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.

Risk In .CO – Blind Faith or Informed Decision?

How was it for you? For me, I’m coming from a standpoint of constructive feedback based on an assessment of RISK. People appreciate that. Why? Because its not “blind faith”, which is what we have seen from many people (aside from greed).

It’s easy for people to be critical about .co – after all, they have been burned by other extensions. On the flip side, most people are ignorant. They just dont know the facts before they jump in. That may sound harsh, but its just reality.

Risk is something 99.9% of bloggers and domainers don’t talk about. I believe its largely because they dont REALLY understand it. Yes, its easy for me to sit back and say that, particularly with many years of Risk Management experience…. but its true. Sure, buying domains has an element of risk; as such many people are exposed to it. Whether they realise or not is another matter.

In terms of .CO – Francois summed it up perfectly in a comment – “People play lottery when they know their sale chance is almost null“.

Many .co buyers are now saying that they are just speculating and are prepared to spend their $$$ on buying .co. That’s completely fine! Good on them. They deserve the rewards.

What Is .CO Anyway?

1. Its still Colombia. The bottom line is that you can put lipstick on a pig, but its a still a pig. Perhaps in this case a flying pig? (Twitter joke)

That’s not to say its bad. It is what it is. IF I was to register a .co – it would be something relevant to the country. eg: coffee.co. This is because Colombia is a major exporter of coffee. Get the idea?

2. Using .co for company is a “domain hack”. Just like Tonga is .to. Ultimately, its whatever the public thinks it is! That is where the advertising $$$ will help to shift public opinion. Watch out for this.

3. Unfortunately, .CO presents an opportunity for typosquatting. This is something I really DONT support. Its not a sustainable business; if you are doing this, you will end up in a lot of trouble.

I’d also note that typosquatting is not unique to .CO. We have seen it with .cm for Cameroon and .om for Oman.

Changing The Way People See .CO

The money spent on marketing .co has not been disclosed, but it has been described as unprecedented.

The really interesting thing will be IF search engines decide to change their algorithms to reflect .CO being global and not just for Colombia. We haven’t seen that for any other ccTLD, so why should we see it for .CO ? I wonder how much $$$ is being spent on that? How many lobbyists have been descending on Mountain View? How many are still to come in the next few weeks/months?

There have been some rumblings about changing algorithms with a Google spokesperson saying:.

“We will rank .co domains appropriately if the content is globally targeted. Webmasters will soon have the functionality to be able to specify this by using the geotargeting options in Google Webmaster Tools.“

Its still early days, so lets wait and see. If the search engines do change (and there is no precedent to indicate that they will), then .CO might just be the landgrab people have been wishing for!

If you bought a .co, good luck with it! Seriously. You took the risk, you deserve the reward.

If you have a .CO, I’d love to hear from you. What do you have planned? Flip, develop, hold? Feel free to post a comment and let me know.

You’re Not Seriously Buying A .co Are You?

Over the past 24 hours I’ve personally received emails and private messages from people asking about .co. It seems everyone is asking one of two questions:

Question 1 – Am I buying .co ?
Question 2 – Should they buy .co ?

Instead of replying to everyone individually, I thought I’d post this.

Answer 1 – No I am not buying .co
Answer 2 – That’s up to you and your appetite for risk.

The reality is, people make mistakes. We saw it with .mobi .me .asia and other TLDs.

What I’m about to say isn’t going to be popular, but it’s the reality check that most bloggers and other companies simply aren’t going to give you.

Where The $$$ Is

The people that make REAL money from these new extensions (most of which are over-hyped), are the Registries and the Registrars. In other words, the companies that sell them to YOU. There is only ever a small number of premium generic keywords that sell upwards of $200k. When you look at who is buying them, its often large corporates with the marketing $$$ to spend. Having worked for many global brands, I can honestly say that when it comes down to it, they do this for two reasons: 1. Fear and 2. Protecting their trademarks (brands).

Marketing

Now onto .co – its really no different from any other TLD we have seen. The method is quite simple; get a huge marketing budget and buy advertising.

As a domainer, you may be reading through blogs and press releases saying to yourself “I have to get in on this – everyone is buying”. In reality, what you need to do is have a look at WHO is supporting .co and WHY. Let me give you two examples:

Example #1 – Blogger

• Is their blogging site plastered with .co advertising? How can they be objective?
• Is it “cash for comment” ? Do they have a policy or statement on their blog about how they handle conflicts of interest?
• Are they a full-time domainer or is domaining just a hobby for them?
• Perhaps the only reason they blog, is to sell advertising on their site?
• Do they work full time for a vendor? Perhaps one who is involved in selling .co domains?

Example #2 – .co Founders

This is a great marketing initiative for people who want to register .co and get in first (before everyone else). Seriously, I think its a great initiative – my hat goes off to the .CO Registry.

Here is how it goes…. .co founders come up with an idea, submit an application and “develop, launch and market your .CO domain per your proposal and our agreement“.

I’d also note this clause: “During the license period, you must agree to actively market and promote the .CO domain in a manner that is likely to produce widespread awareness of your site based on industry best practices.”

So – you promote .co as the biggest, greatest thing in the world, to as many people as you can. During this time, the .co you selected is being wiggled over your eyeballs, just like a hypnotist with a pocket watch.

Risk

Many of you know that my background is in Security, Fraud Prevention and Corporate Risk. This is the lens through which I often view my own domain investments. What is interesting is that nobody is looking at sovereign risk / geopolitical risk. Call it what you want – .co is for Colombia. If you are going to invest $$$ into multiple domains (no matter what the extension), then you need to know the risks associated with that investment.

Conversion

We have all seen TLDs like .jobs and .pro; so is the general public REALLY going to use .co ? Sure, everyone knows about .com, but not .co. That’s only going to change with time, but how much time? Months, years? How does .co rank in the search engines? Can your business afford to wait?

Cash

Each dollar that you invest in .co (or any TLD for that matter) is money you are taking away from your business. That’s money, that you could be spending on something else. I was thinking about two of my most important food groups – chocolate & coffee.

Usability

When I start my iPad or iPhone and browse the digital interwebs, there is ONE button on the keyboard that I use all the time. Its a .com button – not a .mobi button. I think you get the point.

Look, I know this is a bit blunt and its not going to be popular. Honestly – the intent of this post is to help educate the marketplace. Hopefully it gives you something to think about when you are deciding whether to register a .co or the next “landrush” that appears on our doorstep.

Feel free to post a comment and let me know what you think. Are you buying .co ?

Brief Introduction To Domainer Income – Video

Over the past few days, people have written to me asking for two things.

1. A brief overview of Domainer Income

2. Specific details on different parts of the system.

The reality is, Domainer Income has so many advanced features, we simply cant squeeze into a short video. So I’m going to do a series of videos, focusing on specific features and how YOU can PROFIT from them.

I have just posted this general overview up on Youtube.

I love hearing your feedback, so please leave a comment and let me know what you would like to see.

Domainers Go Wild

Two days ago we went public with our Domain Investment Platform. The response was more than we could have imagined. People have been pouring in – signing up day and night. In fact, I stayed up to 3am just answering emails and talking to people who called us on the telephone or jumped on Skype to have a chat.

The great thing for me personally is knowing that people are already reaping the benefits from Domainer Income. I’m not going to mention names, but I thought I’d share some things:

This morning I spoke with a guy who develops domain names in a particular niche. He wanted to know how to use Domainer Income to find specific keyword domains. e.g. weight loss. When I told him he could search our database of 1 million+ domains that are for sale/auction, and showed him how to do it in just 2 clicks, he was blown away. “OMG – there is nothing like this – LOOK how fast THAT is!“.

Last night I had a call from someone who couldn’t believe he could find and buy domains with high PageRank. He went crazy – REALLY over excited – it sounded like he was jumping for joy! He just couldn’t believe it! In Australia, we call it a eureka moment.

As I type this, its 6pm on Friday night – I just got off the phone with another customer who has 5,000 domains – he wanted to know if Domainer Income could help him track his portfolio. Absolutely! Excel spreadsheets are a thing of the past – we keep track of expiry dates, DNS records – the LOT! I think I just got him his life back!

I was also appreciative of the kind comments offered by people on Facebook and Twitter.

Over the past couple of days, *many* people have reached out and shared with me their stories and frustrations with existing tools. The thing is – I agree! We created this investment platform well before anything else was out there. Now the cat has been let out of the bag. We have raised the bar considerably and we are going to keep raising it!

Out of all the people I’ve talk to, chatted with and received emails from, one common theme has emerged. Its the the lack of information sharing in the domaining industry. People just can’t believe we have published the information we have on Domainer Income. In fact, pretty much everyone I’ve spoken to has said “thank you”. One prominent domainer (who will remain nameless) cautioned me that many domainers might feel threatened that we have “levelled the playing field“. My response was “too bad, so sad“. I used to have the scarcity mindset, but not any more.

One final example: one of our Free Members emailed me personally to say he would love to upgrade to the Professional membership and get all the analytics and metrics from domain auctions, as well as the portfolio management tools. In the email he said thanks for creating the Free membership as it gave him access to our Expired Domains database (which we update daily). He said that he is going to work his way up to participating in larger auctions. That was really nice to hear because I know $$$ can be tight for some people.

To see which membership is right for you, go here.