News
“Unicorn” Nubank is a reverse domain name hijacker
Brazilian financial company filed dead-on-arrival cybersquatting complaint.
Nubank, a Brazilian finance startup that has raised billions in funding, tried to reverse domain name hijack the domain name Nubank.com.
A World Intellectual Property Organization panelist made the ruling after Nubank (Nu Pagamentos S.A.) made a cybersquatting claim against the domain name. The owner of the domain name didn’t respond to the dispute, but it’s clear that the domain was registered well before Nubank had any trademark rights in the term.
It appears that Nubank filed the complaint after failing to get a response to its purchase overtures.
In finding reverse domain name hijacking, panelist Steven Maier wrote:
The Complainant is professionally represented in this matter and, in the opinion of the Panel, knew or ought to have known that it had no reasonable chance of prevailing in this proceeding for the reasons set out above, including in particular the fact that the disputed domain name had been registered many years before the Complainant began using the trademarks in question. Further, the Complainant’s admission that it has tried but failed to purchase the disputed domain name from the Respondent suggests to the Panel that this proceeding represents a fallback, in circumstances where the Complainant has failed to secure the disputed domain name by commercial negotiation. The Panel therefore finds that the Complaint was brought in bad faith and constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding.
K&L Gates LLP represented Nubank.
Post link: “Unicorn” Nubank is a reverse domain name hijacker
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Ethos adds legally-binding provisions to try to save .Org deal
8-year price cap, censorship and data controls would be baked into registry agreement amendment.
Ethos Capital, the company that is trying to acquire the .Org registry, took a big step today to try to push it over the finish line. It agreed to add a Public Interest Commitment (PIC) (pdf) to the registry agreement with ICANN that would enforce some of the promises it has made publicly.
The move comes after ICANN sent a letter to Internet Society, which current controls .org, making it clear that ICANN believes it has the power to nix the deal on grounds beyond security and stability.
Among the commitments is to cap the .org price for the first eight years. The price increase will be capped at 10% per year on average, and now “on average” has some teeth. It can’t be front-loaded, although the trigger date will be backdated to June 2019.
The current wholesale price of a .org domain is $9.93. That means that, after eight years, the price could be around $21, more than double the current price.
After eight years, PIR could change the price as much as it wants. (That might be about the time Ethos decides to exit the business.)
Before the Ethos announcement, Public Interest Registry said it had no current plans to increase the price of .org domain names.
Additionally, the .Org Stewardship Council will have veto authority on changes to .org policies around censorship and freedom of expression, as well as the use of .org registrant and user data.
PIR will also establish a Community Enablement Fund to support initiatives benefitting .org registrants. It will contribute $10 million to this fund during the remaining lift of the current registry agreement. That’s about $1 million a year.
Post link: Ethos adds legally-binding provisions to try to save .Org deal
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What these recent four-letter domain sales might mean
Kassey Lee breaks down how these domains might be used.
eName just reported some four-letter domains sold recently from its marketplace. As you can see, there is a large variation in the prices, which makes domain investing very challenging. I have added my own suggestions as to what these acronym domains can mean in Chinese.
KGZJ.com was sold for 29,999 yuan (about $4,500). KGZJ may be Pinyin phrases such as Kuai Gou Zhi Jia (快购之家=home of speedy purchase), Kao Gu Zhuan Jia (考古专家=archaeology expert), and Ku Gong Zuo Jian (酷工作间=cool working space).
LYQC.com was sold for 2800 yuan ($420). LYQC may be Lu You Qi Cai (旅游七彩=colorful tour), Le Yu Qian Cai (乐于钱财=take pleasure in money and wealth), and Ling Yang Qing Chun (羚羊青春=youthful as antelope).
ZPBF.com was sold for 2,788 yuan ($420). ZPBF may be Zhen Pin Bu Fa (真品不乏=no lack of genuine products), Zhao Pin Bu Fan (招聘不凡=recruit the extraordinary), and Zhao Pian Bin Fen (照片缤纷=vast and various photos).
ORQP.com was sold for 2,080 yuan ($310). ORQP may be Ou Ran Qi Pao (偶然旗袍=incidentally wearing Qipao), Ou Rui Qi Pai (鸥锐气派=an imposing manner like a sharp gull), and Ou Ri Qi Pei (欧日汽配=auto parts from Europe and Japan).
Four-letter domains are used in corporate China, for example, MGTV.com (Mango TV) and CCTV.com (China Central Television) in the 2019 Top 100 Chinese Internet Companies Report.
The price information can be found at eName.
Post link: What these recent four-letter domain sales might mean
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Wix now has 4.5 million paying subscribers
Wix’s paying subscriber base inches forward in Q4.
Website builder Wix (NASDAQ: WIX) reported Q4 and full-year 2019 earnings today.
The company posted revenue of $204.6 million for the quarter and $761.1 million for 2019. That’s up 25% and 26% year-over-year, respectively.
Collections, which is basically a measure of cash receipts, hit $226.7 million in the fourth quarter and $832.5 million for the year. That’s up 29% and 26% year-over-year, respectively.
Numbers were stunted by the strong dollar.
Wix’s paying customer base increased by 89,000 during the fourth quarter and measured 4.5 million at the end of the year. 5.8 million people registered to use Wix services during the fourth quarter. There are now 165 million registered users, so less than 3% of registered users are active paying users.
Looking ahead to 2020, Wix forecasts revenue to increase to $946-$956 million and collections to reach $1.02-$1.035 billion.
Post link: Wix now has 4.5 million paying subscribers
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ICANN moves Spring Break online over Coronavirus fears
ICANN goes virtual, INTA moves to the U.S.
No beach party for policy wonks.
There will be no cavorting with college students on the beach in Cancun next month for domain policy wonks after all.
ICANN, the organization that oversees domain names, has moved its March meeting planned for Cancun to the internet. The meeting will still happen but it will be virtual. All sessions will be held via remote participation.
Fears of spreading a coronavirus, Covid-19, led to the change.
There’s no concern of picking up the virus from locals in Mexico. But many people travel to the conference, including many people from China and surrounding areas.
In a separate announcement, International Trademark Association (INTA) announced that it is moving its April meeting planned for Singapore to a location in the United States.
Post link: ICANN moves Spring Break online over Coronavirus fears
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Verisign tries to discredit ICANN commenting period process
Company suggests that drawing attention to comment period distorted the multistakeholder process.
The comment period for ICANN’s proposed .com contract amendment with ICANN closed last Friday. The amendment would allow Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) to increase prices in the future in 4 out of 6 years.
Among the thousands of comments was one from Verisign itself (pdf). Take a moment to read it.
Verisign’s letter suggests that domain name registrars and investors (or “speculators,” in its words) have “distorted and undermined the multistakeholder process by”…wait for it…
Encouraging people to comment during the comment period.
Some domain name registrars asked their customers to comment on the proposed amendment. Verisign argues that ICANN should discount the comments submitted by these customers. Verisign suggests that the registrars are aligned with domain investors (or speculators, in its words) and didn’t tell their customers the whole story (the way Verisign wants it to be told).
For example, Verisign implies that Namecheap customers are domain investors, so comments from Namecheap customers should be discounted. To make the case that Namecheap customers are investors, Verisign points out that someone registered Covid-19.com at Namecheap, presumably intending to make money from the domain. It also notes that Namecheap lists premium domains on its site. Ergo, Namecheap customers must be domain investors.
Certainly, nudges from Namecheap and other registrars, as well as Internet Commerce Association, had a big impact on the comment period. People and companies submitted nearly 9,000 comments. Most of the people who commented wouldn’t have been aware of the comment period without the registrars notifying them or if the press hadn’t picked up on it.
Verisign wants to make sure that ICANN doesn’t consider each comment a vote, and points to U.S. government guidelines that state that comments to government agencies are not votes, and some carry more weight than others.
That’s undoubtedly true. If comments were considered votes, then .org price caps wouldn’t have been eliminated.
What Namecheap, Internet Commerce Association and several registrars did during the comment period happens all of the time in government. Groups like the American Cancer Society, veterans groups, etc. frequently encourage their supporters to comment to government officials or to comment to agency decision-makers. Otherwise, the decision-makers would never hear from the grassroots. Agencies need to hear from the people affected by policy decisions.
Verisign suggests that commenters on the .com proposal are acting in their self-interest. Of course, people of these groups are commenting in their own self-interest. Whether it’s to get more government funding for medical research or veterans benefits, or to advocate for net neutrality, people rarely submit comments that are against their self-interests.
Verisign is looking out for its own best interests, investors and domain registrants for theirs. Individual domain registrants who found out about the comment period from their registrars or media are also commenting in their interests. I doubt that many registrants would comment in favor of paying more money in the future. Just like Verisign wouldn’t comment that it thinks prices should be limited.
I’m a businessperson and a capitalist. I realize that Verisign has one job: maintain its control of .com and extract as much revenue as it can from it. That’s management’s duty and that’s what its shareholders want.
It’s the way it goes about it that draws the ire of industry watchers and shows just how strange the market dynamic of having a no-bid, presumptive renewal contract is.
I had a discussion about Verisign with someone (who was not a domain investor) last year. When I pointed out that Verisign has to work on behalf of its shareholders, he said (and I’ll paraphrase), “Yeah, but they don’t have to be such [jerks] about it.”
Or, as Kevin Murphy wrote, “The chutzpah on this company is sometimes jaw-dropping.”
Verisign has certainly been disingenuous in suddenly saying that domain investors are bad. It created products and tools for domain investors, and wined and dined them to try to get them to buy more domain names. This was especially the case in recent years when Verisign wasn’t able to increase .com prices. The only way it could keep its revenue numbers marching upward was to sell more domains. Natural demand wasn’t enough; it needed domain investors to register domains.
Now that price hikes are on the table, the company has done an about-face.
Verisign realizes that domain investors are easy to pick on. Nobody really likes domain investors. And while Verisign attacks investors, investors are busy singing the praises of .com.
By implying that most commenters are investors, Verisign is trying to discredit all comments.
In most industries, customers who were treated like this by their supplier would find another supplier. But Verisign is the only supplier of .com domain names.
Verisign has played the long game to maximize revenue from its control of .com. It created Site Finder and then got the better hand over ICANN in settling the ensuing lawsuit.
Vint Cerf was Chairman of the Board of ICANN during that fiasco. In 2006, he told the crowd at Domain Roundtable that he saw the resolution as the best possible outcome at the time. The outcome was that Verisign received the .com contract in perpetuity.
That was a huge win for Verisign, but Verisign got perhaps an even bigger win at the end of 2018. That’s when the U.S. government amended its Cooperative Agreement with Verisign. It would allow, assuming ICANN agrees, for Verisign to increase .com prices 7% in the last four years of each six-year contract. While that’s a win for Verisign over the remainder of the current contract period, the biggest win is that Verisign gets this right in perpetuity. The agreement can only be modified by mutual agreement of the U.S. government and Verisign. So future administrations can’t remove the price hikes–only ICANN can. The amendment was worth billions of dollars to Verisign.
Oh, and it also hired the former counsel for the Internet Commerce Association to help it make arguments against domain investors and price controls.
You have to hand it to Verisign. It has played its cards well.
But apparently, this isn’t enough. The day after it got that multi-billion-dollar gift from the U.S. government (again, assuming ICANN agrees to it), it wrote an inflammatory blog post about domain investors. This suggests that either Verisign doesn’t want to settle for 7% price increases or it’s just really vindictive.
Here’s how I think this will play out: despite overwhelming opposition to price hikes, ICANN will go forward with its amendment. It will say it’s no longer a price regulator and is just deferring to the U.S. government on pricing.
Verisign will increases prices. Domain investors and registrants will grumble. Verisign will push the levers as far as it can, perhaps asking the U.S. government to remove price caps altogether.
At some point, though, the company will become so insanely profitable that more people will take a look. They might even nudge antitrust forces.
Or maybe a big company with thin margins will buy Verisign and neatly tuck the costs into its overhead, hiding this money-printing press inside its books.
Post link: Verisign tries to discredit ICANN commenting period process
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Morgan Stanley’s interesting domain name patent application
Company proposes a way to determine if a domain name might trick web users.
Could this domain trick someone?
I often come across domain name-related patent applications filed by internet security companies. But it was interesting to see financial services company Morgan Stanley file one.
The company filed application number 16/059707 (pdf) for “Optically Analyzing Domain Names” in 2018 and it was just published on February 13, 2020.
The patent covers a method of analyzing if a domain name might trick a user, thus making the domains phishing candidates.
Consider a name that swaps in ‘cl’ for ‘d’. Optically, these are very similar. But a scanning tool based only on closeness of letters might overlook it. The same goes for internationalized domain names (IDNs).
Morgan Stanley proposes changing the text of a domain name into images with various fonts and distortions, and then using OCR to convert that image back into text. Then a system can analyze similarity to target URLs.
Post link: Morgan Stanley’s interesting domain name patent application
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A mysterious domain name sale
Even after researching it, this domain sale doesn’t make sense.
It all started when I read that XPJ44.COM sold for $4,105 last month according to Namebio. Even though I look at a lot of domains everyday, I must confess that I don’t understand this domain.
First, I went to Wayback Machine but found not much activity on XPJ44.COM during the last few years. That means the domain does not carry any traffic or backlinks which may be worth something.
However, Wayback Machine did point me to 0567.net where XPJ44.COM is still listed for sale. It also has many domains beginning with XPJ or ending with 44. Entering ‘xpj’ into Baidu search showed many sites related to entertainment or gambling but I did not notice any domain beginning with XPJ followed by a number in the first 10 pages of the search results.
One search result that caught my attention is GrandLisboaHotels.com, which is owned by Grand Lisboa, a Macau-based hotel that has a casino and an entertainment venue. Its name in Chinese is Xin Pu Jing (新葡京)=new Portugal capital. Macau was a colony of Portugal). So, it seems to me that the acronym XJP is associated with gambling.
Then I did a search on eName’s domain marketplace to find hundreds of domains based on the letter+number pattern ending with ’44’. This shows there are investors trading this kind of domain.
Yes, XPJ can be an acronym for many Pinyin phrases such as Xian Pi Jiu (鲜啤酒=draft beer), Xin Ping Jing (心平静=a tranquil mind), and Xiao Pei Jian (销配件=sell parts). 44 also rhymes with many Pinyin phrases such as Shi Shi (世世=generations), Shi Shi (市市=markets), and Si Shi (思世=think of the world). However, creating a meaningful and easy to remember Chinese brand from XPJ44.com is not easy. Actually, I have not come across any large Chinese company with domains similar to such a pattern.
Overall, my impression is that XJP44.com is associated with gambling and similar domains containing 44 may be limited to being traded among investors only. I fail to see how it can be used by a corporate buyer.
Post link: A mysterious domain name sale
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Acubit tries reverse domain name hijacking
Startup makes misguided arguments in attempt to get domain name registered in 2009
A technology company based in Denmark has been found to have engaged in reverse domain name hijacking over the domain name acubit.com. Based on the arguments it made, it seems that its law firm did not have a firm understanding of how UDRP works.
Among Acubit’s arguments that it should receive the domain name were that:
…under Danish trademark rules, the registration or maintenance of a domain name which conflicts with a trademark is contrary to good practice. It also contends that it is “standard practice” for a domain name to be assigned to the relevant trademark owner. The Complainant states that: “the right to use Acubit.com is much more interesting and valuable to Acubit A/S than to the Defendant” and adds that the Complainant has invested considerable resource into its trademark.
The Respondent registered the domain in 2009, well before the Complainant claims any trademark rights in the term acubit.
The panel found that Acubit should have known that it had no reasonable chance of prevailing in the proceeding and found that the case was brought in bad faith.
Acubit was represented by Hjulmand & Kaptain. The Respondent represented himself.
Post link: Acubit tries reverse domain name hijacking
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Namecheap posts $149 million revenue in 2019
Topline grew 18.7% in 2019.
Domain name registrar Namecheap generated $149 million in revenue in 2019, up 18.7% from its 2018 total.
The company focused on higher-quality domain names in 2019, eschewing the sub-dollar domains it pushed in prior years. As a result, its domains under management remained fairly steady at 10.5 million. It added 1.24 million registrations during the year.
In September, the company hit 5 million .com domains under management.
In a statement, the company said:
During the year, Namecheap welcomed over 675,000 new customers onto our platform, and continued to see our product mix expand with the addition of our Logo Maker, Business Card Maker, Validation and CDN products launching into market. Our other product verticals, such as Hosting and Private Email continue to outpace our strong domain business trajectory, contributing more and more to our overall financial performance.
Namecheap is privately held.
Post link: Namecheap posts $149 million revenue in 2019
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When did ICANN stop being a price regulator?
Just because you say it, doesn’t mean it’s true.
These days, it seems that you can make something a truth by just repeating it over and over.
I was reminded of this last week when ICANN CEO Göran Marby published a blog post about .com prices. In the post titled “.COM Public Comments and Facts,” Marby repeats a mantra that ICANN has started using over the past year:
“ICANN is not a price regulator.”
ICANN seems to believe that if it just says it’s not a price regulator, then it’s not a price regulator. But this begs the question, when did it stop being a price regulator?
ICANN has been a price regulator for as long as I’ve covered it. It has regulated prices on may legacy top level domains and still governs the price of at least one of them.
The first inkling of not wanting to be a price regulator popped up in the new top level domain name round. ICANN didn’t impose any price caps on new top level domain operators. But it still had price caps in place on legacy domains.
Then, last year, it abandoned price regulation on .org, .biz and .info. Why? Because, apparently, it’s “not a price regulator.”
Which brings us to now. ICANN says it’s not a price regulator and defers to the U.S. government on .com pricing. Yet it still regulates the price for .net domain names.
That will undoubtedly change soon.
So if ICANN isn’t a price regulator, it needs to explain why it was a price regulator. A trickier question might be, “Why do you still regulate the price of .net if you aren’t a price regulator?”
ICANN could have avoided needing to artificially set price caps if it would have periodically put contracts to run legacy top level domains out to bid. Presumably, registry contracts that are in the best interests of the internet community would have factored price and stability/quality into the picture. Rival registries would certainly charge a lot less than ICANN’s current and recent price caps.
For importantly, who decided that ICANN shouldn’t regulate registry prices? The registries? ICANN staff? It certainly wasn’t a bottom-up decision-making process.
Post link: When did ICANN stop being a price regulator?
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Potential Chinese buyers of two letter domains
Chinese companies with 2-pin names sometimes opt for two-letter domains as brands.
This morning I was thinking about several two-letter domains used by Chinese companies: JD.com, BL.com, and XC.com. They have one common feature which has implications for investors owning acronym domains.
The three domains are all acronyms for Pinyin names. JD.com is owned by Jing Dong, BL.com by Bai Lian, and XC.com by Xue Cheng. Notice that Jing Dong owns the exact match 2-pin JingDong.com yet has chosen to focus on the shorter 2-letter JD.com. In a way, you can see acronym domains as upgrades.
2-pin is the most popular type of Pinyin names in corporate China. So, as an exercise, I picked 20 2-pin names from the 2019 Top 100 Chinese Internet Companies Report and worked out their matching acronym domains. The result is listed below.
Company Current Domain Possible Upgrade Teng Xun (腾讯) Tencent.com TX.com Bai Du (百度) Baidu.com BD.com Wang Yi (网易) Netease.com WY.com Mei Tuan (美团) Meituan.com MT.com Xin Lang (新浪) Sina.com XL.com Sou Hu (搜狐) Sohu.com SH.com Su Ning (苏宁) Suning.com SN.com Xiao Mi (小米) Mi.com XM.com Xie Cheng (携程) Ctrip.com XC.com Yong You (用友) Yonyou.com YY.com Lang Chao (浪潮) Inspur.com LC.com Wang Su (网宿) Wangsu.com WS.com Long Cai (龙采) Longcai.com LC.com Xun Lei (迅雷) Xunlei.com XL.com Yi Che (易车) Yiche.com YC.com Mei Tu (美图) Meitu.com MT.com Hui Liang (汇量) Mobvista.com HL.com Duo Yi (多益) Duoyi.com DY.com You Zu (游族) Youzu.com YZ.com Zhen Dao (珍岛) 71360.com ZD.comIf you are the owner of one of the above two-letter domains, don’t get too excited yet. Some of the companies listed may not have the desire to acquire two-letter domains. For example, Baidu.com is so well known that changing to BD.com will require a lot of marketing efforts to promote the new brand. Also, Xie Cheng once owned XC.com so it is also unlikely they want to repurchase it again. Therefore, each individual company must be studied to ascertain their need to acquire a 2L domain.
What is the implication for investors owning acronym domains? As far as China is concerned, acronym domains up to four-letter .coms can serve as an upgrade. If your domain happens to fall into the upgrade path of a well-funded Chinese company, then your domain may be very valuable.
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Fox News sues to take down Fake News sites
Scammer is selling weight loss drugs using websites that look like Fox News.
Not really Fox News
Yes, there really is such a thing as fake news. It’s not just not the same definition that the U.S. President tends to use.
Fox News is suing (pdf) the unknown owner of multiple websites that are made to look like Fox News’ website but are used to promote weight loss drugs.
Some of the websites use domain names similar to FoxNews.com, including xofnews(.)com and foxnews-entertainment(.)com. Others use unrelated domain names but are designed to look like Fox News’ website.
The sites have headlines such as:
Presumably, associating this headline and selling a product on a site made to look like a real news site causes more people to reach for their credit card.
This type of site has been around for at least two years. In 2018, I came across a similar site made to look like Business Insider. In that case, the site popped up in the background while I was on another website and used a URL similar to Fox.
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Domain Capital gets reverse domain name hijacking win
University in Spain filed dispute after it inquired about buying the domain name.
Domain Capital has successfully defended its domain name UAX.com in a UDRP, and the Complainant was found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking.
Universidad Privada De Madrid, S.A., a University in Spain, filed the complaint after it first tried to buy the domain name. It wasn’t happy with the asking price, so it followed up with a cease & desist letter. Domain Capital’s attorneys responded to the letter explaining Domain Capital’s rights, but the university filed a cybersquatting complaint anyway.
The university failed to convince the panel that the three-letter domain was registered in bad faith. Instead, it appears that Domain Capital acquired the domain because of the value of short domain names.
In finding reverse domain name hijacking, the three-person World Intellectual Property Organization panel wrote:
When the Complainant’s failure to appreciate the weaknesses of its case, despite being placed on prior notice by the Respondent, is coupled to the fact that it only launched the Complaint after unsuccessfully attempting to acquire the disputed domain name at its own chosen price, the Panel accepts the Respondent’s submission that the Complaint was what is popularly known as a “Plan B case”, was brought in bad faith and constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding.
Domain Capital was represented by ESQwire.com. The university was represented by Legal Things Abogados.
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Your choice of top level domain can impact site performance
Some have faster response times than others.
A Domain Name Wire reader recently notified me about a speed study that BunnyCDN performed. The content delivery network that helps speed up load times tested 42 top level domain names for their DNS resolution time. Here’s what it found:
The top six performers—.biz, .buzz, .club, .co, .us and .in—use Neustar for registry services.
The next eight top level domains are Donuts’ domains, which seem to use Neustar’s DNS services as well. You’ll note other clusters, such as Verisign’s .tv/.com/.net.
BunnyCDN noted that part of the problem with some TLDs is that some of their nameservers performed worse than others. Also, the group found that response time degraded significantly outside of North American and Europe for some TLDs.
The content delivery network pointed out that DNS response time isn’t the biggest factor in a site’s performance, but I found the study and results interesting.
(Hat tip: Jorge)
Post link: Your choice of top level domain can impact site performance
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How a lawyer turned his business around with new domains – DNW Podcast #273
After other marketing methods failed, Clay Burgess built sites using new top level domains.
Clay Burgess is a lawyer and owns a law firm in Louisiana. Until a couple of years ago, his business was struggling. The SEO and marketing consultants he hired weren’t delivering results. Then he tried something everyone told him wouldn’t work: he built lead generation sites on .lawyer and .attorney domain names. It turned his firm around, and now he has so many leads that he’s helping other lawyers build their businesses. It’s a fascinating end user story.
Also: Frank Schilling cashes in.
Sponsor: Name.com
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts to listen to the Domain Name Wire podcast on your iPhone or iPad, view on Google Play Music, or click play above or download to begin listening. (Listen to previous podcasts here.)
Post link: How a lawyer turned his business around with new domains – DNW Podcast #273
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ICANN Board quizzes Internet Society over .Org sale
Board questions how the deal is in the spirit of the original decision to assign .org contract to Internet Society.
ICANN’s Board of Directors is asking Internet Society (ISOC) pointed questions about the proposed sale of Public Interest Registry, which operates .org, to private equity company Ethos Capital.
Maarten Botterman, chair of the board, sent a letter (pdf) to Gonzalo Camarillo, chair of the ISOC Board of Trustees, on February 13. The letter asks 18 questions, and many of them relate to how .org will be run as it relates to Internet Society’s proposal when it was awarded the domain extension.
Botterman wrote:
When ISOC applied for and was awarded the right to manage .ORG in 2002, ISOC made commitments to the Internet community on how it would differentiate and uphold the
unique purpose of the .ORG TLD. ICANN awarded the management of the .ORG registry with the belief that ISOC was uniquely positioned to live up to these commitments for the long
run. These commitments have been maintained since that 2002 award, and ICANN has heard loud and clear that the community of .ORG registrants is concerned that these
commitments already have been abandoned or will be abandoned if the transfer to Ethos Capital is completed. ICANN has also heard concerns raised that the .ORG community was
not consulted by ISOC as part of the ISOC’s consideration of the proposed transaction.
That ICANN’s Board is considering the transaction and the spirit of the original deal to assign ISOC the .org contract is an interesting development.
Among the more interesting questions the board has asked ISOC:
- There have been public statements that ISOC received multiple bids for the sale of PIR. Did ISOC solicit any responses from bidders as to how each would continue to uphold any/all of the 2002 Commitments?
- What has Ethos Capital committed to do in regard to the 2002 Commitments? And are such commitments included in any of the transaction documents, organization documents or elsewhere in a manner that insures they will be sustained and enforceable by .ORG registrants or others in the future? [emphasis added]
- We understand that ISOC received a written proposal from Ethos Capital in September 2019. Were any prior proposals made or prior discussions had with Ethos Capital or any of their representatives or advisors? If yes, when did those discussions occur? [This gets to the issue of if discussions were held in conjunction with ICANN dropping price caps on the .org domain.]
- Please describe how, in deciding to sell PIR to Ethos Capital, ISOC balanced the interests of the .ORG community with ISOC’s interest in achieving a sizeable endowment to support ISOC’s future operations separate from PIR and .ORG?
- Given the public reaction to the announced sale of PIR, will ISOC commit to completing any additional engagement with the .ORG community prior to consummating the proposed transaction with Ethos Capital? [PIR has pushed back on ICANN’s request for more time to evaluate the deal. Now ICANN is effectively going directly to ISOC with this request and a request to engage with the community.]
ICANN’s board has requested that ISOC respond by February 24.
Post link: ICANN Board quizzes Internet Society over .Org sale
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Uniregistry adds GoDaddy branding to landers
Landing pages now show GoDaddy logo and say that Uni Market is being acquired by GoDaddy.
GoDaddy’s acquisition of Uniregistry hasn’t closed yet, but Uniregistry has already added GoDaddy branding to its parked pages and for-sale landers (pictured above).
The message shows both Uniregistry’s and GoDaddy’s logos, noting that “Uniregistry Market will join Godaddy.”
This is a smart move. I’ve always wondered if Uniregistry’s brand, which is not well known, impacts leads and sales. Now, Uniregistry is able to leverage GoDaddy’s brand recognition immediately.
It will be interesting to see if this impacts conversion rates and gives buyers more trust.
Post link: Uniregistry adds GoDaddy branding to landers
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13 end user domain name sales
A matchmaking service, a Minnesota church and a ladder manufacturer bought domain names.
Here’s a look at some of the domains end users bought at Sedo this past week. You can review previous end user sales lists here.
ManDap.com $20,010 – This domain was bought by Matrimony.com Limited. This is a network of matchmaking services with more than 4,000 employees in over 20 offices across India. The company also has offices in the US and Dubai.
NaturWald.de €15,000 – Natur means nature and Wald is “forest” in German. The website is under development for a group that advocates for forest and tree conservation.
Alfatec.com $7,995 – Forwards to Alfatec.biz, a machinery parts manufacturer that produces linear guides, comprehensive component modules and other solutions for linear and handling technology.
Tarot.co.uk £6,995 – This website is in development with a “Coming soon” sign and the tag line “Discover your destiny” along with a UK address and a list of content editors.
FindGrace.com $5,999 – Forwards to GraceFellowshipMN.org, a church fellowship group in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. This is a nice domain.
NAHoldings.com $5,000 – Crosscountry Courier, Inc. which provides courier services.
Impal.com $4,700 – Forwards to Impal.com.py, a Paraguayan agricultural import and export company.
SafetyControls.com $3,750 – This domain was purchased by the Cotterman Company, a commercial steel ladder manufacturer out of Chicago.
Trafo.com €3,650 – A website in development with this message, “Trafo wishes to understand these phenomena and to tab on the opportunities to contribute to independent quality media and a well informed public. Trafo collaborates with and invests in companies with a focus on media tech and content tech striving for independence and quality”.
Until.co.uk £3,300 – This website in development with a “Coming soon in early 2020” message and claiming to be London’s first full-service co-working space for health and wellness freelance workers.
Backify.com $3,250 – A company called Admazing bought this domain.
Jordania.com €3,000 – This domain was bought by the tour operator Civitatis Tours SL, which offers global tours in English in multiple locations worldwide. This purchase could be to support their tours in Jordan.
JohnMcLean.com $2,970 – Info-Tech Research Group bought this domain. John McLean is the founder.
Post link: 13 end user domain name sales
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Say 51 if you want something in China
Why China loves the number 51.
Just enter 51 in Baidu search and you’ll see many domains starting with the number 51. What is significant about this number in China?
Well, when you say 51 in Chinese, it sounds like many Pinyin phrases. One of them is Wo Yao (我要=I want), which is useful as a call to action. Here are some examples.
51Talk.com provides online one-to-one English tutoring services. Actually, “51Talk” is the Chinese brand for the services. The company started in 2011 and succeeded in listing on NYSE in 2016. In “51Talk”, 51 rhymes with Wo Yao (我要=I want) and “Talk” is an English word. Together, the domain means “I want to talk (to the world)”.
51BXG.com was launched in 2011 as a nationwide portal providing news, market prices, inventory levels, and a variety of information about stainless steel products. In “51BXG”, 51 rhymes with Wo Yao (我要=I want) and BXG is the acronym for Bu Xiu Gang (不锈钢=stainless steel). Together, the domain means “I want to (know) stainless steel”.
51Wan.com is a game platform for fee-paying members. The service was launched in 2007 and membership exceeded 100 million by 2017. In “51Wan”, 51 rhymes with Wo Yao (我要=I want) and Wan is the Pinyin word for 玩 (=play). Together, the domain means “I want to play (games)”.
51.la is a very interesting case because .la is the country extension of Laos which also happens to be the Pinyin word for 啦 (indicating exclamation). The service was launched 16 years ago to help webmasters monitor/analyze visitors and currently it has 3.5 million registered webmasters. “51.la” means “I want it!”
Apart from Wo Yao (我要=I want), 51 also rhymes with other Pinyin phrases such as Wei Yi (唯一=one and only one), Wu You (无忧=without worries), and Wu Yi (武艺=martial art). In my opinion, the 51-prefix allows you to create a Chinese brand and then register the matching domain in a low-cost way.
Post link: Say 51 if you want something in China
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