Eureka is the county seat and principal city in Humboldt County, California, United States.
It’s been reported that their Police Department has allowed their domain name to expire.
The new owner of eurekapd.org in Russia has allegedly kept some of the content.
Police Chief Garr Nielsen told the Eureka Reporter that he wasn’t aware of the domain name being taken over and made it clear he didn’t want the Web site online anymore, but the city of Eureka has not yet decided if it is a “problem” or not.
Well… my guess is that it will be - especially when Jack Bauer comes looking for an answer!
Its been reported that official-arsenal-tickets.com had been set up in bad faith to divert business from the club’s own site. For those interested in the details its WIPO case for D2008-0842.
While there have been various media reports speculating about who made the complaint; what I do know is that the complainant was The Arsenal Football Club Public Limited Company and the respondent was Domains by Proxy, Inc./Official Tickets Ltd.
auDA’s Industry Competition Advisory Panel is currently reviewing their competition model for the Australian domain name industry.
The Panel has released an Issues Paper for public consultation, which sets out the current situation and canvasses the issues and possible options for change. The closing date for submissions is Friday 1 August 2008.
Here are a few interesting points:
“Abandon the competitive registry model and make auDA the registry operator”
This sounds like someone has been talking too much to ICANN or Verisign.
“the start-up capital costs constitute the most significant barrier for prospective new entrants” Ohhh.. the poor kids down the road can’t become an operator.
HELLO, its called capitalism ! I’d note that “Accredited registrars pay an annual fee to auDA of $3,300 and there is also a $2,200 non-refundable accreditation application fee.”
“auDA does not have the legal power to impose financial penalties on a registrar who has breached the Registrar Agreement.”
So registrars can basically do whatever they want as long as its not serious, to the point of suspension or termination the registrar’s accreditation.
“Questions have been raised however, about the extent to which registrars should be allowed to participate in domain-related activities other than the core business of registering domain names for registrants. For example, is it appropriate or desirable for registrars to be in the business of warehousing domain names for their own domain monetisation purposes?”
Watch out - its those evil domainers again!
“It has been suggested that this lack of market transparency could be addressed by publishing a list of deleted and expiring domain names, or by placing the domain names in a “holding pool” for a period of time before making them available to the general public.“
This is just a bad idea. Again, see the word capitalism. Looking into my crystal ball I see auDA being in a position to profit from this “holding pool”. Who will have the independence to maintain it?
It appears that auDA needs all the help it can get. Have a look at the Issues Paper and send your comments to:
As a professional domainer with an ever growing portfolio I tend to attract spam - usually of the email kind. Most of my domains have whois privacy protection, some of the details like my email address change on a daily basis. As such, when spammers try to send me junk, it just bounces.
One thing I can’t seem to shake off is this unsolicited postal mail asking me to renew my domains with registrars and resellers. Yesterday I received three letters in the post. Two were from the “Domain Renewal Group” and one was from the “WorldWideWeb Register”.
The Domain Renewal Group letter was printed on paper that’s a big bigger than standard A4, whereas the WorldWideWeb Register used very thin quality A4 sized paper, kind of like the old credit card receipt paper.
Domain Renewal Group
The terms and conditions are in tiny little print and are extremely difficult to read. In fact, you might need a magnifying class to read it properly. Here are some interesting paragraphs:
“If lawsuit(s) are threatened: If we are sued or threatened with lawsuit in connection with Service(s) provided to you, we may turn to you to indemnify us and hold us harmless from the claims and expenses……”
“You warrant that your use of our services is not going go subject us to any claim(s). You further agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless us and applicable registry administrator(s)…..and all such parties‘ directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses…….”
“All fees are non-refundable, in whole or in part, even if your domain name registration is suspended, cancelled or transferred prior to the end of your then current registration term, unless this Agreement specifically provides for a refund.”
When it comes to renewal costs they are VERY expensive - AU$40 to renew a .com for 1 year! They also suggest other names - in my case for .org and .biz at AU$75 each!
WorldWideWeb Register
Their letter tends to focus on the “Updating of your data:” which is the subtitle of the letter.
The letter was sent to my mailing address, but I didn’t own the domain name that it mentioned. The letter had a generic “company name” as the owner. When I checked the domain name, using whois, it was registered to a different owner.
The first line of their letter reads:
“We kindly ask you to update your subscription ensuring that you include your correct data, thus allowing all Internet users to contact you without any problem. In the attached document, you will find basic data about your company, which you should check in order to avoid publication of private websites.”
Apart from the sentence, not actually making sense - I wonder how many people would receive this letter, see that their details are wrong and then provide the correct information. The other interesting thing is that the domain name they mentioned was a .com.au. Traditionally the underlying registry data for .com.au has been hidden away. Perhaps this is a way to obtain that data, domain by domain?
An extract from page two of the letter reads “The applicant must correctly supply their information so that the contracted company may include it in the relevant editions of the World Web Company Register on CD-Rom, as well as in its Internet database…..”
The next page reads “…. I give GT@P - Guia Telefax Anuario Profesional, S.L. the order to publish my company data in the next three annual editions of its Web Company Register, both on the Internet (www.webcompanyregister.com) and on CD-Rom. The total cost per edition of the service contracted …… is 877 euros.”
Wow, so I pay you 877 euro to have my personal details appear in your database! Where do I sign?
UK based Nominet is changing its dispute resolution policy with the new changes coming into effect on July 29 2008.
While there has been a truckload of modifications, here are a couple that stand out:
1. For those disputes where there is a response, the case goes into mediation and you have to pay an expert fee of £750 plus VAT.
2. “Respondents can pay for an Expert decision if the Complainant declines to pay, in order to request a finding of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.”
3. A “likelihood of confusion” factor has been introduced. This means that a threatened use of a domain name may be evidence of an Abusive Registration.
Snapnames sent me the email (below) a few hours ago. I have highlighted in bold the interesting bits.
—
Dear SnapNames Customers:
As you are likely aware, the SnapNames service was unavailable between last Thursday evening U.S. Pacific time and today. We are pleased to tell you functionality has now been restored and that important data, including transaction history, has been fully retained.
Please note that auctions scheduled to close between July 4-7 will now close at (time EDT) on Tuesday, July 8. Please monitor any auctions accordingly.
We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced during this time. Should you have furtherquestions, you can reach us here:
Technical Support: support@snapnames.com Telephone: (800) 385-4075 (toll-free in the U.S.) + 1 503 241-8547 (outside the U.S.)
Sincerely, The SnapNames Team
—
Their website reads:
Thank you for your patience during the recent outage to our service. The SnapNames system is again fully functional and ready to accept your orders and bids.
Please note, auctions scheduled to close between July 4-7 will now close on Tuesday, July 8 or later. Please monitor any auctions accordingly. If you have questions, please contact us at support@snapnames.com.
In an exclusive interview, Ron James from NamePros tells us how he got started, his views on the various domain name forums, what investment strategies he undertakes and the future of the industry.
This interview is not to be missed.
1. Ron, you founded NamePros in February 2003, but were in the domain name industry beforehand. How and when did you get started?
Yes, I’ve been in the domaining business for 10 years, full-time for eight.
My first experience registering a domain name and building a website was in 1996 while working as “the tech guy” for an industrial manufacturing company. The following two years I starting stumbling through building websites for myself and discovering more about domain names. I learned the in’s and out’s of the dropping names, but didn’t devote much time or money into it in the beginning.
I was laid off my full-time job in 1999 and tried my best to make it on my own as a freelance web designer and programmer. As it turns out, my side hobby of buying and selling domain names would ultimately pay the bills. I’ve been my own boss ever since. When people ask what I do for a living, I either say I’m a domainer or a webmaster. Both are true. 2. How did NamePros come about?
I founded NamePros in February 2003. I wanted to be a part of a fun and free community for domain owners. Not seeing one since the demise of the original Afternic, I started NamePros.
There were a couple other domain related forums that existed at the time. I did not want to detract from their userbases, so I did not invite anyone from any other forums. Instead I sought out domain owners from other sources. It was a plan that worked out well and help create an identity for NamePros as a place you can meet people you wouldn’t normally see at other places. Over time the more seasoned domainers discovered NamePros and joined in the discussions to form the community we have today.
3. What was that moment, that you said to yourself “This is what I want to do” ?
I never had any doubt NamePros would be successful as a forum. I poured my heart into it and plowed ahead from Day 1 as if it were already a success. However it was about four months later that it really “took off” and I knew I would be doing this for a long time to come.
4. There are a number of forums for domainers that have sprung up over the years. How do you see yourself in comparison to other sites such as DNForum? Is there a key differentiator at NamePros?
All three forums have overlap in their memberships. The thing that distinguishes them from one another is the feel or “vibe” that members get while participating there. To oversimplify things, DNForum is business oriented, DomainState is more community centered. I feel NamePros is a perfect blend of business and community.
You’ll find all kinds on NamePros, from the new domainer with only a few names to the full-time professionals. We welcome anyone who is able to abide within our code of conduct, which is basically “be respectful of other members and straight in your dealings.”
5. It takes a lot of resources to run a successful community like NamePros. Over the past few years there has been various discussions around paid subscriptions. Would you consider moving to a paid model or are you completely ruling this out?
Paid membership sites are a big turnoff for me. NamePros will always remain free to participate in.
6. What do you think makes a great domain name?
A great domain is easy to remember… and hard to replace. There isn’t an exact formula for identifying one, it’s more like you’ll know it when you see it.
7. For newcomers to the industry, do you believe it’s “all too late” or is there still an opportunity to make some serious money? If the opportunity is there, where do you think that is and why?
There will always be opportunities for newcomers to make money in domains, though it takes more work and research to identify the opportunities that are available. It’s not as easy finding good unregistered domains today as it was 10 years ago but the opportunities are still there. I still hand register 10-20 new domains every week. Browsing the auctions is a good place to find values too if you’re careful not to get caught up in the excitement and overpay for a name.
8. If you were a newcomer to the industry, what investment strategy would you undertake and why?
The days of quantity over quality are well past us. It’s easier and smarter to manage a smaller portfolio of quality domains. This is especially true now that registration and renewal fees are on the rise. I would focus on buying a few good names from existing registrants rather than registering a ton of mediocre ones, and set aside half my budget for development purposes to build out a couple of the best ones into useful websites.
9. What’s your view on the future investment opportunities with regard to ccTLD’s and newer TLD’s such as .mobi, .asia and .me ?
I advocate cautious optimism with all new TLDs and domaining trends. It’s never wise to invest all your time and money into a narrow niche of domains. There are opportunities in new TLD launches, but mostly for those that get the best names early on. If I were entering the market now, I would avoid investing much in .MOBI or .ASIA since the initial window of opportunity is gone.
Investing in ccTLDs requires more premeditation and research before jumping in too deep. Established country codes like .co.uk and .de are safer bets where I’ve seen some good values compared to the more obscure ones.
10. Looking into the future, how do you see domaining evolve over the next 3-5 years?
I like that you mentioned word ‘evolve’ because that’s exactly what we’re seeing. It’s more of an evolution than a revolution going on now in the business.
Squatting on typos and trademarks is not the brilliant business model it once was. We’re going to see more domainers retiring from cybersquatting and become trademark holders themselves. It’s a maturing of our industry that I’m excited to see.
As far as parking is concerned there is a real obvious trend away from domain parking and towards development. It’s hard to be proud of a domain name that ends up on a page full of ads. Domainers want more that than, and I think we’ll start seeing more companies offering parking alternatives to domain owners. One reason I got involved with iModo.com was it’s goal of providing useful content based sites in place of traditional parked pages.
11. If you could give one piece of advice to someone new to the industry, what would that be?
Think outside the box, try different things until you find a strategy that works for you, and then stick to it. There is no one-size-fits-all business plan in this industry.
Thanks for your time Ron, I really appreciate it. I’m sure the domaining industry will find this interesting reading.
Today, ICANN is going to vote on allowing domain names with non Latin characters. For example, Chinese, Arabic and Cyrillic.
If this proposal goes ahead, its going to be very difficult to distinguish between domains in Latin characters and others such as Cyrillic. What does this mean? It’s going to:
a) increase phishing as organized crime is going to catch on that they can register ebay.com or bank.com using Cyrillic characters. Best of all, those domain names will not be registered because the character sets are different.
b) increase the number of dodgy, misleading domain names that are for sale on auction sites. We all know the good old trick of using an 0 (zero) as opposed to an O (oh). Introducing non Latin characters makes it all that more difficult. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against it entirely - I just think its going to introduce problems - many of which haven’t been thought about or widely discussed.
Will there be another mini landrush to grab all those trademarks using Cyrillic? Who knows. It also presents a problem when you show Cryillic in italics and non italics:
In an exclusive interview with DomainerIncome, I speak with John Yunker, the President of Byte Level Research.
John created the Country Codes of the World map. It includes 245 country codes, which encompasses all United Nations countries as well as numerous islands and territories. Each two-digit code is aligned over the country it represents and is color coded with the legend below for quick and easy reference.
Two ICANN gTLD registrars have bitten the dust and ICANN wants to palm off their domains to another registrar.
Who Was De-accredited?
1. Best Registration Services, Inc. dba Bestregistrar.com (IANA ID 473). They had 5,400 gTLD registrations.
2. DotForce Corp. dba DotForce.com (IANA ID 461). While they only had 400 gTLD registrations, they were based in Korea, so there could be an opportunity for someone to play in the international space.
How Do I Get 5,800 Domains?
If you are an ICANN accredited registrar, you need to send an email to Mike at ICANN by no later than 23:00 UTC on Friday, 13 June 2008, and include the following info:
1. Registrar experience, including number of registrations and customers managed;
2. Availability of sufficient customer service staffing to timely respond to customer service requests during and shortly after the bulk transfer;
3. Ability to communicate with customers in languages other than English;
4. A list of the TLDs in which accredited and operational;
5. Experience with and knowledge of bulk-transfer procedures;
6. Documentation of procedures to resolve potential disputes of domain name control or registration rights;
7. Experience as a customer-facing / “retail” registrar business;
8. Experience with second-level IDNs in the com & net zones;
9. Ability to provide ICANN with regular status reports.
Of course, if your company name is Godaddy then you probably don’t need any of this. (See sarcasm). Incidentally, if you have not read Bob Parsons 16 Rules then be sure to check them out - excellent work. Go and order the poster.
It’s been reported that their Police Department has allowed their domain name to expire.
Its been reported that official-arsenal-tickets.com had been set up in bad faith to divert business from the club’s own site. For those interested in the details its 
Yes, I’ve been in the domaining business for 10 years, full-time for eight. 
