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Domain Name News: September 6 Week in Review

Domain Name Week in ReviewEvery 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: $1 Million Giveaway Challenge: A Touchdown for SportsPicks.com? – With Steven Newman

    $1 Million Giveaway Challenge: A Touchdown for SportsPicks.com? – With Steven NewmanMost domain name investors stick to buying and selling. When they do venture into development and monetization, sometimes they get burned.

    That was the situation with Steven Newman and his $25,650 purchase of SportsPicks.com, a resource for sports betting information. But after a bad development start, Newman and his partner are now on the right path with a live website, a $1 million promotional challenge, a marketing program and revenue starting to come in.

    Learn how SportsPicks.com is becoming an honest, trustworthy service provider in an industry that is often perceived as disreputable.

    Watch The Full Show Now »


This Week’s News in Review


GoDaddy says It’s Go Time: New Marketing, Improved Site – 05-Sep-13
GoDaddy rolled out a new marketing program and site enhancements today that are a big step forward from its old marketing approach.
Teething Troubles for TMCH Testing – 05-Sep-13
With the first new gTLD delegation likely just a matter of weeks away, registries and registrars are reporting problems getting access to the Trademark Clearinghouse for testing purposes. ICANN launched an OT&E (operational test and evaluation environment) for companies to test their systems against the IBM-run TMCH back-end last week, but few have so far […]
Islamic Republic of Iran Wants .islam and .halal Managed and Operated By The Muslim Community – 05-Sep-13
The Islamic Republic of Iran in a letter to ICANN said that the new gTLD applications of .ISLAM and .HALAL “should be managed and operated by the Muslim community through a neutral body that represents the different sections and segments of the Muslim community including Governments, NGOs and IGOs, Private Sector, Academia, as different stakeholders of internet in the this community.”…
.xxx Sales Spike 1,000% During Discount – 05-Sep-13
ICM Registry saw an over 1,000% spike in .xxx domain name registrations in May, during which it offered new registrations at a steep discount over its regular price. The numbers were still relatively small. The registry saw 13,136 adds during the period, compared to 1,131 in April and 1,836 in May 2012, according to ICANN […]
Share.tv and Keepsmart.com Hit With UDRPs – 04-Sep-13
Two generic domain names got hit with UDRP’s today. Share.tv which has a creation date of 2010 was hit with a UDRP. While the complainant is not yet listed I’m going to guess its the owner of ShareTv.Org which says they have over 200,000 registered users…
CommonBond.co Raises Over $100 Million – 04-Sep-13
According to the Term Sheet, CommonBond, a New York-based student lending platform, has raised over $100 million in new equity and debt financing. Tribeca Venture Partners and The Social + Capital Partnership led the equity tranche, and were joined by Vikram Pandit (ex-Citi CEO), Tom Glocer (ex-Thomson Reuters CEO) and Tom Kalaris (ex-Barclays exec)…
GongShow.com Lost in UDRP After Domain Holder Tries to Sell It for $18,000 – 04-Sep-13
Gongshow Gear Inc. just won a UDRP on the domain name GongShow.com, after the domain holder asked for $18,000 to sell the domain. Complainant contends it has rights in the GONGSHOW mark, used in connection with lifestyle hockey apparel. Complainant has rights in the GONGSHOW mark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) (e.g., Reg. No. 3,400,170 registered March 18, 2008)…
Verisign Lists Its Grievances With ICANN – 04-Sep-13
VP of Policy cites six ways ICANN could be more accountable. During the ICANN meeting in Durban in July, Verisign VP of Policy Chuck Gomes complained that ICANN’s number one priority seemed to be “protecting ICANN the corporation”, and that this came before serving the public interest. ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade asked Gomes to provide […]
Fox Gains Control of 22 Domains Related to Fox Sports 1, Including Foxsport1.com, Foxsports1.tv – 04-Sep-13
Fox gained control of 22 domain names around its new network, Fox Sports 1 which just launched a few weeks ago through a UDRP…
Public Interest Registry Releases Bi-Annual Domain Name Report – 04-Sep-13
Public Interest Registry – the not-for-profit operator of the .ORG domain – today released the results of its bi-annual domain name report, “The Dashboard,” detailing the international and domestic growth of .ORG from January to July 2013. Specifically, the report revealed that new .ORG registrations increased by 13.6 percent in the first half of 2013.
Demand Increases Credit Facility From $105 Million to $225 Million – 03-Sep-13
Demand Media (DMD) announced today that it has entered into a new $225 million credit facility comprised of a $125 million revolving credit facility and a $100 million term loan. The new facility, which matures in August 2018, replaces the Company’s existing $105 million revolving credit facility that was due to expire in August 2016…
Gabon Provides .ga Domain Names for Free – 03-Sep-13
Gabon liberalizes its national domain and adopts an innovative business model by giving its .GA domain names away for free.
Google Buys Smart Watch Maker Wimm & Gets Category Killer SmartWatch.com – 03-Sep-13
Google acquired WIMM Labs a maker of “smart watches” last year according to TechCrunch.com and CNET.com. “Google quietly snapped up Los Altos, Calif.-based WIMM Labs last year. WIMM Labs not only gives Google the talent and technology to build a smartwatch, but actually an Android-based app platform tailored for consumers’ wrists.”…
FirstHotel.com Saved in Udrp: Domainer Also Owns CheapHotels.com & CheapRooms.com – 03-Sep-13
First Hotels AS of Oslo, Norway just lost a UDRP on the domain name FirstHotel.com which is owned by Klaudia Kruzicevic of Split, Croatia, who was represented by ESQwire.com, P. C…
Public Suffix List to Get Monthly New gTLD Updates – 03-Sep-13
New gTLDs are set to be added to the widely used Public Suffix List within a month of signing an ICANN registry agreement, according to PSL volunteer Jothan Frakes. This is pretty good news for new gTLD registries. The PSL, maintained by volunteers under the Mozilla banner, is used in browsers including Firefox and Chrome, […]
Vertical Axis Loses UDRP On 9 Year Old ParisOpera.com and 7 Year Old OperaParis.com – 03-Sep-13
Opera National de Paris of Paris, France, just gained control of ParisOpera.com and OperaParis against Vertical Axis Inc. which was represented byESQwire.com, P.C. It was a majority decision with panelist Neil Brown filing a dissenting opinion longer than the actual opinion of the panel in which he found that the complainant failed to meet any of the three required conditions for a UDRP…
New Expired Domain Name Rules Now in Effect – 03-Sep-13
Registrars must follow new guidelines for expired domain names. New expired domain name rules governing all gTLDs went into effect on Saturday. The Expired Registration Recovery Policy (ERRP) regulates how domain name registrars handle expiring domain names. For example, it requires them to send expiration notices at certain intervals. It also requires domain name registrars […]
Centralnic Goes Public: a Look at The Numbers – 03-Sep-13
CentralNic went public yesterday. Here are some of the company’s financials. Yesterday CentralNic, a company best known for offering third level domain names similar to ccTLDs, went public. The company plans to use proceeds for a number of purposes, including investing in some new TLD applications (e.g. funding auctions) and building a domain registrar business. […]
CentralNic Raises $10 Million in IPO – 03-Sep-13
New gTLD registry back-end provider CentralNic raised a reported £7 million ($10 million) on its London Alternative Investment Market debut yesterday. The IPO, which netted £5 million for the company and £2 million for existing shareholders, valued the company at £32.5 million ($50.6 million). Its float price was 55p per share, but it’s trading at […]
Economist Replaces De La Chapelle On ICANN Board – 03-Sep-13
ICANN’s board of directors is to see one new member in November, with economist Bruno Lanvin replacing former French civil servant Bertrand de La Chapelle. The changes were among several appointments announced by ICANN’s Nominating Committee yesterday. NomCom has decided to keep previous appointees Cherine Chalaby, who’s head of the New gTLD Program Committee, and […]
ICANN Kills Google Dotless Domain Hopes – 03-Sep-13
Google’s hopes for domain names without the customary ‘dot’ are now dead in the water.
Melbourne IT Blames Overseas Reseller for New York Times Domain Name Breach – 02-Sep-13
Reseller staff “unwittingly” responded to “spear phishing” attack.
Owner of CoreDiagnostics.in Guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking – 02-Sep-13
M/s. Core Diagnostics filed UDRP against domain name registered a decade before it was founded. World Intellectual Property Organization panelist Richard Hill has found M/s. Core Diagnostics, owner of CoreDiagnostics.in, guilty of attempting reverse domain name hijacking. The Indian company started its business in 2011 and registered its trademarks in 2012. Still, it filed a […]
Poll: With The Launch of New Domain Names are You: – 02-Sep-13
With the launch of new domain names, we want to know what you make of it.
Was Whistles.com Quietly Lost in a UDRP? Case is Terminated & Complaintant Now Owns The Domain – 01-Sep-13
A UDRP was filed on the generic domain name Whistles.com a couple of months ago and today the proceeding is showing as being “terminated”. The complainant in the UDRP was Whistles Limited of London. who according to the updated whois records just obtained control of the domain…
.Quebec – What’s in a (Domain) Name? – 30-Aug-13
Province hopes recently approved .quebec suffix on web addresses will make it easier to find local businesses.
ICANN Declares Initial Evaluation of New Gtld’s Over But There are 29 to Go Including .search & .abc – 30-Aug-13
In a press release this afternoon ICANN proudly announced that the “Initial Evaluation (IE) phase of the new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) program is concluded.” “This is an extraordinary landmark which demonstrates the progress in this program,” said Akram Atallah, President of ICANN’s Generic Domains Division. “We are looking forward to the innovations that these new introductions will enable on the Internet.”…
101 New gTLD Pass ICANN Ie; 8 Go to Extended Evaluation; Passing .sex; .islam; .stockholm; .ford; .volvo – 30-Aug-13
101 new gTLD applications passed ICANN Initial Evaluation today.
8 applications are heading for extended evaluation. Like last week one of the applicants who filed Legal Rights Objections to all other applicants own application got flagged for extended evaluation this time Defender Security Company application for .home…
Only 29 gTLD Applications Still in IE As 101 Pass and Nine Fail – 30-Aug-13
ICANN has published what was scheduled to be its final week of Initial Evaluation results for new gTLD applications. It was a bumper week for results as evaluators mopped up stragglers that had previously been asked to provide more information via Clarifying Questions. There were 101 passes and 9 failures. There are still 29 applications […]
Sina Tops Tencent in Battle Over Weibo Top Level Domain Names – 30-Aug-13
Panel handles tricky case involving what many consider a generic term. In a heavyweight battle of Chinese internet stars, Sina Corporation has won two objections it lodged against Tencent for the top level domain names .微博 and .weibo. Sina and Tencent were the only applicants for .weibo and .微博, so the contention set has been […]
Donuts Signs 12 More New gTLD Registry Contracts – 30-Aug-13
Donuts today announced that it has signed 12 more new gTLD Registry Agreements with ICANN. The contracts, which have not yet been published, cover .bike, .camera, .clothing, .equipment, .estate, .guru, .holdings, .lighting, .singles, .ventures, .voyage and .企业, which is “.enterprise” in Chinese. As of a week ago, the firm has also passed all of its […]
15 Year Old RadioAmerica.com Lost in UDRP to RadioAmerica.org – 30-Aug-13
American Studies Center d/b/a Radio America just won a UDRP on the domain name RadioAmerica.com which was owned by Jet Stream Enterprises Limited. The panel found the complainant had a common law a trademark on the term going back to 1985 when Radio America started broadcasting…
Lawsuit Against New TLD Applicant Famous Four is Dismissed – 30-Aug-13
Lawsuit was filed over plans for .bim top level domain, which never got off the ground. A group of investors in a failed top level domain bid have dropped their lawsuit against Famous Four Media, Domain Venture Partners, and some of the company’s principals. David Ways and a handful of his friends and family said […]
ICANN Finally Signs More New TLD Contracts; Donuts Signs a Dozen – 30-Aug-13
A dozen Donuts as ICANN finally starts inking more registry agreements. Since ICANN signed four new top level domain registry contracts at its meeting in Durban in mid-July, no more have been signed. Until now. Donuts is reporting that it has signed a dozen (hopefully glazed) more registry contracts with ICANN. It signed one for […]
Google Hiring for New Top Level Domain Name Initiative – 30-Aug-13
Google is looking for a couple people to work on its top level domain name program. Google has posted two job openings related to its new top level domain name plans. The company is seeking both a Product Marketing Manager, Domains and a Strategic Partner Manager, gTLD program. Here’s the description for the Strategic Partner […]
Vertical Axis Beats Back UDRP On Generic Parajumpers.com By Owner of Parajumpers.it – 29-Aug-13
PJS International SA of Luxembourg just lost its bid to grab the generic domain name Parajumpers.com which is owned by Vertical Axis who was represented by Esquire.com
The three member panel failed to find Reverse Domain Name Hijacking although the domain name Parajumpers.com was registered 4 years before the trademark was granted and 3 years before the complainant even registered its own domain name…
Chanel & Adidas/Reebok File More Federal Cybersquatting Lawsuits – 29-Aug-13
Both Chanel and Adidas/Rebook filed federal lawsuits today over domain names.
These are separate suits to the suits Chanel and Adidas filed last week. Both suits as the one’s filed last week, were filed in the Florida Southern District Court…
The NewYorker Mag Covers New gTLDs: “The Great Internet Land Grab” & Calls Mr. Schilling a Squatter – 29-Aug-13
The New Yorker Magazine just did a cover story on the new gTLD program entitled “The Great Internet Land Grab”. “Suddenly reorganizing the way we navigate the web with new strings like .guru, .club, or .google might seem frivolous or strange, but entities like ICANN and its stakeholders insist that they will make the Web more intuitive and user-friendly; an address like AdoptA.dog is slightly more logical than PetAdoptions.com, which is currently occupied by a squatter”…
Analyzing New TLD String Objection Panelists – 29-Aug-13
A breakdown of panelists’ decisions and what went wrong. I’ve called String Confusion Objections a clusterf@ck based on seemingly conflicting opinions by different panelists. It’s clear that which panelist is assigned to a case has a lot to do with the outcome, which is a sign of a poorly designed system. Whether it’s ICANN’s fault […]
How to Crowdsource Choosing a Brandable Domain Name – 29-Aug-13
How will your website stand out among the 145 million + domain names crowding the Internet? The first step is to start with an easily brandable domain name.
Go Daddy Selling Domains Door-to-door in India – 29-Aug-13
Door-to-door sales have helped Go Daddy grow its Indian business by 86%, according to a company press release. The market-leading registrar said today that the remarkable growth has come since it launched a customer support center in Hyderabad a year ago. It’s taken 250,000 calls since then, Go Daddy said. The company also pointed to […]
Name Collisions Comments Call for More gTLD Delay – 29-Aug-13
The first tranche of responses to Interisle Consulting’s study into the security risks of new gTLDs, and ICANN’s proposal to delay a few hundred strings pending more study, is in. Comments filed with ICANN before the public comment deadline yesterday fall basically into two camps: Non-applicants (mostly) urging ICANN to proceed with extreme caution. Many […]

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