Scam .MOBI Ads On iPad – There’s An App For That!

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!

How To Turn On Geographical Targeting For .CO [Video]

Early this morning, Google enabled geographical targeting on the .co domain name extension. This means that you can tell Google that your website is targeting people in other countries (other than Colombia) – which is what .co was originally for.

I’ve created a step-by-step video showing you exactly how to turn on geo targeting for your .co domain name.

If you like the video or have a view in relation to .CO, feel free post a comment and let me know what you think.

Pros and Cons: Buying New, Dropping, Expired and Domains For Sale

When it comes to getting a domain name, should you register a new domain, get an expired domain, back-order a dropping domain, bid on a domain name at auction, or buy a domain name for sale or make an offer to a domain name owner?

Well, the answers to all your domaining questions are here! Check out this GREAT article over at Kikabink news which covers everything from expired domains through to private sales. Enjoy!

Bankrate May Sell Notes To Pay For CreditCards.com & NetQuote Inc ?

This Bloomberg announcement caught my attention this morning. Its about a company called Bankrate who provide information on creditcards and mortgages.

The article speculates that Bankrate:

“may sell $280 million of five- year notes to help pay for the acquisition of NetQuote Inc. and CreditCards.com Inc., according to a person familiar with the offering who declined to be identified because terms aren’t set. “

According to the WSJ, it paid “$145 million for CreditCards.com“.

I’m not one to speculate on things like this, but if true (and being a public company it will come out eventually) we have a public company that:

a) Has a huge asset (creditcards.com) on the books.

b) Is actively engaging in acquiring such a blue chip asset.

I hope they keep it (or sell it to me for $1 – I’d be happy either way).

Misleading or Deceptive Co ?

In Australia, we have some consumer protection legislation called the Trade Practices Act (TPA).

The Trade Practices Act “prohibits conduct by a corporation that is misleading or deceptive, or would be likely to mislead or deceive you. It makes no difference whether the business intended to mislead or deceive you—it is how the conduct of the business affected your thoughts and beliefs that matters.”

While reading The Domains post about .CO, it occurred to me that perhaps some registrars are omitting that .co is the country code for Colombia. If they are telling people that .co is for “company” (when its actually the ccTLD for Colombia) – is that misleading or deceptive conduct?

I am not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice, but its something to think about. When I stand back and look at the conduct of registrars – I think to myself – “Will Joe or Jane average person think that its Colombia?” The answer to that is “probably not”.

If you are a registrar who has jumped on the .co bandwagon – perhaps now is a good time to get legal advice on this.

As I wrote this article, I decided to have a quick look around at a few registrars. Melbourne IT did a GREAT job of “telling it how it is”.

Smack bang on their page is this description (image left). There you go. Its up front, tells you the “place of origin” and the benefits of the good (domain). In my view, its a perfect description.

Now contrast this with Network Solutions (image right) and you’ll see what I mean. Ummmm…. no mention of Colombia there!

So here is the bottom line:

1. .CO is going to mean, whatever the public thinks it means. It’s a great extension and has been promoted by an excellent marketing campaign.

2. There are laws in many countries protecting consumers. These need to be factored into your marketing campaigns.

Over the next few years we will see more of these new TLDs come out and promoted as “the next best thing to .com”. I hope this that gives the marketing people (behind these new TLDs), something to think about. No doubt it will also provide lawyers with many billable hours.

GM Holden Wins Domains

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.

.NZ Adds Macrons To Domains – Interview with the Domain Name Commissioner .NZ [Audio]

10am this morning marks another milestone in the history of both ccTLD’s and International Domain Names (IDNs).

Coinciding with Māori Language Week, the public can now register .nz domain names containing  ā, ē, ī, ō and ū.

Domainer Income catches up with the Debbie Monahan, the Domain Name Commissioner for .nz to find out more.

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.au Dispute Resolution Goes Electronic

It might come as a shock to everyone (particularly those people who are not in Australia) that .au requires paper-based document submission.That’s right, if you sell a domain, get out the pen and fax machine, or start lickin those stamps!

The times are changing, even down-under, as “auDA will introduce changes to the .au Dispute Resolution Policy (auDRP) in August 2010, to require electronic filing of documents for auDRP proceedings. The changes mirror those introduced to the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) earlier this year.”

Why .au has its own auDRP is beyond me. I just dont get “why we have to reinvent the wheel”. The good news out of this, is that it might save a few trees.

Document Shows Government Plans To Snoop On Internet Access

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.

Supreme Court Rules On Australian Style vs auDA

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.