Be Interviewed on DomainSherpa
Every Friday, DomainSherpa.com provides you with a hand-selected, editorially-based review of the weekly news. 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 DomainSherpa Interview
- VIDEO: How to Value Short Letter and Number Domain Names – With Aron Meystedt
In today’s interview, Aron Meystedt describes valuation ranges not only for two- and three-letter domain names (e.g., AA.com, BN.com), but also for two- and three-number domain names (e.g., 16.com, 144.com).While DJI.com sold for $300,000 and 114.com sold for $2.1 million, both in July 2013, one is likely an outlier. Find out which in this interview.
Also in this interview is an opportunity to sell LL.com, LLL.com, NN.com and NNN.com domain names through Heritage Auctions to their 800,000 registered users.
This Week’s News in Review
DomainNameSales.com Announces New Hybrid Domain Name Brokering Approach – 22-Aug-13
You can handle your fresh leads and they’ll take your stale ones. A common complaint about domain name marketplaces is that your parked domain names are generated all of their leads. Why should you pay the marketplace when someone first expresses interest by clicking a link on your parked domain name? Frank Schilling’s DomainNameSales.com announced […]
Right Before Start of Regular Season, The NFL Gains Control of Almost 1k Bang On Domain Names – 22-Aug-13
With the regular NFL season looking to kick off in just a couple of weeks the NFL gained control of just under 1,000 bang on domain names yesterday. The domain names were all transferred to the NFL’s brand protection company MarkMonitor.com…
Napa Wine Association Letter to ICANN Makes It Clear They Should Have Applied for .napa/.wine Instead of Just Whining – 22-Aug-13
After reading the letter sent by Bruce Cakebread telling ICANN how the 500 members of the Napa Valley Vintners need protection from the new proposed gTLD’s of .Wine and .Vin, I walked away thinking that the wine producers of Napa simply missed their chance to apply for .Napa and/or .Wine and now just want to whine about it…
String Confusions Gone Wild: Amazon IDN is Found Similar to Different Word in English – 22-Aug-13
“Online Shopping” in Japanese is too similar to .shop in English, panelist rules. Some new top level domain name string confusions objection decisions have been baffling. A difference in opinion on .cam vs. .com. Plurals vs. Singulars. But now string confusions have officially gone off the deep end. A panelist has found that Amazon.com’s application […]
Apparently .sport and .sports are Also Confusingly Similar – 22-Aug-13
Panelist sides with SportAccord in objection against .sports. International Centre for Dispute Resolution has posted an updated list of string confusion objections, and there’s more trouble. SportAccord, an applicant for the .sport domain, has successfully objected to Donuts’ application for .Sports. SportAccord argued that “a significant degree of confusion would occur between any TLD string […]
New Unrestricted Domain Extension .College Approved by ICANN – 22-Aug-13
On Friday, August 16, 2013, the new domain extension .College had its initial evaluation approved by ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. .College is an easily adaptable, unrestricted domain extension for academic institutions, education-related services, corporations and students who are seeking an online presence. As the first extension of its kind, .College opens the door to new opportunities and innovation online.
Comscore: Yahoo Beats Google for 1st Time in Years Becoming Most Visited Websites – 22-Aug-13
According to comScore, for the first time in several years, Yahoo (YHOO), web properties were the most visited in the country in July. With 196.6 million visitors who Yahoo properties compared to 192.3 million who visited Google for the first time since May 2011…
Looks Like a New Parking Company Just Launched & They are Spamming The Hell Out of Me: AceAds.com – 22-Aug-13
There appears to be a new parking company in town and they are spamming the hell out of me. The emails started coming in a late yesterday and I’m already up to over 30 and counting. As I own around 75,000 domains I could have a really long way to go…
California Wineries are a Bit Drunk Over .wine Top Level Domains – 22-Aug-13
Two groups representing the same wineries take opposite views on .wine and .vin top level domains. When you’re around a cellar full of wine, it’s understandable that your judgment might get a bit cloudy. Does that explain the apparent contradiction between two different California wine groups and their view of geographic second level domains in […]
National Association of Realtors Reminds ICANN .realtors is a Brand App & Should Be Outside of GAC Advice – 21-Aug-13
In a letter sent to the Chair of the new gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) The National Association Of Realtors reminded ICANN that its application for the new gTLD .Realtors is a brand application, not a generic application and should be freed from GAC Advice…
ICANN Denies Booking.com Request to Reconsider String Similarity Panel Ruling; Bad News On Cam Vs Com? – 21-Aug-13
In turning down Booking.com request for reconsideration the ICANN Board appears to also have bad news for those that think the Board will step into settle the .Com Vs .Cam split decisions…
Domainer Politics: Developer Bill Karamouzis Runs for CIRA Board – 21-Aug-13
Bill Karamouzis, the domain investor and domain developer from Canada, announced his candidacy for CIRA. The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is the organization that manages the .CA domain space on behalf of all Canadians.
New gTLDs: 23 Community Objections Withdrawn – 21-Aug-13
Almost a quarter of Community Objections against new gTLDs have been terminated without a decision, according to International Chamber of Commerce documentation. The withdrawals leave the way open for the applied-for gTLDs .insure, .realty, .realestate, .cruises, .careers and .bio to proceed unencumbered by any objections at all. In total 23 Community Objections, of the original […]
Louis Vuitton Files Federal Cybersquatting Suit Over 98 Domain Names – 21-Aug-13
For the 2nd day in a row a trademark holder has bypassed the UDRP process and went straight to federal court to file a suit over trademarked infringing domains. This time it is luxury handbag maker Louis Vuitton that filed the suit under the ACPA seeking $100,000 in statutory damages per domain, plus the domain and attorney fees on 96 domain names…
Billionaire Pays $2,395 for His Domain Name – 21-Aug-13
Billionaire hedge fund chairman buys his name as a domain name. Afternic had a solid sales week last week thanks to a $500,000 domain name sale (the name was not disclosed). A billionaire – technically his hedge fund – spent a lot less than that on his personal name. Billionaire Bruce Kovner, chair of one […]
Internet.org Acquired By Zuckberberg From Domain Investor After He Owned It for Just One Month – 21-Aug-13
Domain name investor Daniel Thralow may have made one of the great flips of all time on the domain name Internet.org which Facebook Founder Mark Zuckberberg announced last night was the name of his project to bring the Internet to the 5 billion people who don’t have access…
Seiko Wins UDRP for 138 Domains Against 106 “Respondents” – 21-Aug-13
Panel consolidates claim on basis that 106 respondents are actually just one group. Watch maker Seiko has won a UDRP covering 138 domain names that include “seiko” in them. The number of domain names would make this case interesting enough. Making it more interesting is that there are technically 106 respondents to the UDRP. UDRP’s […]
GM Down to One gTLD Bid After Dropping .chevy – 20-Aug-13
General Motors looks set to leave the new gTLD program completely, after dumping its application for .chevy. It’s the fourth of GM’s five dot-brand gTLD bids to be withdrawn after .chevrolet, .cadillac and .gmc. Only .buick remains in the Initial Evaluation process. Of the 116 new gTLD applications to be withdrawn to date, 55 have […]
Facebook’s Zuckberberg Plans to Connect The World Using Internet.org; Owned By Andrew Rosener Until July – 20-Aug-13
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg late Tuesday announced on his Facebook page, the formation of a partnership with Samsung Electronics, Nokia, Qualcomm Ericsson, MediaTek and Opera to develop joint projects, share knowledge, and mobilize industry and governments to bring the world online, and to make Internet access available to everyone on Earth…
Adidas/Reebok Files Federal Lawsuit Over 372 Domain Names Under Acpa – 20-Aug-13
Sports equipment maker Adidas which owns Reebok filed a federal lawsuit against the owners of 372 domain names including .com’s, .net’s .org’s .info’s .biz and even co.uk and .Eu domain names in the Florida Southern District Court…
Tucows.com Shares Hit 52 Week High – 20-Aug-13
Shares of Tucows.com (TCX) hit a 52 week high in trading today. Shares of Tucows.com traded as high as $2.31 which is a 52 week high. As of publication Tucows.com is trading at $2.26 up $.10 on the day and has a trading range today of $2.10 to $2.31…
Registrar Rapped for Failing to Transfer UDRP Domain – 20-Aug-13
The domain name registrar Gal Comm has been warned by ICANN that it risks losing its accreditation for failing to transfer a cybersquatted name to Home Depot. The compliance notice (pdf) concerns the domain name homedpeot.com, which was lost in a UDRP filed in early March and decided on April 21. According to ICANN, Gal […]
ICANN Screwed Up By Not Requiring Joining All Objections By One Objector Against The Same String Into 1 Proceeding – 20-Aug-13
Last nights news that a International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) panelist ruled (pdf) that .cam and .com are too confusingly similar to coexist after two different panels ruled days earlier that the strings were not similar confusing, shouldn’t be a huge surprise to anyone in the domain space…
Partnership Leads to Acquisition By GoDaddy – 20-Aug-13
After integrating Locu into web site building product, GoDaddy buys the whole company. I took yesterday afternoon off to spend with my daughter before school starts again on Wednesday. As we hung out I scanned my tweet stream and saw something about GoDaddy and Locu. No biggie, I thought. I’ve already written about their partnership. […]
Name It. Make It. Own It.: Is This GoDaddy’s New Slogan? – 20-Aug-13
Company files two intent-to-use trademark applications. Domain name registrar GoDaddy has filed two intent-to-use trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, possibly tipping off slogans it plans to use in the future. Application 86,038,967 is for “Name It. Make It. Own It.” This seems to jive with the company’s mission to help people […]
TLDH Walked Away From Auction With 2 Strings Plus Cash – 20-Aug-13
New top level domain applicant settles contention sets and walks away with more cash than it spent. Top Level Domain Holdings (TLDH) was initially opposed to the private auction model to settle top level domain name contention sets. That changed, and last week it probably felt validated by its decision. The company participated in four […]
String Confusion in Disarray As Demand’s .cam Loses Against Verisign’s .com – 20-Aug-13
Demand Media is demanding an ICANN review of its objections policy, after its applied-for new gTLD .cam was beaten in a String Confusion Objection by .com registry Verisign. A International Centre for Dispute Resolution panelist has ruled (pdf) that .cam and .com are too confusingly similar to coexist, meaning Demand’s bid for .cam must be […]
GoDaddy Acquires Merchant “Finder” Startup Locu for $70 Million – 19-Aug-13
GoDaddy, the Scottsdale, Ariz., domain seller and small business online platform, said it had acquired San Francisco startup Locu. While the company did not disclose the terms of the deal, sources close to the situation said it paid $70 million in cash and stock for the company. There are also earnouts for the close to two dozen employees of Locu going to GoDaddy.
Donuts Beats Back Academy Sports Legal Rights Objection to New gTLD .academy – 19-Aug-13
Academy, LTD., d/b/a Academy Sports + Outdoors lost is Legal Rights Objection filed against Half Oaks, LLC (a Donuts compny) application for the new gTLD .Academy finding that “the common generic use of the term “academy”, as well as the lack of clear evidence showing widespread public recognition of the Objector’s ACADEMY marks, standing alone, weigh heavily in the Applicant’s favor. In this case, the Panel finds that such considerations must result in rejection of the Objector’s Objection.”…
.academy, .blue and .bio New TLD Objections Denied – 19-Aug-13
WIPO denies three more challenges to new top level domain names. World Intellectual Property Organization panels have denied three more top level domain name Legal Rights Objections. All of the objections were filed against strings that are not in contention sets. .Academy – Academy Sports + Outdoors filed this objection against Donuts. A number of […]
Biotechnology Industry Organization Loses WIPO Legal Rights Objection On New gTLD .bio – 19-Aug-13
Biotechnology Industry Organization of Washington, lost its Legal Rights Objection filed against Starting Dot applied for new gTLD .bio.
Here are the relevance findings by the one member WIPO panel:
A fundamental issue in this proceeding is the appropriate recognition of the word “bio” by different sectors of the public, founded on differences in the basic meaning of the word, and on differences in uses in different parts of the world.
From the Objector’s perspective, the word “bio” has become recognized as a powerful brand, signifying the services of its industry association and related activities. From the Respondent’s perspective, the word “bio” itself is not perceived as a trade-mark, but as a word in common currency (in France and Germany in particular) which denotes organic characteristics in food or farming, and a variety of other meanings…
Blue Cross Loses Legal Rights Objection to Block The New gTLD .blue – 19-Aug-13
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association just lost a Legal Rights Objection to Afilias Limited new gTLD application for .Blue…
Marchex Releases Partial List of Q2 Domain Sales – 19-Aug-13
BMW among companies that bought domain names from Marchex last quarter. Marchex, which is spinning off its domain name business Archeo sometime later this year or early next year, today released a partial list of the domain names it sold last quarter. Along with its second quarter earnings release earlier this month, the company reported […]
Land Rover Found Guilty of RDNH in Scathing Cybersquatting Decision – 19-Aug-13
Panelist rips apart Land Rover. Land Rover has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in a UDRP case it brought against a Montana dealer of old school Land Rovers that uses the domain MountainRovers.com. This is despite the car dealer not responding to the UDRP. Even more noteworthy is the scathing critique panelist […]
Domain Capital Lends $150,000 to SearchCore – 19-Aug-13
Domain name and website investment firm borrows $150k from domain name financing company. SearchCore, Inc. has borrowed $150,000 from Domain Capital, a regulatory filing with the SEC discloses. The company put seven domains names up as collateral for the deal: manufacturedhome.com, manufacturedhomes.com, manufacturedhouse.com, manufacturedhomes.net, modularhomes.com, traveltrailer.com, and toyhaulers.com. SearchCore has paid a combined $417,000 to […]
Domainer Marc Ostrofsky’s New Book: Word of Mouse: 101+ Trends in How We Buy, Sell, Live, Learn, Work, and Play – 18-Aug-13
Domain name inverstor and author, Marc Ostrofsky new book Word of Mouse: 101+ Trends in How We Buy, Sell, Live, Learn, Work, and Play is coming out on September 10th…
A Month After First 4 TLD Contracts Signed, Still Only 4 Signed – 16-Aug-13
There’s been a delay (surprise!) after the first four TLD contracts were signed. ICANN took advantage of its public meeting in Durban, South Africa last month for a public signing of the first four top level domain name contracts. It’s been a full month since then, and no one else has signed a contract yet. […]
ICANN Passes 92 New gTLDs – 16-Aug-13
Ninety-two new gTLD applications received passing Initial Evaluation scores this week, as ICANN approaches the end of the long-running process. With two weeks left on the official timetable, only 236 applications remain in IE. Another 1,574 have passed. With no failures this week, the number heading to Extended Evaluation remains at 14. These are this […]
ICANN Officially Kills Google’s Plan for Dotless Search Top Level Domain Name – 16-Aug-13
Board resolution quashes dotless domains again, at least for now. ICANN’s New gTLD Program Committee has passed a resolution confirming a prohibition on so-called dotless domain names, effectively killing Google’s plans for a dotless .search top level domain name. A dotless top level domain name would resolve without a dot. For example, while something.example will […]
WIPO Denies Another Legal Rights Objection to .music: Community Trademarks of Objector “Not Bona Fide” – 15-Aug-13
A WIPO panel has rejected another Legal Rights Objection to the new gTLD .Music .
This objection was to Famous Fours application to operate the .Music registry and was filed by another applicant for .Music, DotMusic Limited/Constantinos Roussos…
Donuts Beats Its Third Fashion Brand in Top Level Domain Disputes – 15-Aug-13
Coach, Inc. lost its objection to Donuts’ .coach application. New TLD applicant Donuts has now successfully defended itself against three fashion brands in Legal Rights Objections over top level domain applications. After beating The Limited and Express, the company can add Coach to its list. Coach, Inc., a $15 billion (market cap) company known for […]
Beat.la Gets About 100k Pageviews in Two Weeks – 15-Aug-13
Just a couple weeks after buying the domain, the Phoenix Suns’ Beat.la website has received a lot of traffic. Is Beat.la the most trafficked .la domain name that takes advantage of the “Los Angeles” meaning? On July 31 I noticed that the Phoenix Suns basketball team bought the beat.la domain name for $5,300 at Sedo. […]
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Files UDRPs Against Mike Mann’s Domain Asset Holdings On 4 Domains – 15-Aug-13
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc makers of the widely popular Grand Theft Auto games, filed a UDRP’s today against Mike Mann’s Domain Asset Holdings, LLC on four domain names with WIPO…
Del Monte Sues After .delmonte TLD Objection Decision – 15-Aug-13
After losing top level domain objection, Del Monte International GmbH files suit. Is this the first lawsuit over a top level domain name Legal Rights Objection? Del Monte International GmbH has sued Del Monte Corporation in U.S. District Court in California in a trademark infringement case (case 2:13-cv-05912-RSWL-MAN). Although the actual complaint hasn’t been posted […]
Grand Theft Auto Creator Files Complaint Against Gta.tv – 15-Aug-13
Take-Two Interactive asks World Intellectual Property Forum to order transfer of GTA.tv. Is this a case of grand theft or a legitimate intellectual property claim? Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc, maker of the popular Grand Theft Auto video game series, has filed a dispute against the owner of GTA.tv claiming the domain is cybersquatted. The current […]
ICDR Rejects Verisign’s String Confusion Objection to .cam As Being Too Confusing to .com – 15-Aug-13
One of the more interesting objections filed at the International Centre for Dispute resolution (ICDR) based on String Confusion was Verisign’s objection to the new gTLD .Cam being too confusing to .Com…
New TLD Applicants Group Rubbishes New gTLD Collision Risk Report – 15-Aug-13
The New gTLD Applicants Group has slated Interisle Consulting’s report into the risk of new gTLDs causing security problems on the internet, saying the problem is “overstated”. The group, which represents applicants for hundreds of gTLDs and has a non-voting role in ICANN’s GNSO, called on ICANN to reclassify hundreds of “Uncalculated” risk strings as […]
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