Aussie Giant Woolworths Wins WIPO Claim In .AU

According to WIPO, the domain wooliesonline.com.au “was registered on March 24, 2011. On July 5, 2011, the Domain Name resolved to a web page containing sponsored advertising links, including links to the Complainant and its competitor, Coles. Following a cease and desist letter from the Complainant, the web page was changed to remove the references to the Complainant.”

It’s interesting to note that “Prior to the cease and desist letter the Domain Name was parked showing certain advertisements outside the Respondents control.”  The Panel found that Woollies “is so well-known that it is inconceivable that the Domain Name could be used in a way that would not mislead Internet users.” More info: Woolworths Limited v. Save Cash Pty Ltd.

Comment

It’s good to see companies taking action against those that register and/or use domain names in bad faith.

49 Cent .Info Domains – Get In Quick

Some people love .info domains, especially for their SEO factor on places like Bing.

Right now Godaddy have a deal on their checkout page that gives you .info domains for just 49 cents! No coupon required. Here is how to get the offer.

In order to get the deal, just type in a .com domain you want to register, go through the checkout process and there you will see the “On Sale!” info offer.

Feel free to post a comment if this works for you! Let us know how much you saved.

DNForum and ParkLogic Team Up

DNForum and ParkLogic have just announced a strategic partnership.

Through the partnership, DNForum will now be offering members its own branded domain management and monetization platform which takes advantage of the highly advanced ParkLogic systems. The ParkLogic platform is the result of many years of development and will provide DNForum members with increased traffic revenues and tools to manage their portfolios more effectively.

This strategic partnership has united Adam Dicker (DNForum) and Michael Gilmour (ParkLogic), both of whom are widely acknowledged as leaders and innovators in the domain industry. The long history of friendship and mutual respect between Adam and Michael, combined with the synergies between the two organizations has led to this dynamic partnership.

“I’ve known Michael for a long time and we’ve always made a point of getting together at the various domain events around the world. It became clear to me that we both thought in a similar manner about domains and the sophistication of the ParkLogic management platform was exactly what DNForum members have been asking for.”
Adam Dicker – DNForum

“We are really excited about working alongside Adam who is one of the true experts of the industry. I believe that this partnership is a culmination of experience, like-mindedness and a joint desire to see the domain industry grow and move forward. – Michael Gilmour – ParkLogic

The domain management platform has been released for those in the DNFCollege and will be rolled-out for the rest of the DNForum membership within the next couple of days.

Advertisers Call On ICANN To Abandon New TLDs

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) recently issued an open letter to ICANN. It argues that “implementation of the ICANN program is economically unsupportable and is likely to cause irreparable harm and damage to its membership and the Internet business community in general”.

Bob Liodice, President and CEO, ANA has stated that companies are “essentially being forced to buy their own brands from ICANN at an initial price of $185,000.”

I happen to agree with the ANA on this issue. The question is, will ICANN ignore the ANA and the 400+ companies, 10,000 brands and their $250 billion advertising spend?

Domain Thief Gets 5 Years Prison

It’s been reported this morning that Daniel Goncalves was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing the domain name P2P.com. The domain was reported as stolen from Marc Ostrofsky and sold on eBay.com for $121,000 to former NBA basketball player Mark Madsen.

This sets a major precedent as its believed to be the first time that an individual has been criminally prosecuted in the United States.

Sources: Sun Herald and Goldberg McDuffie Communications.

Domain Broker Spam – Riverside

This morning we received an unsolicited email (below). The email appears to have been sent to us because we own a different extension of the same keyword domain.

The reality is that you can use a backordering service or hand register the domain name yourself, if it expires. Given the hype around the new TLD’s, I’m sure the industry will be seeing a lot more of this type of activity.

Have you received this email? Leave a comment and let us know!

——————-

Good day, my name is Edward Clark sales specialist representing Riverside Domain Brokers.
DOMAIN.com is listed for sale and with our software and connections we can obtain the domain for you.
We don’t charge upfront and all you have to do is express your interest by filling out:

http://riversidetld.com/acquire/EDITED-OUT

You will receive a year of registration at no cost with your purchase and will only be charged once by Riverside Domain Brokers.

You can forward DOMAIN.com to any of your domains or vice versa free of charge.

After you confirm your interest and the domain is secured, one of my transfer specialists will contact you.
Thank you for your time and have a nice day.

–
Edward Clark
Riverside Domain Brokers
2710 Thomes Ave Cheyenne
WY 82001 USA

Council Spends $55 Million Then Closes Website

It’s been reported that the “Brisbane City Council lost $55 million running ourbrisbane.com over the past ten years”. After spending $55 million, you would have expected that they could have bought Brisbane.com.

“In the last council budget, an expected loss of $2.352 million for ourbrisbane.com over the 2009-2010 financial year was recorded, along with a $2.046 million loss for 2010-2011.”

The council’s City Business Chairman, David McLachlan said yesterday that the site would be incorporated into the general council website brisbane.qld.gov.au.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

The Biggest Threat To Australian Internet Business

Do you have an Internet business? Are you an Internet Marketer, domainer or an SEO company? Then you better LISTEN UP as this will be the BIGGEST THREAT you will face in the next 12 months.

Did you know that every time you buy a .au domain name, included in that price is a hidden fee (some people would say tax). That fee is paid to a 3rd party called .au Domain Administration Ltd and is referred to as “auDA”. In Australia, auDA write the policies that govern domain names. One of these policies is called the Domain Monetisation Policy.

There is a Names Policy Panel that is reviewing this policy RIGHT NOW. The policy governs entities that earn revenue from a “monetised website”. According to auDA policy, a “monetised website” means “a website or landing page that has been created for the purpose of earning revenue from advertising, including monetised domain parking pages“. In my opinion, this policy clearly discriminates against people who make their living online. It discriminates against drop shippers, information marketers and those people that don’t have “physical stock” to sell. Rather than talk about registrants (people that register domains), it singles out and labels people as “domainers” who have the legitimate business practise of selling products and services online!

Let me spell out the threat in “Plain English”. If someone (such as a competitor / disgruntled customer) complains about your website/business, auDA has the power to take your domain away! They do this (from a technical perspective) by instructing the registry to put it into “Pending Delete”. Other people (such as your competitors) can then buy/backorder YOUR DOMAIN through the domain drop process. SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR BUSINESS. Goodbye to all the SEO you have done, goodbye to your mailing list!

How You Can Protect Your Business

1. Fill in this form TODAY (seriously, do it now)
Private individuals can become auDA members ( in a membership called Demand Class ). It costs $22 and no upfront payment is required.

2. Vote later this year
If you become a Demand Class member today, you can vote at the next election.

What I Am Doing About It

This year I will be running for election to the auDA board to represent the interests of small business, internet marketers and domain investors. I will be actively campaiging for you on this issue, to see this discriminatory policy scrapped!

This is only going to happen if you become a member. Please don’t come crying to me later (when your Internet business has been taken away from you). By then its too late.

Think of it like insurance. If you are serious about your business, you want to protect it. $22 is nothing in the scheme of things.

Just so that you are aware, the election is at the end of the year, but there is a sneaky “3 month membership rule” which prevents new members from voting. As such you cannot delay this application!

Can you do the industry a BIG favour? Fill in this form NOW: http://www.auda.org.au/pdf/auda-membership-form.pdf

After you have done it, drop me a line and let me know. I really want to know WHO the proactive people are – those that will help to safeguard our industry. If you have any questions (or need a stamp/fax), let me know.

Go here now.

Godaddys Biggest Mistake Ever

For many years we have been supporters of Bob Parsons, having watched Godaddy evolve. In fact, his “16 Rules of Success” is framed on our office wall. Unfortunately all that business experience has now fallen by the wayside.

Earlier today we discovered a video clip whereby CEO Bob Parsons took a trip “to Zimbabwe and hunt problem elephant“. Caution: The video is very graphic and may offend some viewers.

After watching the video we decided that we could not support an organisation that engages in such practises and have commenced moving our domain name portfolio to other registrars.

Media Coverage

It seems that over the course of the day, the mainstream media has picked up this story with coverage in:

1. LA Times – Bob Parsons under fire for Zimbabwe elephant-hunting video

2. TMZ – ‘GoDaddy.com’ Elephant Killer — PETA Is Extorting Me

3. PETA – In this letter, awarded Parsons the “first-ever Scummiest CEO of the Year Award”.

Is The Elephant Endangered?

The IFAW lists the African elephant as “Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) and by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). It is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora except for populations in those countries (Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia) which were reclassified to Appendix II.”

Note that Zimbabwe “reclassified” the African Elephant. Of course, this is the country run by President (some would say Dictator) Robert Mugabe.

Where Do I Move My Domains?

Godaddys competitors have also publicly denounced Parsons actions and are giving away domains at below their cost. Earlier this evening we received an email from NameCheap titled “Transfer for $4.99 and Help Save the Elephants”.

“Transfer your domains to Namecheap for $4.99 for the next 24 hours through 11:59pm EST on 3/31/11 (limit 10 per user, valid for all com/net/org domains). On top of that, we’ll donate $1 for each transfer to Save The Elephants. Use coupon code BYEBYEGD and let’s help the Elephants together!”

What Do You Think?

Are you moving your portfolio away from Godaddy? Is this really about “protecting crops” or just an excuse to travel to another (perhaps “less regulated”) part of the world and shoot high powered weapons at large animals?

Have your say, post a comment below and let us know.

What’s Wrong With XXX ?

Over the past few days it has been open slather in the media about the ICANN approval of XXX.

With buzzwords like “digital red-light districts“, its parents and the general public who are both concerned and confused.

The Christian Post says it “creates more porn“.

The Obama Admininstration says “This decision goes against the global public interest, and it will open the door to more Internet blocking by governments and undermine the stability and security of the Internet.”

The Australian Sex Party says “it would be an easy thing for the Communications Minister to simply ask all ISP’s in Australian to filter the new domain and all adult material would be denied to adult Australians.”

So, what do you think?

1. What’s really wrong with the concept of XXX ? Nobody is forcing anyone to use it.

2. The .xxx TLD is not going to protect kids from porn, but was it supposed to be designed for that?

3. Is the adult industry boycotting the TLD because they don’t manage it themselves?

4. Is ICANN paying lip service to the Governmental Advisory Committee?

5. Do the anti XXX movement just need some luvin ?

Given there are more than 500,000 domains that have been pre-reserved, are you buying XXX ?