Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Domain News From Picky Domains

1. Domain Tasting May Soon Be Banned

THE global internet regulator is investigating domain tasting, the controversial process where users register domain names to test their effectiveness in collecting extra traffic and then cancel the registration before fees become due.

2. Courts Are Starting To Issue Restraining Orders Against Cybersquatters

Companies sometimes find that opportunistic purchasers of domain names (often referred to as “domainers"), will purchase a domain name quite similar to that of the company, and establish a site at the URL loaded with revenue-generating sponsored ads. To accomplish these purposes, domainers seem to prefer the services of companies like HitFarm and Domain Sponsor. A web user types in the confusingly similar URL and is bombarded with pop-up ads and sponsored links to goods and services, often competitive to the company whose name or trademark is being appropriated in the URL.

3. Russia fights with ICANN to save .SU domain name

The US organization that oversees the web's structure, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), wants to kill of the .su domain that was assigned to Russia just 15 months before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The new domain assigned to Russia is, of course, .ru which is the most popular domain but many Russian organizations continue to register and use the older .su domain, partly because of its nostalgia.

4. Iraq.Com Is On Sale On Sedo. Current Bid Is $560,000

The domain name Iraq.com is up for auction at domain name aftermarket Sedo, and is currently bid up to the equivalent of $560,000 USD. Eight bidders have staked a claim, but the reserve price hasn’t been met. On the plus side, you don’t have to set foot in Iraq to own a piece of the country by buying this domain. Unfortunately, buying Iraq.com doesn’t come with any oil rights.

5. Grassroot Effort Started To Give New York City Its Own Domain Name (.NYC)

Is it time for the big city to start cornering a piece of the Internet? A growing grassroots movement says yes, and is trying to create a ".nyc" domain name to go alongside the dot coms and dot orgs of the World Wide Web. "When Ford introduced their first car 100 years ago, no one thoughtto start building roads for it," said Tom Lowenhaupt, an interactive marketing consultant who heads Connecting.nyc, a group he formed to lead the effort. "So we ended up having to tear down miles of the Bronx to build freeways to start accommodating them all. It's the same thing now. We have the opportunity now to plan for the future and start organizing ourselves and our resources in a responsible way."