In attempt to give everyone wanting an .asia domain name, opening registrations will not be on a "first-come, first-served" basis. This prevents those with automated programs from jumping ahead and registering the best domain names first. Rather, all applications received in a round will be treated equally with an auction required for multiple requests for the same domain name. DotAsia Organization Ltd. will be handling registrations for this regional extension. More

"The prices of domain names have been skyrocketing," according to one of the speakers, Stephen H. Sturgeon, an attorney specializing in domain name investments. "Domain investing is similar to real estate investing," he added, "A well-positioned domain name is an ideal platform for building a 'shopping center' that will market to the world. Limited liability companies are being established to permit investors to joint-venture with domain owners and industry experts to invest in domain name development in order to increase the profitability of good domains and their websites. As the domains are developed, the revenue stream can be increased dramatically - resulting in substantial increases in the asset value."

The auction was conducted by Moniker, a leading domain asset management company.

In 1997 Business.com sold for a measly $150,000, only to sell for $7.5 million two years later in 1999 to eCompanies. At that time there was speculation that eCompanies had lost its marbles.

With media companies Dow Jones and the New York Times speculated as possible suitors for control of Business.com, those same people probably aren't laughing anymore.

From the 1999 purchase to current, eCompanies turned Business.com into a search engine for business related products and services, courting merchants willing to pay a large premium for generated traffic.

Business.com reportedly showed a 50% growth in traffic for their first 2007 quarter and are touting earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $15 million for 2007. More on the story here and here.

CreditCheck.com sold for a cool $3 million with Seniors.com taking in $1.8 million. All together, the auctioned off domains fetched over $10 million. JewishDeli.com, sold for $9,000 even though bidding opened without a reserve. You can review a list of the auctioned domain name registrations and prices paid at Moniker's site

Moniker is holding a silent auction that continues after the live auction with several thousand more domain name registrations available. So the big question now is just how high above $10 million will this Moniker auction go?

Boston emtrepreneurs Andrew Miller and Michael Zapolin have joined together to purchase generic domain names. They recently set their sights on http://www.chocolate.com, owned by a German man who was using the site to display ads for chocolate companies.

Miller and Zapolin knew that properly developed the domain name could be far more valuable. Leaving English voice mails and sending English emails to a man who only spoke German finally garnered the pair a call from an Atlanta lawyer representing the German owner. Miller and Zapolin bought the domain name for $300,000.

In the two years since become proud owners, Miller and Zapolin have built an emporium for chocolate with Chocolatier Magazine as their anchor tenant. With receipes and articles, traffic has already doubled. Miller and Zapolin understand that properly developing a domain name vastly increases its value. Zapolin is the creative of the twosome. He works on expanding their generic sites while Miller is out hunting for the next deal. They believe they are on track to $2 million in revenue for the year with Chocolate.com.

In the domain name purchasing business for some time, Miller and Zapolin purchased Beer.com in 1998 for a mere $80,000, built the domain name property and sold it in less than one year for a cool $7 million.

CreditCards.com was another success for the enterprizing gentlemen, purchasing it for $100,000 in 2003 and again turning it in a year's time for $2.8 million - and yet now they feel they sold out too soon. The domain duo indicate they won't be making that mistake with chocolate.com

TRAFFIC was planning on having Steve Forbes but it turns out he will be out of country during the conference in New York. Hopes are that TRAFFIC can book Forbes for the October 10, 2007 conference in Hollywood, Florida.

Another exciting event at the conference is the domain name registration auction by Moniker.com to be held on June 21, 2007. More than 3,000 valuable domain names are on the list, some with a reserve of more than $1 million (artist.com, auction.com, cats.com, commodities.com and CreditCheck.com to name several) and a few great ones with absolutely no reserve (such as FireEngines.com, JewishDeli.com, MarriageCounselor.com, adorned.com, BackPay.com and a number of good names within the financial industry). A list of domains to be auctioned is available here.

Fortunately for those who cannot attend, absentee bids will be accepted. The auction will also be live on New York Radio Station, WebMaster Radio.fm

Presentations available at the conference are always well attended and reportedly a must attend for those interested in learning more about exciting changes in the domain name industry.

The moral of the story is the importance of this story. That being that in many auctions, bidders don't know who is selling the domain name and therefore cannot even verify ownership. In addition, since domain registrars now offer the option of hiding owner information from the WhoIS database, even if one knows the name of the seller, determining their ownership isn't as easy as it use to be.

Domainers are at the mercy of the auctioneer to verify details hidden from purchasers. And, with such big dollar amounts at stake, there is bound to be attempts at fraud.

At just about any time the India ebay portal lists approximately 120 domain name registrations for sale. eBay India's Corporate Communications Manager Deepa Thomas says the India portal even has a dedicated category for domain names.

10.7 million new domains were registered in the first quarter of 2007. Country code top level domains (ccTLDs) a 5% increase from the final quarter in 2006 with approximately 2 million new registrations. There are currently about 45.6 million ccTLDs registered at the end of first quarter 2007.

As usual the largest increases in registrations were for the .com and .net domain names, increasing 13% from fourth quarter 2006. The final count at the end of first quarter 2007 for .com and .net domain registrations is approximately 69 million, a 28% increase from 1 year previously.

In the emerging market VeriSign highlights the .tv TLD, pointing out that 107.7 million people view online videos regularly and suggests the .tv TLD could receive global recognition as the place to go for rich media.