Susan Boyle To Sell Domain Name

For a mere $25,000 (US dollars) you can be the proud owner of one website domain named susanboyle.com The British singer is perhaps a bit peeved with the confusion that surrounds when a fan is misdirected to a site owned by American artist Susan K. Boyle.

The “Britain’s Got Talent” star is an unlikely diva, with her self professed “frumpy” appearance. But when she raises the mic-the audiences are treated to a phenomenal feast of musical magnitude.

In attempts to avoid disappointing her fans and mistaken identity, Susan Boyle has moved her site. Fans can find her at sboyleart.com

As for the former site–let the buyer decide.

Via: NewKerala and Susan Boyle (Artist)

National American University wants NAU (Naughty American University) Domain

Depending on the type of education you desire—you may be put off by the porno site Naughty American University. When seeking a bachelor’s or master’s degree, some would be students are stumbling upon the explicit site where sex-ed is the subject.

National American University is suing NAU (Naughty American University) for claims of trademark violations. The civil complaint was apparently filed in a Rapid City federal court. Financial damages are being sought in addition to the prevention of the use of the school’s trademark.

The National American University is said to have been offering educational courses since 1997 and has since spent millions of dollars promoting its name. When the porno site registered its similar name on September 12, 2003, an embarrassing mix up ensued.

Via: Rapid City Journal and Twincities.

Google Gets Googblog.com Back From Indian

Another day, another WIPO (World Intellectual Property Org) case. Google vs Harit Shah for the domain name googblog.com. For some strange, unforseen, unknown reason, it was apparently too close to the Google trademark. Who would have thought?

Shah said, “I was in a bad faith that I can legally keep the domain googblog.com. I really did very unfair to Google. I sincerely apologize to Google for infringement by misusing their intellectual property.”

Via: SiliconIndia and TMC.

Mel Gibson’s Girlfriend Files Cybersquatter Suit

Mel Gibson’s newly announced pregnant girlfriend is suing. The trouble, however, does not sit with Mel, rather a company called DreamHost.com. The company is accused of making OksanaGrigorieva.com look like her official website.

The lawsuit was apparently filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the compliant suggests the Web hosting company was cyber squatting. The specifics of the suit are not clear, as the site is now closed down.

Via: ContactMusic and eOnline.

Avoid Registrar Checkout Traps: When Is A Coupon Not A Coupon?

When it comes to managing a large portfolio you really need to cut down on maintenance tasks. For that reason I usually renew my domains across multiple years. I also try to have a bunch of them renewing at the same time.

It’s Friday night and what am I doing? Renewing a few names of course! The price for switching a .info to Namecheap is $9.69. If you use the “switch2nc” coupon it comes down to $6.99 for 1 year.

You can see that it clearly says 1 year and the coupon code has been accepted (little box on the left hand side). Here is what happened when I selected 2 years:

The coupon is still there, but it doesn’t apply. In fact, it doesn’t even give you the $6.99 discounted rate for the first year! This isn’t news to the more experienced users, but its something I want to make people aware of. If you are up late (like I am) you may just miss/overlook basic maths at 1am.

While I can accept that a coupon is usually for 1 year and the reason coupons exist, is to get you to move your portfolio (or get you to buy other services), after all they are not making huge $$$ on this. My point is, why wouldn’t a registrar apply the coupon for multiple years or at least (at a minimum) give it to you for the first year?

Have you seen this type of activity anywhere else? If so, please post a comment and let me know.

Fresh List Of TDNAM & Godaddy Coupons

I was just paying for an auction I’d won at tdnam and went in search of some coupons. Here is a list of what works right now and what discount it got me. Hopefully it can save you some $$$ and time.

1. gdbb776 – .com domain went from $10.69 to $7.50.
2. best3 – .com went from $10.69 to $7.49 – *the one I used*
3. RRTV3
4. hash3
5. chill3
6. MTECH330
7. emma35
8. emma30
9. emma3

Some of the codes from MTECH330 onwards displayed a message stating “Our $6.95 .com promotion has ended and has been replaced with the current $7.49 .com promotion”.

For the benefit of others, please post what worked for you. I was using TDNAM and not the usual Godaddy registration/renewal cart. As such I’d be interested to see how much it saved you. Thanks.

GreatDomains (Really?) – May 2009 Auction

I just received this email about the May auction and I have to say, I was not impressed. If you want domainers to buy at auction, are you really going to open up your email with this sentence:

“With a new wave of college graduates entering the workforce, now is the perfect time to acquire a quality domain name to drive traffic to your online business.”

Does that make you want to buy domains at their auction? No – it makes me stop and think “What logic is behind this?”. Now call me harsh (and maybe it was because I haven’t had my morning coffee yet, but get real. Its May, and depending on where you live on this planet, you probably don’t call it college and their graduation might not happen mid-year. But what the hell does this have to do with getting me to buy your domains anyway?

Purely out of frustration (and a little bit of domainer OCD) I went over to their website anyway and checked out what they had to offer. My take is… if you like 3 letter domains, dive right in. I don’t (can’t fathom paying £3,150 for mje.com) but that’s just my preference.

The auction is run by Sedo, so you can buy at Sedo directly or on the GreatDomains site (same thing). Here are a few good ones.

• shirts.net – Sedo or GreatDomains
• bellyring.com – Sedo or GreatDomains
• babyclothing.com – Sedo or GreatDomains
• permit.net – Sedo or GreatDomains
• end.net – Sedo or GreatDomains

Let me know how you go.

General Motors Buys Restructuring Domain Name

Given the state of the auto industry in the USA, are you surprised that GM has registered gmrestructuring.com? While the GM website is currently blank, Chryslers one at chryslerrestructuring.com is full of Chapter 11 bedtime reading.

I know what all you TM domainers are thinking: insert-acronym+restructuring.com. Evil people.

Could this be the start of a new TM niche?

I’m Not Participating In The Recession

Hi, I’m Simon and I have a problem. Its been 10 days since my last blog post and I’ve got a confession. I have relapsed and went back to reading Domaining blogs!

I know what you are thinking…. how could he do this? It’s betrayal of the highest order! But you know what? I’ve discovered something…. the usual people are continuing to post drivel (some think its “ohhhh so controversial”) many others appear to actually believe the world is coming to an end.

Its the GFC! No, its not KFC, its got a G in it… no its not the Georgia Football Club either… its the Global Financial Crisis. Global, being stuff outside America? Think of it as all the ccTLD’s, but not .us! Got it now? Good.

This week I went on a bit of an auction binge and purchased a few great names including roses.us. Why? Because people are selling them!

That’s right, its time for the rest of the world to sweep up some quality domain names. With €1 Euro being worth more than US$1.35 – now is the time (although so was mid 2008 when €1 was worth US$1.59).

Here at the Domainer Income Corporate World HQ, I’m sitting by this lake pondering all those opportunities that arise in a recession.

For example, people buy more lottery tickets, they actively seek out cheaper goods. Its not that people arent buying, its just that how some people make those purchases has changed. They might buy less expensive items and expect a greater, faster  ROI. All of this creates opportunity.

Crisis? Recession? Meltdown? Not in my part of the world.

Traffic Extended Online Auction – Last 5 Hrs To Bid!

For those that missed the live auction at Traffic ( like me ), the Extended Auction is a great opportunity to bid on a few names.

I’ve been closely watching a few of them and its coming down to the wire. Here are a few interesting names across multiple price ranges, that I’ve hand picked.

zeel.com – $775.00
saskatoon.net – $660.00
prot.com – $525.00
superhero.net – $485.00
joystick.net – $550.00
orlandohotelrooms.com – $485.00
helicoptersforsale.com – $450.00
imply.com – $1,380.00
entrepreneurs.info – $375.00
epick.com – $375.00
flowerstands.com – $375.00
n81.com – $535.00
adulttelevision.com – $665.00
assaulted.com – $640.00
bar.biz – $375.00
born.info – $375.00
clicknews.com – $2,460.00
contactlenscleaner.com – $375.00
cutlery.info – $350.00
deliveryboy.com – $1,280.00
duty.net – $640.00
forecast.info – $350.00
franchiseopportunity.net – $350.00
inaugurations.com – $350.00
internetbroadbandphone.com – $350.00
gotrich.com – $1,950.00
investigations.info – $325.00
laptopbatteries.info – $325.00
millionaire.org – $6,140.00
squatter.com – $3,400.00
terrorist.org – $1,230.00

With names as low as $325 there are definitely a few bargains. Let me know how you go.