Domainers Must Adapt…Again

It’s a funny thing how domainers always expect their stank to rise…and continue rising. Funny because if you’ve been in this business long enough you’ve likely weathered, or not, a few industry tempests and cycles. We’re hardened sailors who have seen tough squalls and lived to tell the tale.

Truth is, over time things have ‘changed’ much more than domainers care for - there is no question. There is nary an old domainer, no matter the age, without a gray hair or two from our career. So part of the expectation may be wishful thinking, part of it denial, part of it realistic business outlooks and goals.

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The racially sensitive domain name SandNigger.com expired and was auctioned off at Namejet.com today. The domain ended up selling for $840. A quick look at the NSI whois reveals the new owner (who will likely be buying privacy protection very soon. . . .you’re welcome NSI ). Justin over at Namebio posted an open letter regarding this story. He’s calling for the companies involved to donate the profits from the sale to a reputable charity. I decided to feature this story as a way to back Justin’s idea up, but I’m also going to expand on this call to action, so keep reading. . . .

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Attorney John Berryhill addresses an important issue that seems to be ignored by some U.S. based registrars: Doing business with Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) and countries under US sanctions is against the law.

Berryhill’s article points to several obvious violations of the law by registrars including Network Solutions, Godaddy and Enom who all appear to be conducting business with Sudanese businesses. The Sudanese businesses all have registered domain names through these U.S. based registrars and more specifically the companies Berryhill references are listed as SDNs.

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G. is Domain Name News “Senior Domain Entertainment Correspondent”, covering all matters relating to the notoriously wild party scene, growing event calendar and domainer lifestyle including party reviews, news, editorials, experiences and more. G’s identity is kept confidential as his 5th Amendment right not to incriminate himself…and others.

Ah, Las Vegas. T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West. Sin City.
Trouble. Again.

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According to a press release from the law firm Kabateck Brown Kellner, a federal class action lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California against domain name registrar Network Solutions and ICANN. The suit clam that the NSI has forced customers into buying domains from the company rather than through potentially cheaper avenues, in effect netting the company millions of dollars.

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Domain blogs have been buzzing about Google and ICANN’s recent move to “kill domain tasting”. Upon a closer look Domain Name News felt that initial reports were largely exaggerated .

Naturally that exaggeration perpetuated through out the web with a myriad of other bloggers like Jay, Sahar, Brett, Elliot, John Levine and even ZDnet and TechCrunch picking up the story and discussing this topic.

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A story is developing regarding domain name registrar Network Solutions front running domains. According to multiple sources on DomainState.com, it appears that domains searched via NSI are being purchased by the registrar thereby preventing a registrant from purchasing it at any other registrar other than NSI. As an example (at the time of this writing), a random domain which DNN searches such as HowDoesThisDomainTasteTaste.com can be seen  in this whois search to now be unavailable to register at other registrars but at NSI it can be purchased

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June 2007 marked the debut of Domain Name News. So although we were not able to cover all the stories of 2007, we decided to put together our first annual recap of the past year in domain name news. What would you say the big stories in 2007 were? What news changed the space or made an impact ? We talked with a few dozen friends and associates active in the domain space to help solidify our ideas. What we found was that most of the top stories we had begun writing about were the same ones that resonated with them in recapping the year. Their help was much appreciated in solidifying our ideas. You all know who you are are, thanks for the help! Happy New Year and enjoy our “Year in Domain Name News”

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Domain name registrar Network Solutions announced in a press release today the launch of an enhanced business listing service. The service allows domain owners to advertise within their whois listing by adding company information, news or even a for sale listing.

According to NSI, their Whois queries reach over 1 million users per day. For $12 per domain, the new enhanced listing service would allow domain owners to add more information to their domain whois details and potentially put that information right in front of those viewers.

Domain Name News tested out the service to find out how it works. Follow the link for more information in to our peekinto the NSI Enhanced Business Listing (Enhanced Whois)

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According to sources, Verisign, the operator of the generic TLDs .COM & .NET registry, is considering selling access to selected root dns server lookup data to registrars. The root servers are what make domain names work on the Internet, meaning that many domain queries hit these servers on their way to a site or an email recipient.

Why is this data so interesting? It contains the majority of failed lookups, meaning the Verisign nameservers will be hit and log the query, when someone enters a domain name that does not exist. While many domain-tasters have obtained this information directly from ISPs, getting this directly from Verisign would be a step up the chain, since Verisign manages two of the 13 root name servers.

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