http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blog Domain Name Law, Buying and Selling Domains, Trademarks, UDRP, Cybersquatting en-us Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:32:16 GMT Tue, 12 May 2009 23:01:33 GMT CF Blogger by DayDream Inc http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss No Email Provided, Use our contact link No Email Provided, Use our contact link http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=370F3A18-EF68-6249-DE0E1DA1236BDE92 Politician Uses Generic Domain (and Wins) Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 Next Austin mayor used AustinLeadership.com as domain name.This past weekend a typically low turnout of about 12% of registered voters in Austin elected Lee Leffingwell as the new mayor. Leffingwell caught my attention early in the campaign when I saw one of his road side placards. Instead of using the domain name LeeLeffingwell.com or LeffingwellforMayor.com, the sign simply read:AustinLeadership.comThis caught my attention because its rare to see a politician use a domain name that doesnt include their name. Think about it. Politicians love themselves. And they need to brand their name in peoples minds so theyll check the correct box at the polls. I contacted Leffingwells office to find out why he chose the generic domain over his own. Although it hasnt responded, I suspect it had to do with the complexity of Leffingwells name. If you whiz by a sign at 50 miles an hour that reads LeffingwellforMayor.com or LeeLeffingwell.com, you are unlikely to remember the correct spelling. But AustinLeadership.com is easy to remember and spell.Leffingwell doesnt own Leffingwell.com, but he does own LeeLeffingwell.com (which is forwarded to AustinLeadership.com).In general, I think politicians should use their names in a domain name unless it is difficult to spell.Parava To Give Tucows Hover Brand a Boost Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 Registrar will take over management of domain names from de-accredited domain registrar.Domain Name Wire has learned that Tucows (AMEX: TCX) will be taking over the management of domain names previously registered at Parava Networks, also known as 10-domains.com. The official announcement is forthcoming from ICANN. Tucows CEO Elliot Noss declined to comment for this story.Parava was de-accredited in April 2009 for a number of infractions, including failure to pay ICANN fees and not escrowing whois data.A source tells Domain Name Wire that a Tucows support representative said the domains will be managed through Tucows direct-to-consumer brand Hover.com. This should give Hover a shot in the arm as it gets off the ground. However, Parava customers should not contact Tucows yet as the company does not have control of the domains. The bulk transfer of domains to Tucows may happen as early as Wednesday. To see when domains have been moved, check the whois record for the domains to see that the registrar has been updated. It may take several hours after this happens for Tucows to be able to actively manage the domains.A number of valuable domain names are registered at Parava. Parava is the registrar for over 30,000 domain names.(Hat Tip to DNInvestigation.)________________________________________Develop Domains, Then Submit to Directories Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 Paid directory submission is critical to jump starting search rankings.So youve developed some of your better domain names. Youve got good content and a nice design. But how do you move up in the search rankings?Most people know that you need (preferably one way) links pointing to your web site to get Googles attention. There are many ways to get these, but most of my SEO friends agree you need to submit to two paid web directories: Yahoo and Best of the Web.Search engines are better at finding new sites now than they were before, but having a directory listing on these sites still seems to matter. When I look at who ranks above me for key terms on a geo web site I recently launched, most of them are listed on both of these directories.But wait, arent web directories antiquated? Doesnt everyone use search instead of directories? Yes, and you should expect little traffic from web directories. But because the links are validated by humans, search engines trust directories. And because the top directories charge a substantial listing fee, search engines trust that they wont be filled with a bunch of spam sites.Yahoo! Directory - Yahoo!s directory is the gold standard, but it will cost you. The fee is $299 per year. Your site is reviewed withinin 7 days.Best of the Web - Best of the Web has been around since 2004 1994, and Googles founders referred to it when they designed their search system. Its generally considered the second most important directory to Yahoo and costs much less. You can either pay $99 per year or $249 for a lifetime listing. BOTW frequently offers coupons and promotion codes. (During May, enter coupon code MAYDAY to save 15%.) ________________________________________Tucows Gets Victory in Domain Dispute Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 Panel refuses to hear case due to lawsuit.Tucows (AMEX: TCX) appears to be joining a chorus of domain name owners who are bypassing UDRP and filing lawsuits in response to domain disputes.In a recent case DNA (Housemarks) Limited, owner of the Dunlop brand famous for automotive tires, filed for arbitration at World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to get the domain name Dunlop.com. Dunlop.com is part of OpenSRS Personal Names Service, which uses thousands of personal last names to offer customized e-mail addresses. Tucows acquired these domain names when it acquired NetIdentity in 2006. After Tucows filed a lawsuit in Ontario Court in order to keep the domain name, it informed WIPO and requested the current case be suspended. DNA argued the case should go forward, but the panelist decided this would be meaningless as its decision wouldnt be implemented and the matter deferred to the courts.Tucows NetIdentity domains have landing pages that describe the e-mail service but also include pay-per-click links. On the Dunlop.com page a message has replaced the pay-per-click links:&We passionately believe that our use of each of our shared domains is a lawful and non-infringing use. The domain names that make up our Personal Names Service are critical business assets, and we will and do defend them when forced to do so.Of course, we greatly prefer communication over litigation, so if you feel that you have a genuine trademark or other legal concern related to our use of one of these shared domain names, please write to (removed email) and we will be more than happy to assist you.Please note that we have a long and successful history of defending our legitimate use of our 40,000+ shared domain names and the many clients who use these domains for their email and web address. This is the same portfolio of domain names that was reviewed and judged to be a non-infringing use of common surnames in Avery Dennison Corp. v. Sumpton, 189 F.3d 868 (9th Cir. 1999), and we continue to win UDRP claims that are filed against our shared domains. ________________________________________My Flight is Booked for Domain Roundtable Monday, May 11th, 2009 Conference should be on your calendar for June.There have been a lot of domain conferences during the first half of this year, and the schedule isnt going to let up before the dog days of summer. Thats why you need to be picky about which shows you attend. Here are my criteria for a good show:1. Fresh, unique content. Im tired of the same panels at the same shows.2. New, unique people. Hey, I love domainers. But I learn the most when Im around a diverse group of people.3. Planning. My pet peeve is receiving a conference schedule two weeks before a show.I think next months Domain Roundtable (june 14-17) will hit all three of these. Im basing this on an already unique show format that focuses on small break out sessions. Im basing this on the location in Washington D.C. Im basing this on Thought Convergences talk of going back to Domain Roundtables roots, when the conference brought in policy makers, government officials, and internet marketers to hang out with us domainers. Although DRT needs to execute well over the next month to make it a success, Im placing my bet on the conference and have booked my ticket. The conference starts on a Sunday evening, so you can come in over the weekend and visit some museums or the capitol. Heck, stop in to see your representative and tell them to keep their hands off your domain names.WhyPark Earnings up 10x for Some Domainers Monday, May 11th, 2009 Company sees earnings boost after acquisition.If you used WhyPark in the past and werent happy with your ad revenue, or havent given it a shot, it may be worth another look. I caught up with WhyPark founder Craig Rowe today to ask him how the transition to new ownership under Parked.com is going.Now that WhyPark gets to use the Parked feed, what has happened to existing customers earnings? Weve seen earnings increase by 10x for many customers and about 7-10x has been the average increase. Its not that its all based on just the better CPCs, but also a combination of better ad coverage in different countries, higher quality ads that yield a better response, and a better inventory of related search terms to show on each page based on Parked.coms historical data. So, the result is that there are more searches, better click-through rates and better paying clicks as well.Other than a better ad feed, what does Parked bring to the table?Expertise, historical data and a team thats tough to beat. Ive always felt that WhyPark has done a good job in bringing new traffic to domains, but previous to the acquisition, we lacked in monetizing that traffic directly. Weve heard from a lot of our customers that theyd start building a sites traffic on WhyPark and then switch it over to Parked.com since they monetize the traffic better than anyone else. So, this has been a nice marriage to bring the traffic and monetization pieces together in one package. There has been some technology of theirs that weve already implemented, like the related terms to display for each domain that have historically performed well. Also, were using their template and categorization technology behind the scenes right now, so customers will be able to bulk manage and setup sites with even greater relevancy. So, rather than showing images that are targeted at a category level, well soon have incredibly focused images on each site, all handled dynamically without a customer needing to manually choose the best template. Weve also adopted the twice monthly payments and are finalizing the integration to add wire, checks and direct deposit options for payment. Over the next 6-12 months, we have a lot in the works to ensure that we leverage each others technologies and people to the fullest. Since WhyPark was your inspiration, why did you decide Parked was the right group to sell to?We were at a point where we felt like we needed to get WhyPark aligned with a leader in monetizing domains. It was the one piece that was holding us back from being a bigger contender in the industry. Parked.com was the only company we approached and they also saw the fit, so we moved quickly. It came down to really two things: the people that run and work for Parked.com and the fact that I constantly hear how well they perform. The technology and monetization piece is obviously huge for our customers and was important in the decision, but I wanted to be able to still be a part of the growth too. So, it was ultimately essential to work with people that I like and trust and would be open to my ideas as we continue to develop WhyPark together. It was also great to be able to bring some people with me from the WhyPark team that helped us grow the company and will continue to do so. Our customers have been very happy since the acquisition, so hopefully it means were doing something right together. ________________________________________Updating Your Business and Life Continuity Plan Monday, May 11th, 2009 How to make sure you dont leave a mess for your family.If you were to get hit by a bus tomorrow, what would happen to your domain names? Would they expire, only for your arch nemesis to pick them up in the drop? Or would you leave your spouse to figure out where all of your bank accounts, credit cards, and web hosting accounts are? Thats why every domainer (or small business owner) should write instructions for their loved ones in the case of an untimely death. I recently updated what I call my Business and Life Continuity Plan. It had been a couple years since doing this and my old one is outdated. Heres what you should include in your plan:1. General overview of how your business makes money.2. Accounts and usernames for all critical systems, such as domain registrars, banks, credit cards, and web hosting.3. Names of people you trust who also understand your business and can help your spouse or family divest of your assets (such as your domain names).I recommend making a copy of the front and back of your credit cards to include with your plan. I hand write most of my plan, because Id rather not have all of my usernames and critical information on my computer.Its also wise to discuss your business with your family so they understand what you do and how it works. Its a lot easier to convey while youre still around to answer questions.________________________________________Refinance.com Is Dark During Refinancing Boom Monday, May 11th, 2009 Valuable mortgage domain name goes unused as interest rates drop below 5%.With 30 year fixed mortgages going for 4.5% in the United States, mortgage refinancing activity has been brisk. But for most of this year a key generic refinancing domain name - refinance.com - has been dark thanks to woes at Homebridge Mortgage Bankers Corp.Legendary domainer Garry Chernoff sold Refinance.com to Homebridge, which later did business as Refinance.com, back in 2005 for just over $700,000. Homebridge did a brisk mortgage business handling more than 7,500 applications in 2006. But the company sputtered from there. Mortgage Lender Implode-o-Meter writes that the company was embroiled in several lawsuits. The company had difficulty meeting payroll last December, and in January lost its New York State license. Last year the ownership record for Refinance.com changed from the companys CEO Nicholas Bratsafolis to a DNS admin, and the site no longer resolves. I couldnt find any bankruptcy filings for the company in New York (where its incorporated), but presumably this asset wont sit dormant forever.The big question is, what would refinance.com sell for in todays market? ________________________________________Slaid Cleaves Knows His Name is Hard to Spell Monday, May 11th, 2009 Texas singer-songwriter registers typos to compensate for difficult name. One of my favorite singer-songwriters is Austin resident Slaid Cleaves. This weekend I went online to buy tickets to his CD release party this coming Saturday, and noticed something interesting. I didnt know his web address, so I typed in his name but I misspelled it. I couldnt remember if his name was spelled Slaid or Slade. It forwarded to the correctly spelled SlaidCleaves.com. Thats smart, but it turns out Cleaves and his team are even smarter than that. They registered several misspellings of his name including:SladeCleaves.comSlaidCleaves.comSladeCleeves.comSlaidCleeves.comAll of these domains forward to his main site at SlaidCleaves.com. He even owns Slaid.com. Its rare to see an artist think about domain names beyond registering a domain for a web site. So my hats off to Slaid, and my wife and I look forward to hearing you Saturday night. ________________________________________Man Claims Rights to .NYC, .Movies, and More Friday, May 8th, 2009 New Yorker says he already uses 118 top level domains.I thought I had heard it all about new TLDs until I read this article in The Villager. Now that a new process for top level domain names is underway, Paul Garrin and his company Name.Space claims that it already owns many top level domain names including .nyc, .food, .sex, .movies, and .hotel.Garrin and his company wanted to launch over nearly 500 top level domain names before ICANN even existed. He then tried to get 118 of them approved by ICANN in 2000, but couldnt get ICANN to budge. Name.Space says it has an alternate root computer system where these top level domain names are used. (Practically speaking, its easy for anyone to set up an alternate root that supersedes existing top level domains on the network.)Jobs, cash flow and tax revenues would all rise when  and if  these domain names are given the official O.K., he said; his company, NAME.SPACE would become a billion-dollar business pouring millions into New Yorks economy.Although its easy to laugh this off, I wonder if other alternate route and non-ICANN approved top level domain services, such as New.net, will challenge the issuance of new TLDs. New Top Level Domain Names Delayed Friday, May 8th, 2009 Applications wont be accepted until early 2010.Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has pushed back its estimated time frame to start accepting applications for new top level domains. ICANN had hoped to accept applications by December 2009, but now admits the process wont start until first quarter of 2010.ICANN hopes to address overarching concerns about new TLDs at its next meeting in Sydney and then publish the third draft of the applicant guidebook in September with a comment period ending in October:ICANN will not be producing a third version of the Applicant Guidebook for new generic top-level domains before its upcoming June meeting in Sydney, Australia. This is because the discussion of overarching issues will continue through the meeting and beyond (as was expected). Publication of a new Guidebook version without addressing these issues might signal that they are not considered important.It seems that the Sydney meeting will be an important one for all internet constituents to attend.ICANN was heavily criticized for publishing the second draft of the guidebook without first addressing four so-called threshold issues, such as protection of trademark owners.________________________________________Patent Filed for Domain Name Securitization Friday, May 8th, 2009 Patent would allow for securitization and trading of domain name portfolios.Gregory Manriquez and Stevan Lieberman of NameDrive have filed a patent for domain name securitization. The patent was filed in November 2008 and published yesterday.The invention, titled Method for Domain Trading, would allow an entity to divide a domain portfolio into a levels of risk, issue bonds or loans on the portfolio, and trade the portfolio on an open exchange. If implemented as described, this method could bring liquidity to a market that is very inefficient.The method would divide a domain name portfolio into risk levels such as high, medium, and low. Risk factors could include domain TLD, vertical, pay-per-click performance over time, size of portfolio, and origin of domain traffic.Each tranche would then be valued mostly on monthly revenue generation and growth. The portfolio owner would then be given a loan on the portfolio, and this loan can be traded on an open market. Although securitization has gotten a bad wrap thanks to the mortgage meltdown, in theory it creates financial flexibility and could push the domain name industry to the next level. ________________________________________2 Easy Changes for Better Earnings at Sedo Parking Friday, May 8th, 2009 Peter Askew gives two simple tips for increasing domain parking earnings at Sedo.by Peter AskewAt first, I was a domain parking newbie. I understood the business model, but always held a firm belief that development was the only way.But, as the crack-like addiction of domaining consumed me, I began to realize the importance of parking, and the extra monetary lift it can contribute to a domain business - both from parked revenue, as well as re-sale.Sedo became my marketplace of choice. As a noobie, though, I wandered aimlessly through the user interface. Id upload new domains to test and fail to properly target and design each one. Targeting and design werent an entirely difficult task to implement, just tasks that Sedo - in my opinion - doesnt quite provide enough guidance regarding.Once I identified the method for those changes it helped triple my click-through rate and cemented parking as a viable option versus domain development.So, rather than quarantine this info in my head as tribal knowledge, Andrew was kind enough to let me share here. 2 Easy Steps to Better Earnings at Sedo Parking:1. Keyword targeting - When new names are submitted to Sedo parking, targeting for those pages typically revolves around the key terms in the domain name. If your domain name is PetersSultryMassageParlor.com, Sedo would tend to key advertisements off the the massage parlor topic. But if your domain name is mangled, is an acronym, and/or doesnt properly describe the domain and the type of traffic it receives, Sedo will tend to oddly target ads for the page. And - as you can guess - oddly targeted ads receive fewer clicks, and fewer clicks means lower revenue for your business.This is easy to fix, though. Login to your account, and on the left navigation under Domain Parking, click Optimizer. Within Optimizer, locate your domain name, and under the Master Keyword column next to your name, type the proper targeted keyword(s).2. Page Design - Initially, my slow mental aptitude led me to believe the default Sedo page design was one I couldnt adjust, or change. Another easy change, though. Within the same Optimizer section referenced above, identify the drop-down box on the same row as your domain. Located inside are several page design templates you can choose from. Me, Im preferential to the Retro Green template. To view how the template might appear, make the selection, then click the magnifying glass image. The other great option (within those additional templates) is the ability to include a self-selected image on the parked page. To do that, simply click the person icon under the Photo column, dig through all the category files, and make your choice.Once your keywords have been input, your template identified, and photo chosen, return to the Optimizer page and save all your settings. The changes should update within a few minutes.Like I said, these small changes helped triple my CTR rate in Sedo. And small changes like that help scratch together more pennies to - you guessed it - buy more domains.Peter Askew, a sometimes writer on DNW, is an Ole Miss alum and relative newcomer to the domain name industry. He loves geo domain names and can currently be found plugging away on his newest project, Land Between The Lakes.________________________________________Sprint.com Has a Big Security Hole Friday, May 8th, 2009 Hacking into Sprint.com user accounts is amazingly easy.Ive had my problems with SprintPCS customer service in the past, but I never thought theyd compromise my account security so easily. But if someone can figure out my username and the answer to a simple challenge question, theyre home free to access my account and change the password. They dont even need to use an e-mail confirmation to change it. Heres what I discovered when I needed to change my password this morning:1. Click on the link to reset your password2. Enter your username. Usernames are generally unsecure and easy to guess. The focus is always on strong passwords, not usernames.3. The next screen requires you to either enter an account pin or answer a security question. You know those questions such as what is your mothers maiden name? These questions are usually dead simple and easy for someone to find out, such as what city were your born in?.4. I assumed the next step would be for me to go to my email and look for a confirmation link. But thats not the case. Sprint.com forwards you to a Nextel.com web address where you can change your password and automatically logon!I reset my password through this process about 20 minutes ago and havent received a notification from Sprint via e-mail about a password change. Isnt this internet security 101?________________________________________Moniker Auction Bargains: You Couldnt Have Them Friday, May 8th, 2009 Just because someone got a bargain yesterday doesnt mean you could have gotten the same deal.By all accounts, there were some good deals in yesterdays Moniker domain name auction. You may look at some of these final prices and think the buyer got a good deal:Entrepreneurs.info $650OrderManagementSystem.com $600CompanyDatabase.com $665GiftCertificates.info $777TechnologyCareers.com $1050But heres the rub: if you wanted to buy these domains at these prices you would have been out of luck. I know, because I tried to buy them. If I would have kept bidding, these prices would have gone higher. Some would have risen to the point that they may have no longer been considered good values. Consider TechnologyCareers.com. With the number of advertisers and searches for this term, I think its easily worth a couple thousand as an investment (and much more to someone with a development plan). I bid it up to $1,050. Each time I placed a bid another bidder took it a step higher. Who knows, perhaps that person would have bid all the way to $2,000, $3,000, or $4,000. At that point it may not have been a great deal.(I walked away with four domains in yesterdays auction, including Comptroller.com.) So dont kick yourself if you see a domain that you think went for below market value. If you entered into the bidding war, the price would have been higher than what you see.DNW Interview: Jason Davis, the Jobs Domain Master Thursday, May 7th, 2009 Jason Davis has success with domain names by focusing on a niche he knows.When I interviewed Harry Joiner about his purchase of CEOjobs.com, he told me the real story isnt me. Its Jason Davis, who sold the domain to me.Jason Davis certainly has a story to tell. Over the past decade he has amassed and sometimes developed one of the finest portfolios of niche job domains in the world. He bought Recruiting.com for $75,000 in 2002. His wife called him crazy until he turned around and sold it to Jobster in 2006. In an interview with Domain Name Wire, he discusses how he got into domains, how he sells domains to end users, and how he values a domain name.When and why did you start registering job related domain names?In 1997 I read an article in a recruiting newsletter. Someone asked what a good domain name would be for a recruiting firm. A guy answered and said if you recruit software engineers, softwarejobs.com would be a great name. The bells started ringing in my head and I ran to the computer. The first name I registered was hardwarejobs.com because I recruited electrical engineers designing circuits - also known as a hardware engineer. By the end of the night I was the proud owner of a lot of names. (SoftwareJobs.com was registered and in use.)Youve sold some of your domains to end users. How did you approach them and convince them to buy the domains?In the 90s I bought analogjobs.com because I recruited analog design engineers. There are significant fees paid for the successful hire of an analog design engineer. Two years ago, I decided I no longer needed the name and made a phone call to Texas Instruments. They pay huge sums of money in fees to recruiters. I explained why this domain name would deliver benefit to them if they were to develop the name. They saw the value and I told them I wanted 3 placement fees for the name. They ended up paying over $60k. Texas Instruments did not build out the name and today it is a redirect to their analog employment section. All the names that I have sold for over 20k have been situations where I called the company or person and explained why I felt that they would benefit from the domain name.How do you value domain names?I usually assign a value based on what can be done with the name and the economics that surround the industry. For example, I own CircuitJobs.com. If you are a recruiter who places circuit design engineers, its a perfect name to start a blog with to write about the searches you are doing, the trends in the industry, and interviews with some of the industry leaders. You will make placements and generate new clients. So, if you take a salary of a senior circuit design engineer, say 100k, the fee for this hire to a recruiter should be somewhere between 20 and 30k. If I sell the name to you for 30k, one placement covers the cost. It was the same logic that made me comfortable paying 35k for SemiconductorJobs.com a long time ago, which I made quite a few placements from. Its no longer an active site but I would never let it go for less than 150k. Are you buying domain names?Ill consider buying a domain if I think I can get 20-30 percent return on investment each year. If the name is 500 bucks and I like it, Ill buy it. At the 2k mark, I need a plan for it. At 10k or more its a big belief in market trends.Are you actively trying to sell any of your domains?I have about 150 domain names. Some of the ones Im looking to sell are WirelessJobs.com, jobTV.com, StartupJobs.com, and GraphicsJobs.com. Right now I spend a lot of my time running RecruitingBlogs.com.Tamiflu Maker Goes After Swine Flu Domain Names Thursday, May 7th, 2009 Tamiflu maker files for arbitration to get swine flu domain names.Roche, maker of flu medicine Tamiflu, has filed two separate arbitration cases with World Intellectual Property Organization to get domain names related to its brand that are taking advantage of the swine flu outbreak.The first case is for swineflutamiflu.com and tamifluswineflu.com. Both domain names were registered last month by eComplex Corporation in Chicago. The domain names are parked.The second case is for swine-flu-tamiflu.com and tamiflu-swine-flu.com. These domain names are owned by a Florida man who is using them for lead capture. The web site at these two domain names reads in part:Tamiflu and Relenza are both in extemely short supply in most parts of the United States, UK, and Europe. Many conspiracy theorists speculate that this is because of government foreknowledge and the result of some sort of devious plan, but its most likely due to the recent Avian flu scare and leftover shortages from that Pandemic.We currently offer 2 sources for Tamiflu and Relenza, both of which can be ordered online and shipped directly to your door, often within merely days. If you are interested in purchasing Tamiflu or Relenza for Swine Flu today, please contact us using the form below, and well respond to your inquiries as fast as possible.________________________________________Demand Media to ICANN: Hurry Up Thursday, May 7th, 2009 Company one of few to suggest IRT timeline is OK.Demand Media has been transparent about its desire to launch new top level domain names and to move the process along quickly. So it doesnt come as any surprise that it wants ICANN to push forward through recommendations from the Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT) in a swift fashion. Most began started their comments to IRT by complaining about a short (about 1 week) comment period for IRTs drastic overhaul of trademark protection in domain names. Even Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA), which represents trademark interests, blasted ICANN with a press release titled ICANNs Poor Governance Disappoints CADNA.Demand Media, on the other hand, sees no problem with a rush job. In its comments to ICANN about the IRTs recommendations, the company wrote:We dont believe the time frame for IRT deliberations is overly tight. Most, if not all, of the issues being raised now have been discussed for many years within ICANN.You can see Demand Medias comments here.________________________________________National Arbitration Forums Surprise Response to IRT Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 UDRP arbitration forum makes surprising remarks about Implementation Recommendation Team findings.That National Arbitration Forum would be opposed to Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URSS), a fast-track UDRP-like process, comes as no surprise. After all, it would destroy 90% of NAFs and World Intellectual Property Organizations domain dispute business. But NAF went above and beyond in comments to ICANN about URSS, suggesting that perhaps UDRP has gradually moved away from what it was supposed to accomplish:The URSS is supposed to deal with abusive uses of trademarks where there is no genuine question as to the infringing or abusive use of a mark in a domain name. However, this is exactly the purpose of the UDRP. If the IRT reads the comments from the drafters of the UDRP, and looks at the items listed in UDRP Paragraph 4(c), in particular, its clear that the UDRP was not designed to deal with any situation where a Respondent might possibly have a claim to the domain name. Complainants have pushed, and Panelists have taken the opportunity, over time, to broaden the scope of the UDRP, but it started out as a mechanism only for clear cut cases of cybersquatting.Read that again: the UDRP was not designed to deal with any situation where a Respondent might possibly have a claim to the domain name.Just over the past week alone Ive written about several such cases, such as Filta.com, RuggedSwitch.com, DEACOM.com, and Versa.com.Read NAFs entire response here (pdf).UPDATED: Marchex Revenue Sinks, Sells $1M in Domain Names Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 Earnings miss estimates while company sells $1M in non-strategic domain names.Online advertising company Marchex (NASDAQ: MCHX) missed analysts adjusted earnings estimates by 3 cents per share, earning only 2 cents per share in the first quarter of 2009. Analysts had predicted earnings of 5 cents per share. Revenue fell 28% compared to the same quarter last year, coming in at only $26.6 million.During the quarter Marchex sold $1M worth of domain names:In addition, during the quarter, Marchex sold a small number of non-strategic domains that yielded nearly $1 million. There is still significant demand for high quality domains and Marchex believes that will remain the case in 2009 and beyond.[Updated 5-7-09] On yesterdays investor conference call, Marchex CEO Russell Horowitz said the company is stepping up efforts to sell some of its domain names.Marchexs domain portfolio consists mainly of domain names gained when the company acquired Yun Yes Ult Search portfolio for over $100M. The company focuses on local advertising and uses a proprietary ad network of 70,000 advertisers in addition to a Yahoo advertising feed.CEOJobs.com Purchase was No-Brainer for Headhunter Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 Recruiter Harry Joiner just bought CEOJobs.com. Heres why.Recruiter Harry Joinerbought CEOJobs.com.E-commerce headhunter Harry Joiner just bought the domain name CEOjobs.com for five figures from Jason Davis, a former recruiter who holds one of the worlds best portfolios of jobs related domain names.Why did Joiner plunk down five figures for the domain? The driver behind the purchase can be summed up in one word: relevance, said Joiner. In a rapidly changing industry, Joiner knows that some things wont change. CEOJobs.com wont become irrelevant. In ten years well have CEOs and well have jobs, he said. I bought an opportunity more than a domain name.Joiner knows the value of good domain names. A few years ago he bought the domain name MarketingHeadhunter.com and has seen the benefits of a good domain first-hand. People call me the marketing headhunter because I bought the domain name, said Joiner. If you go to marketingheadhunter.com, under my picture youll see click here to download my vcard. My vcard has been downloaded nearly 19,000 times since 2005.A good domain brings immediate credibility to Joiner.Recruiting is about two things: trust and credibility, he said. The right domain, in addition to being incredibly SEO friendly, can become a powerfully clutter-busting brand in and of itself. In my case, such a brand will help me attract higher quality, genuinely motivated candidates  and it will give me a powerful advantage with my clients in terms of my credibility.Joiner doesnt yet know exactly how he will use CEOjobs.com. He may create a job board or social network application. Either way, hes sure he made the right move and paid a fair price. I couldnt worry about whether I was overpaying for it, said Joiner. I had to concentrate on what the domain is worth to me. In the words of Warren Buffet, price is what you pay and value is what you get. When it comes to acquisitions, its better to be vaguely right than precisely wrong.Hyperlocal News Trend Benefits GeoDomainers Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 As startup local news organizations launch, geo domainers are well positioned.CNN published a story yesterday titled Future of online news may be hyperlocal. The story discusses the crop of news sites popping up to fill the void not addressed by traditional media and the void left when local newspapers disappear. Geo domain owners are well positioned to take advantage of both the fall of traditional media and hyperlocalization. It was one of the key themes at the 2009 GeoDomain Expo. The article mentions former newspaper writers forming online news startups such as the Seattle PostGlobe. One of PostGlobes writers spoke on a panel at GeoDomain Expo.As I survey the business opportunity in the wreckage of the local newspaper, Ive realized that trying to do what the traditional newspaper did  be everything to everyone  is not the way to go. The goal should be to focus on a particular niche of news, even if its for just within one city. In fact, Ive been hatching a startup idea over the past few days that will do just that.(Thanks to Domain Capital for the tip.) ________________________________________Moniker Silent Auction Needs Fixing Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 Platform needs major changes to accommodate extended auctions.Over the past couple days Ive sorted through Monikers domain names in its TRAFFIC extended online auction. There are some great domains at relatively low prices. But be forewarned: participating in the auction may result in a migraine.The first problem is there are too many domain names (over 5,000). Many of them are great domains, but theres a lot of crap in there. Low priced crap, but crap nonetheless. Moniker needs to appease its customers, but should seriously consider limiting the extended auction to 500 domains or so. Otherwise its doing a disservice to both its sellers and buyers.But the biggest problem is the Snapnames platform. It simply wasnt built for this type of auction. Monikers old marketplace platform was much better for this purpose. Here are my gripes:1. You have to click through 57 pages to see all of the domains, even if you extend each page to the maximum 100 domains. You also cant sort by category. Moniker has a spreadsheet available for download that includes categories, but it uses reserve ranges for pricing rather than the actual price. When youre looking at a domain with a reserve range between $0-$5,000, it matters if the domain is $300 or $4,500. The SnapNames site includes the actual price.2. Cant jump to page. As I clicked through to the 32nd page of listings, I got a server error. There was no way to pick up where I left off because theres no feature to go to pay 32 of 573. I ended up starting at page 57 and working backward.3. Adding a domain to the watch list refreshes the entire page.4. When you view your watchlist, the domain prices arent visible.5. The SnapNames interface requires you to add a domain you want to bid on to your cart and then check out. It makes no sense for an auction like this.Moniker has a good thing going, but it should prioritize making fixes to its SnapNames site for extended auctions.UDRP Arbitration: A Case of Laziness? Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 Filta.com case calls into question (lack of) incentives of UDRP arbitrators.I recently read through documents related to Filta.com, a domain name awarded to the complainant in a National Arbitration Forum case on April 23.The case is disturbing on a number of fronts. If you just read the decision, youd think this was a fairly simple case (although youd probably wonder how a trademark to the term Filtafry gives you rights to the name Filta).But what really happened is disturbing. The respondent Donnacha Mac Gloinn submitted a detailed response to the complaint. Apparently it was received 44 minutes past the deadline for consideration. Rules are rules, and it was late. But an arbitrator can choose to consider a late filing, and they usually do if it includes information vital to the case. In this case, arbitrator Louis E. Condon ignored the filing, even though he postponed providing a ruling on the case for a week due to extraordinary circumstances. (Condon was also the arbitrator for the controversial Versa.com case. He has found his last 50 plus cases in favor of the complainant. Two phone numbers found online for Condon were disconnected.)It would seem that if you were to delay a case for a week because of your own circumstances, you would cut someone slack on being 44 minutes late. But the incentive for a UDRP panelist is to just take the payment and issue a simple ruling, usually in favor of the complainant. The evidence in the response was substantial and would have made the case very complicated.Its a frustrating case for Mac Gloinn, especially since the complainant made several claims in its filing that are either questionable or clearly incorrect.-Mac Gloinn alleged in his response that the complainant (The Filta Group, Inc.) didnt have the trademark for Filtafry and provides detailed reasoning; Filta claimed the trademark holder was a predecessor. Regardless of the merit of this issue, its something the arbitrator would have normally considered.-Filta provided a print out of a DomainTools whois record for Filta.com. It said DomainTools was an online marketplace for selling domains, so it claimed this was proof that Mac Gloinn wanted to sell the domain. (In Filtas additional submission, it said it misunderstood DomainTools, but that since DomainTools showed that the domain was registered at ResellOne.net, it was proof that the domain was for sale.)-The complainant said Mac Gloinn had Sedo contact it to offer to sell the domain. Documents provided by Mac Gloinn prove that the complainant used Sedo to contact the owner previously. -Filtas complaint included this line:In an email response to a communication from Complainant before the Complaint was filed, Respondent said on November 13, 2008 that the domain name was currently not being used and had not been since it was purchased in 2002 (See a copy of the Respondents e-mail attached hereto as Exhibit E)This quote does now exist in the exhibit.When Mac Gloinn pointed this out in his response, Filta wrote Filta acknowledges misusing quotation marks in paraphrasing Respondents words. Condon didnt consider the additional submission by Filta, citing lack of payment with the submission. But the payment was actually received by National Arbitration Forum. Filta declined to comment for this story.Im not sure which way the case would have gone had all of the facts been considered. But domain names are important, and it seems that UDRP arbitrators dont always treat them that way. To be sure, UDRP arbitrators are underpaid when they work on complicated cases. Perhaps thats what needs to be fixed.1 and 2 Character .Biz Domain Names Face Delays Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 NeuStar asks for prompt approval of plan to release one and two character .biz domain names..Biz registry NeuStar has sent a letter to ICANN expressing its disappointment that the ICANN board delayed approving the release of one and two character .biz domain names (pdf).According to the letter, the ICANN board was supposed to vote on NeuStars proposal at its April 23 meeting but time ran out before a vote was held. NeuStar wants to request proposals from parties interested in registering one and two character domain names to ensure they are used in a way that promotes the .biz brand. The company says any money earned from the release of these domain names will be funneled back into promotion of the .biz domain. Some of this will be used to pay registrars to promote .biz (this is a common promotion practice). The letter spells out some of the difficulties facing registries for new top level domain names:If there is any concern among ICANN Board members about a financial windfall to NeuStar or whether approval of the .BIZ proposal somehow sets a precedent for similar auctions in market-dominant TLDs, we urge you to consider the realities of the marketplace. Under the Registry/Registrar construct designed by ICANN, registries like .BIZ are reliant on marketing by registrars. Given that .BIZ has such a small percentage of the market, registrars are generally reluctant to spend marketing dollars on the promotion of .BIZ relative to .COM. Smaller registries like .BIZ require greater flexibility relative to those with market dominance, particularly when registrars demand greater compensation to promote our brand to registrants. Therefore, any proceeds derived from the .BIZ auction would be used to make up for this shortfall by registrars and to engage in branding efforts at the registry level.Theres Something About Cameron Diaz Domain Name Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 Actress files for arbitration to get CameronDiaz.com.Cameron Diaz has joined a slate of celebrities to recently file for arbitration to get domain names. Yesterday a case commenced at National Arbitration Forum for the domain name CameronDiaz.com. The domain name is currently parked at SmartName with links to Cameron Diaz Actress, Entertainment, and Celebrity Posters. The domain names whois record shows that it is owned by a Canadian company.Diaz is famous for roles in Theres Something About Mary, The Mask, and Shrek.A number of celebrities have filed arbitration cases recently. Jay Leno just filed to get three domain names, comedian Jim Carrey is going after JimCarrey.com, and Alien star Sigourney Weaver is fighting for SigourneyWeaver.com.Elizabeth Taylor just won her second attempt to capture the domain name ElizabethTaylor.com. The domain owner decided to hand the domain over when it received the UDRP.GeoDomain Auction Ends Today with at least $200k Sales Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 Extended geo domain name auction ends today starting at noon pacific daylight time.DomainConsultants GeoDomain auction ends today, with lots starting to close at 12 pm PDT. Already the auction is shaping up to be a success thanks to some high dollar domains receiving bids ahead of the closing bell.Longhorn.com has a $35,000 bid, Ponce.com has a bid at $21,000, and SantaClarita.com is $30,000. An auction for Reserve.com, which ironically started with no reserve, has been bid up to $22,000 with 39 bids.DomainConsultant added a number of domain names over the past week, and many of them have no reserve. Among the domain names that are currently $150 or less are:CasperJobs.comeGainesville.comKentuckyDebtRelief.com (this is my domain)Money.travelMyMaryland.comSeeAZ.comStCroixVirginIslands.comTorranceLoans.comVacationInVegas.comOf all of these low priced domains, I like MyMaryland.com the best.________________________________________dotMobis WordPress Mobile Begs a Question Monday, May 4th, 2009 dotMobi releases new WordPress Mobile Pack. Makes you wonder, why do we need the .mobi TLD?dotMobi, the registry behind the .mobi top level domain name, released the WordPress Mobile Pack this past week. Its a plugin for Wordpress users that renders your blog well on mobile screens. There are a number of plugins that do this already (Domain Name Wire uses one), but dotMobis has more features. Like similar plugins, this tool will identify that a visitor is on a mobile phone or device and render the web page appropriately.Doesnt this beg the question, if we have tools like this, why do we need .mobi anyway? Well, yes. All you need is domain.com. When I first heard about .mobi several years ago I thought it was the one new TLD that made sense. What I didnt know is that technology would mean that creating both a mobile and standard browsing experience using different domain names didnt make sense. And I think this plugin admits this.The plugin will let you forward to a different, mobile friendly URL such as domain.mobi or mobile.domain.com if you want. But that isnt the point of .mobi. I have domainnamewire.mobi, but it forwards to domainnamewire.com and renders a mobile page using a plugin. Theres really no point to having the .mobi version.They Dont Get It and The Emperors New Clothes Monday, May 4th, 2009 Domainers must put facts and numbers behind blanket statements.In the domain name industry, many people lambaste companies that dont buy generic, category-killer domain names and say they just dont get it. Some companies, such as Advertise.com and Real Estate Disposition Corporation clearly analyzed the business case and decided it was worth spending significant money to get a great domain name.But its naive to say that companies that dont have a great domain name like this dont get it. I frequently hear people, who try to sell a domain name to end users without success, say they just dont get it.Ahem. Maybe you dont get it.You cant go around saying domain name xyz is worth millions to a particular company. You need to back it up with facts.It reminds me of the fable The Emperors New Clothes. The emperor is told that only people who get it will see his great new clothes, when really he is not wearing any. The same thing happened at Enron, when people who didnt get it were laughed out of the room.Youre questioning the business model? theyd say. Then you just dont get it.The same thing goes for domain names. If a company isnt buying your domain name, then you havent made a good enough case for it. Have you created a detailed, numbers-driven analysis of how this will help them? Have you provided case studies from other companies that have purchased big dollar domains? Next time youre frustrated that a company doesnt seem to get it, ask yourself if perhaps you are the one who doesnt get it.NameDrive NDX Marketplace Tops 100,000 Domain Names Monday, May 4th, 2009 Inventory builds quickly at new domain name aftermarket.Less than a week after launching, NameDrives NDX domain name marketplace has over 100,000 domain name listings. About a third of the domain names are .de domain names, followed by .info, .com, .org, and .co.uk. All sales are commission free through the end of May. After that, most domain names will carry a 7% commission or as low as 3% for domains parked at NameDrive. NDX is an extension of NameDrives existing domain products. The company is mostly known for its domain parking platform, but has done a steady business selling domain names through its Park & Sell platform in the past and sold millions of dollars worth of domain names in 2008. One notable feature of NDX is the ability for sellers to link their parking stats for each domain to show how much traffic and revenue they make on NameDrive.Jay Leno Tries to Tackle Cybersquatting Problem Monday, May 4th, 2009 Comedian files claims for three domain names, but still hasnt done anything with JayLeno.comComedian Jay Leno has filed claims with World Intellectual Property Organization to get three domain names: jaylenoshow.com, weeknightswithjayleno.com, and thejaylenoshow.com. Now if only hed do something with JayLeno.com, which he picked up last year.JayLenoShow.coms whois record is protected by domain privacy and is parked at HitFarm. Weeknightswithjayleno.com is owned by a Wisconsin man. A phone call to the phone number in whois for the domain name went to a voice mail recording for a roofing company.TheJayLenoShow.com is registered to real estate agent Javier Zambrano in Katy, Texas, and the domain name forwards to his real estate web site.Contacted by phone this morning, Zambrono said hes going to fight the claim in arbitration. He says the domain name doesnt bring him any additional real estate business.Nobody looking for homes is going to go to that domain, said Zambrono. He claims there was no trademark on the name when he registered it.Lenos employer and NBC parent company GE picked up the domain name JayLeno.com last year from Anything.com Ltd., the same company that coughed up JerrySeinfeld.com when comedian Jerry Seinfeld realized he wasnt really master of his domain. (No arbitration was filed for JayLeno.com, so the circumstances of the transfer to GE are unknown.)The kicker: GE hasnt done anything with the domain name nor its nameservers, and it still resolves to an old unofficial fan site. Even more humorous is that NBCs web site rates Jay Leno fan sites. One of the sites it rates is JayLeno.com.Someone should teach GE how to set up domain forwarding.________________________________________Companies Promote Their New Domains: Auction.com and Advertise.com Monday, May 4th, 2009 Instant brand recognition and credibility come with two generic domain names.This Sunday I took the local newspaper out of its wrapper and saw this sticky note on the front page:It caught my attention. Real Estate Disposition Corporation bought the domain name Auction.com in March for $1.7M. Had the sticky note in the paper read USHomeAuction.com, the companys old domain name, it certainly would have garnered less attention and trust.Another company to recently buy a premium generic domain name, Advertise.com, is also experiencing the benefits of its new brand. My inbox this morning had this e-mail: Advertise.com Advertiser Weekly Stats Report. It certainly caught my attention more than the companys old brand, ABCsearch.com.Both Real Estate Disposition Corporation and ABCSearch realized that not having a category killer domain name was holding them back from realizing their full potential. Its good to see these companies reaping immediate benefits from their new domain names.A Brief History of SwineFlu.com Friday, May 1st, 2009 SwineFlu.com has jumped from owner to owner, much like the virus.When the media started shouting about swine flu, I knew it was only a matter of time before people would start snapping up swine flu-related domain names. But the most popular domain  SwineFlu.com  was registered all the way back in 2000.The domain is currently owned by Blue String Ventures, Inc. in Henderson Nevada. Until recently the domain name was monetized by a parking page, but the owners now have an information site monetized through Google Adsense.Blue String Ventures bought the domain name from a familiar face in the domain industry, Jarred Cohen. The transfer was completed on April 28. (Cohen declined to comment for this story, and Blue String Ventures did not return a phone call and e-mail).According to historical records at DomainTools, Cohen bought the domain name in late 2005 or early 2006. In October 2005 the domain name was owned by a Pennsylvania man, who appears to have bought the domain name that year from another person in Pennsylvania.None of these people could have anticipated how popular the term swine flu would become in 2008. But Im sure the domains hit counter is spinning.________________________________________Refreshing Discourse from a Domain Name Arbitrator Friday, May 1st, 2009 Dissenting arbitrator says many domain arbitration panels are missing the point.A recent WIPO domain name dispute for RuggedSwitch.com was found in favor of the complainant (read case). But one of the three arbitrators on the case Diane Cabell  dissented, and her dissent puts into words the frustrations many people have about how UDRP cases are being handled:The Complaint should fail under Section 4(c)(i) because the Respondent was using the Domain Name to offer bona fide goods and services prior to notice of the complaint. Complainants remedy is in court, not here.This is a dispute between two competitors from different countries. The term rugged switch is a descriptive term used in their industry. Respondent registered the Domain Name for the purpose of using the descriptive term to describe the goods it was selling. That use is a legitimate interest. At the time the Domain Name was registered, Complainant held one design mark registration in Canada and, according to its US mark registration, had begun using the term as a mark in the US a few months earlier but it is not clear from the record that it had perfected any rights nor had it yet applied for a US registration. Design marks are distinguishable from text marks. Design mark rights exist only in combination with the design. A domain name contains no design elements. At that point in time, it would seem that Respondent violated no trademark rights when it registered the Domain Name.Moreover, Complainants later US mark applications were rejected as descriptive for switches. Complainant amended its application to eliminate the class of goods involving switches and was subsequently issued a registration. This again, reinforces the lack of any mark rights sufficient to prevent the use of the term as intended by the Respondent.Before the UDRP was developed, the domain dispute policy applicable to .com domains gave sole and exclusive right to a domain name to the owners of trademarks, regardless of the type of mark, its jurisdiction or of any competing rights that a domain registrant might have (local rights to use, design versus text, common law mark rights, reseller, etc.). The UDRP was designed to address that inequity and to allow panelists to frame decisions on the equities in each case including recognition of local rights and privileges. It was designed to address the fairly limited situation of cybersquatting in which a knowing registrant specifically targeted a known mark owner in an attempt to extract value directly from that owners mark.Today, many panels will find proof of all three of the Policys elements simply from the existence of a mark of any kind with arguments that any mark is by definition identical or confusingly similar, that any use by any party other than a mark owner can only be illegitimate, and that bad faith necessarily exists if there is no legitimate interest.That takes us back to the beginning, which I find disheartening.Disheartening, indeed.If you track UDRP cases, its worth noting that the lead arbitrator on this panel was Matthew S. Harris. Hes been involved in some other questionable cases lately, including aubert.com (which was owned by Tucows and also had a dissenting opinion) and unofficialblackberrystore.com. ________________________________________3 Online Domain Name Auctions Going on at Once Friday, May 1st, 2009 Take advantage of lots of inventory to get good deals.There are three online domain name auctions going on right now, and that doesnt include the regular auctions such as Sedo. Im talking about the silent version of three live auctions held in the past two weeks: DomainConsultants GeoDomain Auction, Rick Latonas TRAFFIC auction, and the Moniker auction. This means theres a lot of inventory out there and lots of good deals. You just need to look for them.GeoDomain AuctionDomainConsultant added even more domain names to the auction yesterday, including Reserve.com (ironically at no reserve). At this pace the after auction may sell more domains than the live one. The auction ends May 5. Go to Aftermarket.com to bid.Rick Latona AuctionThe Rick Latona auction continues through May 6 and includes domains that didnt sell in the original auction as well as some new ones. Bidding is online at proxibid.com/ricklatona.MonikerMonikers auction includes 5,000 domain names. Many of them arent worth the price even at no reserve, but there are hundreds priced very competitively. Bidding takes place online at Snapnames through May 7. Domain Name News Tue, 12 May 2009 23:01:33 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=370F3A18-EF68-6249-DE0E1DA1236BDE92 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=1A4402B6-1422-B034-2307B40C786883CE Domain Name renewal scams are not new. For years owners of domain name registrations have received emails or faxes indicating one or more of their domain registrations are up for renewal.The average business owner who doesn't pay much attention or may not even remember what registrar holds their domain registration may see the notice and believe it is an invoice. Unwittingly, that owner has just changed his registrar.Domain Name Wire reports yet a new scam this one a bit more nefarious than just a scam switch to a new registrar. The link in the email takes you to DomainRenewal-online.com (which we assume will be shut down soon after the news spreads), offers to renew your domain for 1 year for a whopping $69.95 and provides a non-secure form for you to insert your private information.If this isn't bad enough, after providing your private information in an open form, you are taken to another non-secure page with a framed credit card authorization.Protect your domains and your private information by dealing only directly with your domain name registrar. Make sure that if you are asked to provide private information (such as name, address, email address, etc.) that the form is secure (indicated by a lock in the address bar). Never input credit card or other financial data in a non-secure form. Do not attempt to pass this information through non-encrypted email either.If you receive a domain registration renewal notice which you are unsure about, either login to your domain registration account with your current registrar, or contact them with questions. Domain Name News Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:13:58 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=1A4402B6-1422-B034-2307B40C786883CE http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=0A2A2954-1422-B034-2351E3741C9FF7F7 Stand-up comedian Keith Malley from Brooklyn, New York was ordered to turn over "TheSimpsonsMovie.com to Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation on July 22, 2007 by an arbitrator from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).Using the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) instituted by ICANN, the WIPO arbitrator found that Malley had no legitimate right to the domain name. Malley originally used the domain name for "off-color" and "sexually explicit" comedy depictions of Simpson TV characters.When Fox contacted Malley about the domain, Malley offered to sell it to Fox for $50,000. At that point Fox inlisted the WIPO, alleging Malley's domain name registration was confusingly similiar to Fox's numerous US and global trademarks involving "The Simpsons" television show.UDRP lists three elements of proof for claims that a domain name has been abusively registered:The specified domain is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark held by complainant; the owner of the disputed domain name has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name; and the domain name registration is in bad faith. The WIPO arbitrator found a bad faith registration, stating that Malley was well aware of Fox's trademarks, the registered domain name was confusingly similar to Fox's trademarks and Malley had no rights to use "TheSimpsons" since he did not have permission and did not have a connection to Fox. Domain Disputes Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:11:48 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=0A2A2954-1422-B034-2351E3741C9FF7F7 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=005CF722-1422-B034-23CC61823FA3465E Forbes Magazine ran a story in late June 2007 about the recent auction held by Moniker at the NY TRAFFIC conference.Also listed in the article are the five most expensive web addresses which currently are: Beer.com $7 million, Business.com $7.5 million, Diamonds.com $7.5 million, Porn.com $9 million and Sex.com $12 million.Forbes points out the generic keyword domain names can be quite lucrative, especially since online ads have been increasing by 30% a year. Many websites offering news and information operate on ad revenue collected.As with real estate, location is also important on the Internet. In the case of the Internet, location is determined by an easy to remember web address, a generic term that people use to find information and a well developed website the keeps users returning.It's important to note that very few domain names sell in the 6 or 7 figures; in fact very few sell for 5 figures. The unusual stories of domain names selling in the millions only highlights the fact that a well chosen domain name, appropriately developed, can and does bring a good return whether you sell it or use advertising to support its operations. Domain Name News Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:31:06 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=005CF722-1422-B034-23CC61823FA3465E http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F5D26EBD-1422-B034-2337A726FE4302E4 Sedo has just announced the sale of Travel.info for $116,000. This is the highest price paid for the .info TDL so far. Of course Travel.info makes good sense for a web site that will contain travel information. It would be easy for users wanting traveling information to remember.Previous sales of .info domain name registrations include: newspaper.info for ¬13,550 (approximately $18,500), booking.info for $11,500 and names.info for ¬8,100 (approximately $10,500).Sounds like the .info TLD has found its niche for those wanting to provide information about a generic term. Domain Registrations Tue, 24 Jul 2007 01:23:35 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F5D26EBD-1422-B034-2337A726FE4302E4 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F5C3B256-1422-B034-238F6C0DC3F40607 A new service just opening up, SwapNames. Now you can not only offer domains for a sales price, but also offer simply to trade domain names with someone who has a domain registration which would work for your development plan.PickeyDomains offers a service for those searching for just the right domain name. PickyDomains offers to find available domain names that are descriptive, concise and are easily remembered, using 17 domainers from United States, Canada, Russia, UK, Australia and New Zealand, with extensive experience in picking great domain names.This service costs $50 but comes with a money back guarantee if a domain that suits your fancy doesn't appear. Domain Name News Tue, 24 Jul 2007 01:07:29 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F5C3B256-1422-B034-238F6C0DC3F40607 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=D6F4D2BE-1422-B034-2339AEAEE62E5DDB Lexico Publishing Group, LLC and Answer Corp have agreed on the sales price for Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com. When the sale is complete, Lexico will be $100 million richer. Answer will own domain properties which attracted 11.5 million unique visitors for the month of June 2007.Over 85% of this traffic comes direct from end users or from people searching the word "dictionary" in search engines. The addition of these domain properties are expected increase Answer's traffic to over 22.5 million unique users each month and will enhance Answer's ability to reach Internet users without dependence on search engines. "The acquisition of Lexico is a transformative event for us," explained Robert S. Rosenschein, Chairman and CEO of Answers Corporation. "We are excited about applying our experience in monetization to significantly increase Lexico's 2008 revenues and EBITDA. Lexico's suite of popular brands, steady direct traffic and loyal users are valuable assets that we believe will reduce our products' reliance on search engine-driven traffic. Post-transaction, we estimate that over 70% of our total traffic will now be direct from end users or people searching specifically for the term 'dictionary' in search engines. Our combined size and available ad inventory should provide greater exposure among online media buyers, which we expect will lead to increased advertising sales."According to the press release the final sale is still contingent upon usual closing conditions and financing. Closing is scheduled for fall 2007.Answers anticipates using the new domain name properties to cross-promote other Answers' sites.Dictionary is the second most generic search term in search engines. Lexico's domain properties ranked #3 in the Education-Reference category in June 2007, Answers's ranked #4. With Answers taking over Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com, Answers is expected to win the #2 ranking with Wikipedia the only one in front. Domain Name News Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:32:55 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=D6F4D2BE-1422-B034-2339AEAEE62E5DDB http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CCD2BA1B-1422-B034-23342B89C8AFE028 We found a dynamite article which will be interested to every domainer serious about running a good business and staying out of trouble.The 10 US legal issues covered by this article are: Domain Name SniffingTrademark IssuesWhat Entity Should I UseWhat State to Legally Form Your CompanyPiercing the Corporate VeilBusiness or Hobby?Donating Domain NamesEmployers vs. Independent ContractorsInaccurate Registration InformationDepreciating vs. Deducting Domain Names The author simply states the current law on each of these issues and then discusses possible pitfalls. While the author is not offering legal advice (only an attorney you hire can do this and only after understanding the details of your specific situation and the State laws that may be involved), he certainly provides some good "heads up" advice about issues to consider. Domain Name News Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:19:28 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CCD2BA1B-1422-B034-23342B89C8AFE028 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CCA33CCB-1422-B034-23F8AD8405917594 The Domain Roundtable Conference will be held August 12-15, 2007 at the Seattle Sheraton. Registrations are already available. The Agenda is being flushed out right now.A recent announcement states SEO Book author and Search Engine Guru, Aaron Wall will be a speaker at the conference.This looks to be a good match since Wall will be teaching the secrets to organic rankings. Domainers will have yet another opportunity to learn more about developing domains and sustaining good search engine rankings.The Domain Roundtable Conference plans an interactive auction which will combine both online and off-line participation on the last day (August 15th) of the conference. The auction is currently accepting domain names for the auction. However, don't submit just any ole domain name, since only the top 450 domains (according to ranking done by Domain Tools)will be accepted for auction. Most of the domains accepted will be dotcoms, with few exceptions, and all domains submitted must be worth at least $1,000, at least 3 years old, and no more than three words. Reserve prices will be one of the ranking factors, so if you are in doubt whether your domain will make the cutoff, keep the reserve price low. One and two word domains will receive higher rankings than three word domains. Commission for domain names that sell will be only 10 percent (quite a reasonable price), which is to be paid by the seller. The buyer only pays their bid price. In fact, any seller who sells at least $50,000 worth of domains will get their conference price reimbursed!One of the big domains up for auction at Domain Roundtable will be eTV.com. The reserve price is $899,000 but some claim the value to be at least $2M. Only 20 of the domains auctioned will have a reserve price greater than $100,000In addition, Enom is offering new eNom reseller accounts along with $100 in Credit to the first 100 registrants to the conference. Domain Name News Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:27:36 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CCA33CCB-1422-B034-23F8AD8405917594 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CC797057-1422-B034-23208D7FEF9FB224 In April and May 2007 we wrote about the financial troubles of former registrar RegisterFly. We detailed some of the woes those who had registered domains with RegisterFly, paid for renewals which didn't take place and registration owners who attempted to transfer their domains only to find them locked. Requests to unlock domains went unanswered for months and months and months. Some lost their domains through the slow procedure to remove RegisterFly as a registrar.Now comes a rumor that another registrar is having financial troubles. Naming the registrar seems to ensure future financial troubles since many holding domain name registrations with the registrar are sure to flee just in case the rumors are true.Yet not naming the registrar and warning their customers means that if the rumor is true, these holders of domain name registrations may lose them.There's a grave danger in giving too much credence to rumors since competitors can start rumors to get rid of their competition.So for now we have decided not to mention the Registrar. We cannot find any legitimate news source that confirms the rumor. The rumor appears to have grown from a discussion thread and no resources for verification were provided. Domain Name News Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:41:57 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CC797057-1422-B034-23208D7FEF9FB224 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=B7FC3F36-1422-B034-236BFF08D12D4879 Best Practices for Corporate Domain Name Management is an excellent article for any domainer and any business interested in protecting their intellectual property.Writer Todd Mintz gives an example of just how little attention some businesses pay to their intellectual property which in the end may cost them a pretty penny. An Indian company announcing a new product in a press release had failed to first secure the .com domain name registration. "Dave the Red Frog" from France acquired the domain name registration after reading their press release.So it stands to reason: when bringing a new product to market, secure the .com domain name registration before making any announcements. Next, look into common misspellings or typos of the .com which can be parked to redirect traffic to the correctly spelled domain. If you don't, someone else will!Mintz also suggests registering generic domain names. As an example, if you bring a slimming drug to the market you might look for generic variants such as SlimDrug.com, SlimmingDrug.com, BeSlim.com, SlimPill.com. Since this is an example, all these generic domain names probably are already registered but it gives you an idea of the creative process to use.A very important tip is to keep hold of your own domain name registrations, making sure they are registered in the appropriate name of the business and ensuring that you use a domain registry that offers a secure account. Most registrars offer automatic renewal if you provide a non-expiring credit card. You should also ensure that if you change your contact information, you update your domain name registry account. White list the email addresses of your domain name registrar if you use spam filters.Too many businesses lack web savvy and tend to allow their website designers or web hosts handle their domain name registrations. Both of these industries either for convenience or because they are unscrupulous may register the domain name in their own name. Even a less than scrupulous employee may register the domain in their own name and when feeling under appreciated, decide to hold it for ransom. When the domain name increases in value there may be a dispute over the actual owner of the domain name registration.Avoid these pitfalls by simply paying attention to your intellectual property rights and using these tips to ensure protection. Intellectual Property Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:12:48 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=B7FC3F36-1422-B034-236BFF08D12D4879 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=B7E7F6B0-1422-B034-232A6584D9228892 Dollars.com fetched $650,000 in a private sale when Rick Latona sold the domain to Virtual Network SA of Switzerland. Virtual Network SA recently sold Masculin.com ("masculine" in French) to a magazine publisher for $201,792.Cushion.com was the other high selling domain name registration this week when the owner of CustomCushions.net ponied up $75,000 for the dotcom. Domain Name News Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:50:38 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=B7E7F6B0-1422-B034-232A6584D9228892 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=AE0A7E05-1422-B034-23086C89CDCA3587 Domain Name News points out that where you park your domain name registrations might just mean trouble.Frank Michlick, the author of the original article points out that some companies are using domain registrations that don't properly resolve to domain name servers. This can happen either out of an error by the registrant who improperly denotes the name servers of their intended host; or it can happen when a domain name registration is not renewed and the registrar company switches the name servers to their own. You can see how many domain names registrars have pointed at their own domain name servers at IP Walk. Some of these domains are registered and actually hosted with the registrar, others are parked at the registrar and still others are actually owned by the registrar.Someone commenting on the original article uses the domain name Ajax.us as an example, pointing out that he registered the domain name in interest of the relatively new Ajax web technology. However, should he choose a domain name registration company that offers to park domains for free and then uses those parked domains to show Yahoo or Google ads, that might just mean trouble for him.Ajax is also a trademarked name for a household cleanser. Should the parked domain start showing ads for household cleaners, will the registratant be accused of cybersquatting? Domain Registrations Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:52:09 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=AE0A7E05-1422-B034-23086C89CDCA3587 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=ADE57E85-1422-B034-2336B2A6D46DF035 Co-founder of the TRAFFIC conference, Rick Schwartz shares his thoughts on cybersquatting versus cyberbullying at his blog, RicksBlog.com.Schwartz equates domain name registrations with physical real estate, pointing out that developers own lots of undeveloped land. Land can be held empty as an investment or developed marginally into a parking lot. Ownership of physical land passes from generation to generation and is only encouraged. Those who want land dont attack those who own land, attempting to call their earlier purchases illegal; they find available land for sale and invest at the current market rate or go without.Schwartz those who attempt to regulate what they call cybersquatting are going against the property rights of land ownership, equating domain name registration as yet another form of ownership of space and location. He points out the squatters on physical land are identified in the dictionary as those who attempt to use land they do not own. While cybersquatters on generic domain names are identified as those who register but do not develop the domain names, at least for a period of time.Noting that those who make the loudest noise about cybersquatting are those who made different business decisions and didnt get on the domain name registration train fast enough. They lacked vision, just as many people miss real estate booms by not reacting fast enough or choosing the correct investment. Schwartz says: "So they resort to name calling. They circulate petitions against parking domain names. They lobby trying to change the laws to take what you own. And make no mistake, they are motivated by jealousy and greed. Motivated with a deep desire to discredit anyone and everyone but always focusing on the biggest opportunity they have had and it passed them right by. They can't get over it. So they will make petitions, try and pass laws, file frivolous lawsuits and WIPO actions and call everyone a CYBERSQUATTER."Schwartz is angry at what he terms the "cyberbully" who missed out on early opportunities and now wants to restructure the rules of the game. Cyberbullies missed the parade but they also missed the risk some domainer entrepreneurs were willing to take. Just as no one can force someone to build on undeveloped land, Schwartz makes that case that no one should be able to dictate that registration owners build web sites on their domains until they are good and ready. Neither should someone dictate what must be built on a domain, but it a shack or a mansion. Schwartz points out that he chose to use his resources to register domain names and wait on developing them until he learned from other developers' mistakes. Domain Disputes Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:11:44 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=ADE57E85-1422-B034-2336B2A6D46DF035 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=7FA69E2A-1422-B034-2381D010C39BE0ED The .ASIA domain name extension joins other regional extensions such as .EU and .CAT starting October 9, 2007 when registrations for this extension open to governments and Trademark registrations applied for prior or March 1, 2004. These older trademark registrations end October 31, 2007. Registrations for newer trademarks and for company names begin Nov. 13, 2007. General registrations are expected to begin in 2008 but reportedly will be limited to those within the Asia-Pacific region which includes Australia, Vietnam, China, Japan and South Korea.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 Domain Registrations Sun, 01 Jul 2007 02:40:32 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=7FA69E2A-1422-B034-2381D010C39BE0ED