There was a special surprise at the registration desk given to the first 250 people who arrived at the TRAFFIC conference in New York; a custom Rick “The Domain King” Schwartz bobblehead. The custom bobblehead was produced by Bobbleheads.com owner Warren Royal and approved by the domain king himself. 250 of the bobbleheads were given to attendees of the TRAFFIC conference, and the remaining 250 limited edition bobbleheads are now available for purchase at Bobbleheads.com using the following link:
http://www.bobbleheads.com/product/tabid/85/p-168-domain-king.aspx

😉

Update: Michael Berkins is auctioning a signed Rick Schwartz Bobblehead on ebay for charity, ending October 6, 2008.

Clear your calendars and get ready for the best (and perhaps only) domainer networking meetup in Atlanta this year. DomainerCon is three weeks from tomorrow and the registration deadline is quickly approaching. If you have not yet signed up, go to DomainerCon.com today and fill out the quick form to let us know you are coming. It is a free networking event, but we need to know how much space is needed. The main event is from 5-7 pm on Saturday, June 14, but feel free to stay as late as you want. Also, some people have expressed interest in getting together for breakfast the next day, so we may do that as well. If you know of anyone in the Atlanta area that has not yet signed up, help us spread the word by letting them know. We look forward to seeing you there.

The Microsoft-Yahoo merger is not working out, and the guys at Microsoft seem like they don’t really know what to do. This is not surprising though, as they have yet to put together a successful search engine strategy. Their MSN Search is now Microsoft Live Search, online at Live.com. I wonder why they picked “Live.com” as the name though. Sure it is a great domain, but wouldn’t it be better used as a video site or social network? The much more obvious name for a search engine is Search.com, and CNet owns it.

The CNet-CBS deal is not finalized, and if CNet receives a higher offer, they can take it. Instead of Microsoft paying users to use their sub-par search engine, why not use a few bucks from their cash reserves and buy CNet. It won’t necessarily fix their search problems, but it will give them a solid foundation for future online services such as:

Search.com – to compete with Google
Com.com – wildcard it to bring more visitors to search.com
MP3.com – to compete with Apple iTunes
Download.com – to promote their software
Downloads.com – also to promote their software
Computers.com – to promote Windows operating system
Help.com – for customer support
Chat.com – to promote Windows live messenger
TV.com – to help them get into the living room with interactive tv

No doubt they will miss this opportunity though. They started by underestimating the importance of the Internet, and they obviously underestimate the power of great generic domain names. Oh well, maybe one day they will realize what they missed and perhaps they can just buy CBS. 😉

What is DomainerCon?
It’s an open invitation domainer networking conference in Atlanta. Meet, greet, and network to your hearts content.

Where’s it gonna be held?
We’re hosting it in a social room in the Blue Ridge Grill. It holds about 50 people, so if we receive more registrations than that, we’ll have to relocate.

How much is it?
Nothing. It’s free. Just register and you’ll receive the invitation and event information.

Who’s hosting this event?
Ryan & Peter are your fine hosts for this event. Peter and Ryan enjoy networking with other domainers, so they thought it might be fun to host a free event in Atlanta.

More Info…

The government of Canada filed a complaint with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center today over the domain name www.ca.gov. The complainant alleges that the domain name is confusingly similar to the Canadian government website – www.gov.ca. According to the filing, the complainant claims common law trademark and first use of the abbreviation “CA” and claims that the country of Canada was established prior to the establishment of the state of California. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was quoted as saying, “The United States has http://www.usa.gov, so shouldn’t Canada have http://www.ca.gov?” The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was unavailable for comment as he was busy filming the fourth installment of the Terminator series entitled Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.

Happy April Fools Day 😀

Stuart Lawley and the ICM Registry just lost another round in the .xxx top level domain saga after a federal judge granted summary judgment to the Bush administration. The lawsuit was filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FIOA), alleging improper intervention on the part of the Bush administration after ICANN first approved .xxx and later reversed their decision.

Porn-friendly .xxx domain backer loses suit against federal agencies

The company behind the proposed .xxx top-level domain, which was rejected after the Bush administration intervened, has been trying to dig up embarrassing government documents through a federal lawsuit.

Make that “was trying.” A federal judge on March 12 granted summary judgment to the Bush administration in the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the ICM Registry.

Source

😉

On February 8, 2007, the Fox News Network announced that it was launching a business news channel. Later that day, a company by the name of Worldwide Directory Services registered the domain name foxbusinessnetwork.com. Fox news was unable to gain control of the domain because they did not register a trademark for the term until July 16, 2007.

Fox News, the cable television news channel of Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corporation, announced its intention to launch a business news channel on 8 February 2007.

On that same day Worldwide Directory Services (WDS) registered the domain name foxbusinessnetwork.com. But because Fox News did not register any trade marks for the term ‘Fox business network’ until 16th July that year it was not entitled to force the handover of the address.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) arbitrates in many disputes over domain names and can order their transfer if three conditions are met. The name must be identical or confusingly similar to a trade or service mark held by the person who wants to gain control of it, the person holding the domain name must have no rights in it, and the domain name must be registered and used in bad faith.

All three of these conditions must be met if a name is to be transferred, and Fox failed to meet the second.

Source

I think that at least nine times out of ten, the Complainant would win a case like this, but the real lesson here is that you should always purchase your domain names, and then announce your new service. This is a mistake that keeps repeating itself in the corporate world.

The complete ruling: Fox News Network, LLC v. Domains by Proxy, Inc. / Worldwide Directory Services

Here are some interesting statistics from the recently released Domain Name Industry Brief:

• In the fourth quarter of 2007, there were more than four million domain names registered per month (more than 133,000 new registrations each day)
• New registrations grew by four percent quarter over quarter and by five percent year over year.
• The largest TLDs in terms of base size were .com, .de, .net, .cn, .uk, .org, .info, .eu, .biz and .mobi. (Are there more registered .mobi names than .us names? Another interesting mobile internet statistic here)
• Impressive growth among ccTLDs; .cn, .ru, .es and .tv experienced double digit growth in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter.
• In the third quarter of 2007, the registry renewal rate for .com and .net was 74 percent.
• 23% of all .com and .net domains resolve to a parked or “coming soon” page.

Source: The Domain Name Industry Brief – Vol. 5 – Issue 1

According to the press release, the company owns over 150,000 domain names in its private domain name portfolio, including the following:

• Over 1,000 “Gems” (their premium names, 100 examples below)
• 39,000 Surnames (used to sell email addresses like john@smith.net, etc.)
• 22,000 Brandable Names (names they are selling to other businesses)
• 88,000 Direct Navigation Names (names they are monetizing)

Here are the 100 examples listed in their press release:

Actresses.com Aerodynamic.com Alligators.com Amnesty.com Anger.com AnimalTrainers.com Artillery.com AutoRacers.com Backs.com Ballads.com BasketballPlayers.com Beagles.com BigSisters.com BikeRiders.com Biologist.com Blessing.com Breeding.com Brontosaur.com Bulldozer.com Burmese.com Canaries.com Cardiologists.com Cartoonists.com ChorusLine.com Codeine.com Congressman.com Corked.com Desperados.com DietFood.com Dietician.com Divorced.com DogBreeders.com DreamLover.com Drummers.com EndlessLove.com EnglishTeachers.com EquipmentStorage.com ExoticCat.com Geologists.com GraphicArtists.com GreatDanes.com Gynecologists.com Honourable.com Humble.com IceSkaters.com Interviewer.com JehovahsWitnesses.com Jewellers.com Labradors.com Lemons.com

Leopards.com Liberals.com Listener.com LonelyHearts.com Lutheran.com MailDelivery.com Mammal.com Masseuse.com Minis.com Moonlighting.com MorningShow.com MyGarage.com Narcotics.com Naturalists.com NewsReporter.com Ouzo.com Parakeets.com Paramedics.com PawnShops.com Penicillin.com Perfumer.com Pianists.com PoliceOfficer.com Pomeranian.com ProjectManagers.com PunchLines.com Puppysitters.com Relics.com Retrievers.com Rockclimbers.com Satanic.com SiameseCat.com Skateboarders.com Sleuth.com Sobriety.com SoftwareDesigners.com Stylist.com TennisPlayers.com TheBeaches.com TheCaribbean.com TheCompany.com TheHotel.com TheOpera.com ThePostoffice.com TheUnitedStates.com Tool.com Umpires.com Veggies.com Weasels.com Wrestlers.com

Source
😕