising.

DI SA invests in highly valuable media assets: internet domain names, the real estate of the Internet. The Company focuses essentially on premium generic domain names, such as GartenMoebel.de, AutoVerhuur.be, Valises.fr, Credito.it. DI SA has also recently centralized a large portfolio of “health” domain names, from healthy living practices to infections or diseases related names: erkaeltung.de, www.fieber.de, www.berufsallergien.de, www.multivitamins.com, www.vitamin.eu, www.healthjob.de, www.healthtruth.com, www.womenshealthmagazine.com, www.diets.net, www.lowfatdiets.co.uk, www.dietfood.com.

Frederick Schiwek, Managing Director of DI SA concludes, “We own large portfolio of domain names targeting specific topics and fields of interest. The acquisition of Call.me for examlple [sic] is essential as the name has a strong meaning and the .ME extension has gained great success and largely appealed to companies, organizations and also personal sites, for its marketing potential and also innovativeness”.

Stay tuned on call.me to see the upcoming advancements!

(c) 2010 DomainNameNews.com

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Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the .COM gTLD with a Policy Forum and Gala and has also set up a website with a timeline of the development of .COM. The first domain name, symbolics.com, was registered on March 15th, 1985 and is today owned by domain investor Aron Meystedt.

In order to celebrate the anniversary the main sponsor and registry operator Verisign, will be hosting  a Policy Forum in Washington DC on March 16th and will end with gala in San Francisco on May 26th. The company will also announce the creation of four $75,000 research grants that will be awarded to those who show the most promise to shape the next 25 years of .com.

“In the past 25 years, the Internet has altered history and transformed lives around the globe. It has forever changed our relationships with the world around us by providing unprecedented access to people, places and information. The .com celebration is about honoring the innovators who have gotten us to where we are today and recognizing those who will help shape the next 25 years,” said Mark McLaughlin, CEO, VeriSign. “Billions of times each day, VeriSign connects web sites and users, while helping to ensure the Internet revolution continues to unfold at its characteristically fast pace. We’re proud of the role that VeriSign plays in enabling the .com infrastructure and in the role that our registrars play in providing the crucial platform and access to .com every day.”

Read the full press release after the jump.

.com Approaches 25th Anniversary

VeriSign to Lead Year-Long Initiative to Recognize Innovators and Leaders That Have Shaped First 25 Years of .com

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — (Marketwire) — February 3, 2010 — In March 1985, the first .com domain was registered, igniting the birth of the consumer Internet that, 25 years later, continues to transform communications, commerce and our society as a whole.

Beginning in March 2010, VeriSign, the long-time operator of the .com domain, will lead an industry-wide initiative to recognize the innovators and leaders that have shaped the first 25 years of .com and in doing so transformed our economy and society. The celebration of “25 Years of .com” will kick off with a policy-focused event in Washington, DC on March 16.

In conjunction with that event, VeriSign will also announce the creation of four $75,000 research grants that will be awarded to those who show the most promise to shape the next 25 years of .com.

“In the past 25 years, the Internet has altered history and transformed lives around the globe. It has forever changed our relationships with the world around us by providing unprecedented access to people, places and information. The .com celebration is about honoring the innovators who have gotten us to where we are today and recognizing those who will help shape the next 25 years,” said Mark McLaughlin, CEO, VeriSign. “Billions of times each day, VeriSign connects web sites and users, while helping to ensure the Internet revolution continues to unfold at its characteristically fast pace. We’re proud of the role that VeriSign plays in enabling the .com infrastructure and in the role that our registrars play in providing the crucial platform and access to .com every day.”

Details on major events and initiatives:

March 16: Policy Impact Forum, Washington, DC

The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Amphitheater

The Internet has been the source of — and increasingly, the forum for — some of the most interesting and controversial policy debates in recent times. Public policy has been challenged to keep up with the ever-evolving, fast-paced advances of the Internet and the often-perplexing economic and social questions that it raises.

This day-long event will feature thought-provoking keynote speakers and two engaging panel discussions that will bring together innovators, entrepreneurs, visionaries and Internet users to reflect on how we got here; to discuss the significant impact of the Internet on our economy, society and environment; and to focus on what the future of .com will hold.

.com 25 Awards

.com would not be what it is today without the early innovators who paved the way. As part of this celebration, VeriSign will soon announce the top 75 people and companies who have made the most notable impact in shaping the Internet and ultimately, our world. From this list, a distinguished panel comprised of some of the Internet’s most important influencers, will select the “.com 25.” Winners of the .com 25 will be announced at a gala event later this spring in San Francisco.

A web site — www.25yearsof.com — will host a variety of multimedia content throughout the coming months, showcasing the innovators and entrepreneurs who have shaped the Internet. 25yearsof.com is a year-long celebration of Internet innovation, all of which can be followed at:

Twitter: Keep up with our latest news at @25yearsofdotcom

Facebook: Friend us at facebook.com/25yearsofdotcom

Video: Watch people from leading Internet companies answer the question “How Do You .com?” at 25yearsof.com

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, VeriSign helps companies and consumers all over the world engage in communications and commerce with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com

Guest contributor Zak Muscovitch is a domain name lawyer, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has been practising domain name law for ten years. Go to http://www.DNattorney.com and http://www.muscovitch.com.

Privacy Protection for domainers who have legitimate portfolios is a little like a burka on a bikini model.

Although keeping one’s domain name registration details private is an attractive concept and may even help wary registrants avoid imparting too much information to prospective domain name dispute claimants, in my humble opinion, the practice is a business killer in the .CA realm. As a domain name lawyer I can rarely find out who owns what to try and put together deals. I can’t trace the history of domains to perform due diligence. I can’t identify connections between web sites and domain owners. It stymies me. And if it stymies me from doing .CA deals, that means that it is hurting business for .CA owners , who dont need any more negative factors affecting the Canadian market than they already have. Sure I can sometimes use other methods, but the utility of domaintools.com whois archives is lessening as time goes on, because it carries no new information for most .ca’s since all recent records are privacy protected.

By way of background, CIRA, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority made privacy protection a “default setting” [ed. for individual registrants], and considered this move a leadership position in the Internet world. And I did too. I am a big fan of privacy and thought that CIRA’s privacy protection policy was extraordinarily progressive and consumer-friendly. But I was wrong. It kills business. Imagine a stock exchange where there are no listings….That is what has happened here. And the benefit of privacy is nil for a domainer who is trying to hide, because there a CDRP [ed:.CA Dispute Resolution Policy] reveals your identity anhow….and hiding can actually encourage a CDRP…So it gets you nowhere other than to avoid someone like me finding out what domain name you own so I can easily contact you and know who you are, to make a deal.

In the Canadian .CA realm, domains are extraordinarily underdeveloped so we need all the contact and attention that we can get – not privacy! We dont want a marketplace with hidden vendors. We want a marketplace with vendors showing their wares off in public and making themselves available to bargain with each other.

(c) 2009 DomainNameNews.com

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