Nominet Changes DRS Policy and Procedure

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.

A full summary of the changes is available on the Nominet web site.

Snapnames Returns After Outage

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:         supp...@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 supp...@snapnames.com.

Exclusive interview with Ron James from NamePros

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.

The Hidden Dangers In ICANN’s New Proposal

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:

We will see what ICANN comes up with later today.

The Man Who Changed The Face Of The Internet

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.

Best of all, you can buy it from Byte Level Research and stick it up on your wall.

What do you think about the map? Feel free to post your comments.

ICANN: Who Wants 5,800 Domain Names?

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.

Traffic Down Under 2008 – An Exclusive Interview With Fabulous

Traffic Down Under 2008 is being held from November 18-20 at the Gold Coast in Australia. It’s going to be absolutely huge!

For Aussies, it’s the first real domaining conference to be held in Asia/Pacific. This makes it especially attractive for those people who have not previously attended the US Traffic conferences.

For International guests its a great opportunity to get to know the Australian domaining market and enjoy one of Australia’s best holiday destinations. With beaches and ocean views like this, you can see why the Gold Coast is so popular.

In an exclusive interview with DomainerIncome.com, Mike Robertson (Business Development Manager for Fabulous) and Andrew Wright (Marketing Manager for Fabulous), cover everything you need to know about the conference. A full transcript of the interview will be made available shortly.

I hope you enjoy it.

Pool.com Drops Catch & Release

Pool.com recently notified its customers that their catch and release system will no longer attempt to register domains from customer request queues.I have personally used Pool’s Catch & Release service and was quite puzzled by this move. C&R provided a really easy way to taste names, with minimal risk. It was also a lot cheaper than other companies that provide domain tasting / refunds.

Why Did Pool Dropped C&R?

It all begins with ICANN. In October 2007, the ICANN GNSO Council launched a policy development process (PDP) on domain tasting. They produced an Initial Report for public comment that outlined the possible actions to be taken, and the arguments for and against such actions. Public comments were incorporated into a draft Final Report (posted 8 February) for GNSO Council review and action.

The GNSO Council approved a motion which effectively changes the AGP – where domains can be returned within five days without cost. The motion, which is pending for Board action, would prohibit any gTLD operator that has implemented an “add grace period” (AGP) from offering a refund to a registrar for any domain name deleted during the AGP that exceeds 10% of its net new registrations during that month, or fifty domain names, whichever is greater.

What Does Pool.com Think About This?

In an exclusive interview with DomainerIncome.com, Richard Schreier, CEO of Pool.com said the “decision to allow the $0.25 fee is a prudent business decision” and that “domain tasting will be far more selective and the economics of doing tasting
will change.”

So – what’s my take on this?

On the GNSO Council report; like anything masked under the guise of “security” these days, nobody is prepared to stand up and question it.

It’s obvious to me that ICANN has too many want-to-be, jet setting politicians and anti-business Internet purists who can’t stand “their Internet” being used to make money. That is, unless its for big American companies like Verisign.

Unfortunately, the Domain Name Industry is too fragmented and doesn’t have the funds in one single entity to hire a fleet of lobbyists and PR consultants to educate the market about such changes.

Police Arrest Domain Name Blackmailer In Vietnam

Police in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam have arrested 24 year old, Huynh Chi Hieu for “domain name blackmailing”. Its been reported that the man was caught at a construction company, receiving VND30 million (US$1,860).

In Feb, the man allegedly called the website manager for the Lotus Steel Sheet Company (LSSC), and told them that he had their domain name for sale at $2,500. The company had a different domain name and subsequently didn’t pay the money.

In early May, Hieu allegedly posted damaging information on a fake website he had created and asked for VND50 million ($3,090). The company agreed to the deal and secretly contacted police.

World’s Largest Online Domain Name Auction – On eBay

Fernando Escovar, a Los Angeles photographer is auctioning off his domain name portfolio, reported to be valued at US$1.5 million. The portfolio allegedly contains 1500 English, Spanish, Tech, TV and geo-centric domain names.

Some of the domain names include: lasvegastowers.com, lasvegastower.com, share-holder.com, comision.com, vegasi.com, and reporttv.com.

Escovar explains “In the game Monopoly, the person with the most properties usually wins. In this virtual age, whoever owns a list of highly valued and trafficked domain names owns the internet”.

The auction will go live on eBay on June 3, 2008 with a portion of proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.