Domain Name News: Apr. 29 Week in Review

DomainSherpaApril 29, 2011 | Updated: December 9, 2015 0

Domain Name Week in Review Every Friday, DomainSherpa.com provides you with a hand-selected, editorially based review of the week. In this summary, you will find the latest articles and videos produced by DomainSherpa staff and contributors. You will also find links to the best news articles in the domain name industry — so you don’t have to spend your time searching for news or reading something that was not worth your time.

This Week’s Articles in Review

Next Week’s Sneak Peek

This Week’s News in Review

Congress to Examine ICANN Plan – 29-Apr-11
A House Judiciary subcommittee will put a spotlight next week on a proposal that could dramatically expand the number of Internet suffixes available to the public.
Should We Expect .Com Domain Name Price Increases? – 29-Apr-11
Yes. The question is how much. VeriSign is in the process of trying to renew its contract with ICANN to run .net. It includes significant price increases similar to its current contract. Should we expect VeriSign to ask for continuing .com price increases as well? Of course.
Soon You Can Register Your Own .Life – 28-Apr-11
Fresnel Web Services, LLC filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for “.life” earlier this week. Add .life to the potential pool of new top level domain names that may come online next year.
Verisign Reports: Domain Name Registrations (.com & .net) 108 Million Up 9%; Revenue Up 12% – 28-Apr-11
After the market closed today, VeriSign, Inc. reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011. VeriSign reported revenue of $182 million for the first quarter of 2011, up 2% from the prior quarter and up 12% from the same quarter in 2010.
VeriSign 1Q Profit Down 20% On Restructuring – 28-Apr-11
VeriSign Inc.’s (VRSN) first-quarter earnings fell 20% as the Internet-domain company booked charges for restructuring and reported lower-than-expected revenue growth. VeriSign has shed more than a dozen businesses in recent years, but the company’s narrowed focus has made it more dependent on a mainstay Internet domain operation.
Apple May Have Bought iCloud.com Domain Name for $4.5 Million – 28-Apr-11
Apple’s highly rumored cloud-based music service may indeed become a reality‚ and it may already have a name. An unidentified tipster told Gigaom’s Om Malik that Apple recently purchased the domain name iCloud.com for $4.5 million from a Swedish desktop-as-a-service company called Xcerion.
Apple Floats $4.5 Million for iCloud Domain – 28-Apr-11
A report claims Apple bought the iCloud.com domain from Sweden-based Xcerion. However, Neither Apple nor Xcerion responded to CNET’s request for comment.
US Government Uses Seized Domains for Anti-Piracy Video – 27-Apr-11
The U.S. Government is celebrating the importance of intellectual property by educating visitors to the domain names it seized in previous months. These visitors are now redirected to an anti-piracy video instead. The viral video is running on 65 of the seized domains which have now become property of the Government, and shows how illegal downloads can financially ruin innocent workers.
Cyber-Criminals Register Free Domains and Subdomains for Phishing Attacks – 27-Apr-11
Scammers have shifted tactics to use free domain services to launch phishing attacks, according to a research report. A new phishing survey found that phishing gangs are abusing free subdomain services. They are also likely to register new domains instead of hacking an existing one.
Facebook Deals Launches Sans Domain Name – 26-Apr-11
Facebook gets its deals on, but without FacebookDeals.com. Facebook formally launched its new deals offering today in five test cities (including my home town of Austin, Texas.) Here’s what I see when I go to Facebook.com/deals: One thing the social networking behemoth doesn’t have is the domain name FacebookDeals.com.
CADNA Strongly Supports ICANN Oversight Hearing – 26-Apr-11
The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) strongly supports Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet, in his decision to convene an oversight hearing on ICANN and generic top-level domains (gTLDs). CADNA wholeheartedly endorses Chairman Goodlatte’s decision to review ICANN governance and policy development in relation to the proposed roll out of new gTLDs. The oversight hearing coincides with U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary for NTIA Larry Strickling’s recent comments expressing concern about ICANN’s lack of responsiveness in upholding their obligations under the Affirmation of Commitments.
Poker Players Alliance Bullish Over Poker Domain Returns – 26-Apr-11
The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has welcomed the agreement to allow online operators PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker to reclaim their dotcom domains, while reiterating that the battle to save internet poker has only just begun.
Report: Kate Middleton .com Domain Name Bought for Under $2,500 – 26-Apr-11
A Canadian couple reportedly acquired KateMiddleton.com for $2,350 shortly before the Royal Wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William.
Congress Preparing to Beat Up ICANN Again – 26-Apr-11
ICANN will be called to task over new top level domain names next week. Next week The U.S. House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will hold an “ICANN Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Oversight Hearing”. You can be assured that someone from ICANN will be asked to attend.
Google Panda Estimates are All Over The Board, and None are Accurate – 25-Apr-11
Reports of traffic changes aren’t very accurate. I’ve seen a number of reports estimating the damage to major content sites from Google’s so-called Panda updates. I’ve come to one conclusion: none of them are more than directionally accurate. Yes, we know that a lot of content sites have taken a beating, but by how much?
How One Seattle Company is Capitalizing On The Royal Wedding – 25-Apr-11
A few days ago, someone asked me if GeekWire had any plans for covering the royal wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton. At the time, I said there was “no formal coverage plan” unless we found some interesting Seattle angle. Well, here’s one for you. Guess who owns the Web site, RoyalWedding.com?
Cities Battle Over Geographic Internet Domains – 24-Apr-11
A LONG rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne has moved to the web, as both vie to be the first Australian city to operate its own international top-level domain.
What It Means When U.S. Law Enforcement Seizes a Domain Name – 24-Apr-11
Over the past few months, various instances of “domain name seizures” have been making news. But what exactly does it mean when the U.S. government or a federal agency “seizes” a domain name? FairWinds did some digging online and made some interesting findings to elucidate this question.
Righthaven Defies Court, Ignores Domain Name Ruling – 22-Apr-11
Last Friday, the Chief Judge of the federal court in Nevada, which is overseeing more than 200 Righthaven copyright cases, dismissed Righthaven’s meritless claim to seize its victim’s domain names. In each case so far, Righthaven contended that the mere hosting of any infringing material means that the entire domain name was forfeit to the copyright troll. Chief Judge Hunt rejected that claim, explaining that the “Court finds that Righthaven‚Äôs request for such relief fails as a matter of law and is dismissed.”