The phrase “local search” has been on the tongues of many web site developers, domainers and Internet marketers. Depending on who you talk to, it means different things to different people.

Unfortunately a small number of unethical people are trying to “scam the system” and are polluting local search results with fake businesses. This short term view isn’t sustainable and forces the hand of search engines and now governments to take action.

The Minnesota State Government has passed one such law, preventing out-of-state Internet marketers from posing as local small businesses by, for example, running search engine ads indicating that their business is based in Minnesota. For more information check out the full story in Kikabinks Internet Marketing blog.

A few minutes ago we received confirmation from auDA that Simon Johnson had been appointed to the Names Policy Panel.

The purpose of the panel is to:

1. Review the policy framework underlying the allocation and use of domain names in the .au domain space
2. Provide recommendations to the auDA board about what changes should be made to the policy framework.

The Panel is expected to commence work in September 2010. If you have any specifics that you would like Simon to raise, feel free to leave a comment on contact us directly. Please also note that there will be a public consultation in December 2010.

Last night I was playing air hockey on my iPad (expert level of course) After the game finished the app displayed an advertisement for another game. Beside that advertisement was another one for a .MOBI !

I couldn’t believe my eyes – a .MOBI domain used in an advertisement on a mobile device – who would have thought?

I had to see who was behind it, and against my better judgement I clicked…. Yes I know the advertisement looks dodgy and the use of VISA in the domain name will no doubt land the domain owner in a UDRP case.

Anyway, it turns out the site diverts to usagc.org – a “Green Card Lottery” website which asks you for all your personal information. I’m going to stop short of screaming out “SCAM” at the top my lungs. A quick search uncovers Yahoo Answers, 419 forum (for scams) and many others talking about the site.

For those people reading this post who want to get a Diversity Visa (DV) and go through the lottery process, the REAL site to visit is the US Department of State at http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html

Good luck!

What makes this interesting is that its not just some dodgy cybersquatter who is registering domains, its a car servicing company! They decided to register holdenplatinumservice.com.au, holdenservice.net.au and servicingholden.com.au. You can guess what happens next

Holden claims the domains are misleading and deceptive and WIPO finds that all the domains were:

1. Registered in bad faith.

2. Confusingly similar to GM Holden’s trademarks.

and the list goes on…. This is a lesson for Domainers and SEO companies who think they can “own an industry”. Here is one particular quote I like:

“the multiple registrations of domain names, not only including the Complainant’s trade mark but those of many other motor car manufacturers, strongly leads to a conclusion that the Respondent is seeking to divert the business of Internet users away from the authorised service centres of the Complainant and other manufacturers.”

Good decision WIPO.

The Australian government has censored approximately 90% of a secret document outlining its controversial plans to snoop on Australians’ web surfing.

Obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald under Freedom of Information, the document was heavily censored due to the possibility of “premature and unnecessary debate“.

On a personal note; given that I cofounded one of Australias first ISPs and literally “wrote the book” on Internet safety, I feel an obligation to speak out about such measures.

I’ve made a copy of the document available here: Secret-Document.pdf and a letter from the Australian government (on the reason for censoring it) available here: Decision_Letter.pdf

While the Attorney-General’s Legal Department has redacted (blacked out) large portions of the document, it does mention retaining data in a dataset.

If you combine that with the Appendix, it gives us some insight into what is going on. Definitions such as ADSL, IMEI (a unique number for your mobile telephone itself), SIP (a VOIP standard), VOIP, VPN and Wi-Fi jump out at you.

Given that we are having an election next month, I’m sure the media will jump all over this. Feel free to check out the document and draw your own conclusions.

The Surpreme Court of Victoria – Court of Appeal has heard the case Australian Style Pty Ltd vs .au Domain Administration (auDA).

Last night I received this document. It was just past midnight and made for some interesting bedtime reading (yes I should get a life). For those following the case, 36 pages and 104 paragraphs later, I can tell you “For all the reasons set out in this judgment, the appeal must be dismissed.”

What is very interesting is how it details the security breaches. Paragraphs 17 and 18 include:

“the Australian Federal Police had notified auDA of another, and undoubted, security breach in which the database of Australian Style, including domain name passwords and credit card details of its registrants, had been offered for sale on the internet.

It also covers another security breach in 2009 with a detailed discussion on what transpired at the time. There is a lot of information here to digest.

Its been reported that NBC Universal (GE) is being sued by Done Ventures after the sale of women.com and women.net fell through.

A complaint was allegedly filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. Here are a couple of points of interest:

1. Sedo had been hired as a “domain name broker”.
2. The offer for both domains was allegedly accepted (both verbally and via email) for the price of $1M
3. NBC’s “Jeff Zucker has overruled the transaction” and the deal was off.
4. “Sedo…..had earned the commission that was due to them under the brokerage agreement….”

Obviously there are two sides to a story. Its going to be a very interesting case to watch.

This morning I received the following statement.

SnapNames, and its parent company, Oversee.net, have filed suit against Nelson Brady in federal court in Oregon.

Brady is a former employee who, under the false name “Hank Alvarez,” improperly bid in certain SnapNames auctions. In some cases, Brady also embezzled funds from Oversee by fraudulently refunding himself a share of the purchase price for names he won.

For several months, the company has in good faith attempted to settle privately with Brady to recover its losses, including the rebate fund established by Oversee to address Brady’s activities and the funds he embezzled from Oversee. Those settlement efforts have been unsuccessful.

The suit seeks over $33 million in damages, including punitive damages.

Context

· In October 2009, Oversee discovered an employee, Nelson Brady, using an account under the false name “Hank Alvarez,” engaged in improper bidding activities in domain name auctions on the SnapNames platform.

· Oversee and SnapNames disclosed the situation to its customers and employees in November 2009. Oversee made available to affected customers a cash rebate in the amount of overpayment, plus 5.22% interest (the highest applicable federal rate during the affected time period), of any amounts paid exceeding what the auction price would have been without employee bidding.

· Since that time, more than 60% of the aggregate rebate amount has been claimed.

Impact of Brady’s actions on auctions

· Brady’s conduct affected:

· 5% of auctions since 2005

· 75% of total impacted auctions were between 2005 and 2007

· Less than 1% of SnapNames auctions during this period were won by the employee

· The remaining 4% were won by SnapNames clients.

· Brady’s bidding affected approximately 1% of SnapNames’ auction revenue during the full period.

Impact of Brady’s actions on SnapNames and Oversee

Oversee will be demanding millions of dollars from Brady for the damage he caused to Oversee and SnapNames. No amount of money, however, could compensate the damage Brady has caused to SnapNames’ and Oversee’s reputation in the marketplace.

Law enforcement

In November 2009, Oversee voluntarily disclosed Brady’s conduct to both the US Attorney’s Office and to the Federal Trade Commission. Oversee will not publicly discuss anything relating to law enforcement matters.

Customer Service

SnapNames customers who have questions about the rebate offer can contact the SnapNames support team:

On the web: http://snapnames.custhelp.com
By e-mail: supp...@snapnames.com

Phone:

+1 (866) 690-6279 (toll-free in the U.S.)
+1 (503) 241-8547 (outside the U.S.)

Las Vegas City Council has voted to support Dot Vegas Inc. to become the registry of a proposed .vegas TLD. This surprisingly clashes with the current owner of vegas.com (The Greenspun Corporation – owner of the Las Vegas Sun).

On a deal voted 4-3, Dot Vegas Inc was supported on the basis that “the city would get 75 cents for each registered name, or 10 percent of the revenue the company generates, whichever is greater.”

The Las Vegas Sun reports that “Voting for the resolution were Mayor Oscar Goodman, Lois Tarkanian, Stavros Anthony and Ricki Barlow, who made the motion to approve. Voting against were Steve Ross, Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese and Steve Wolfson.”

“Greenspun told the council if it decided to endorse VEGAS.com’s proposal instead of Dot Vegas, he could offer the city $1 per registration. Plus, he said, VEGAS.com, which already has 30 million visitors coming to it’s Web site each year, is in a good position to market the .vegas TDL and make the city more revenue.”

Clark County Wants In On The Action

Its also been reported that Clark County officials have been questioning the city’s right to exclusively benefit from a .vegas domain. This is because the city limits end at Sahara Avenue and don’t include the Strip (which most people recognize as Las Vegas).

Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak sent a letter to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman on Jan. 28 asking the city to postpone any action to allow talks between the city and county on “partnering”.

Sisolak says: “The Strip is in the county, not Las Vegas” “We need more time to think this out, work together.”

After the City Council’s vote, VEGAS.com told Commissioner Steve Sisolak the company would pay $1.50 per domain registration. Sisolak said he plans to have the commission discuss the proposal at its Feb. 16 meeting.

NBC (LA) is reporting that the website of Rep. John Campbell has been redirecting traffic for the last 3-4 months to his opponent, Beth Krom.

A typo on Campbells “Join The Resistance” webpage went to CampbellforCongres.com (one “s” and not two), which was paid for by Krom.

Kroms Campaign Manager Melahat Rafiei said she clicked the link daily.

“It’s been directing to our website since Nov. 16,” Rafiei said. “It was hilarious to us. Every day I’d get up in the morning and check  it and see, ‘Oh, it’s still there.’ It was funny to see how long it would take  for them to catch on.”

Comment:

Perhaps Republican Internet expert Ted Stevens should be consulted on the subject?