So what’s wrong with domain conferences? A lot. For one thing, they look, feel and smell the same way they did two, four, six years ago: the same template, the same ballrooms, the same panels, the same, the same, the same.

But really, what’s the issue? It’s simple: no real domainers. Shows are now comprised almost entirely of vendors selling their wares to each other, the familiar screen names and faces have faded from the scene – unable to muster the energy to eat more conference food, see another panel or even attend another ‘sausage-fest’ domain party.

Even I have grown weary of this broken record. It used to be a good tune, now its Lionel Ritchie belting out ‘Dancing on the Ceiling.’

So the relevant question becomes: how do we get the domainer back? They are the core of the industry and without them, new domainers don’t get the help/connections they need and old-schoolers don’t sell because of a lack of new buyer pools. Both sides lose out on profitable connections.

I think to answer this important question requires looking at what still works or has evolved with the times to better serve domainer’s needs.

For real value, it’s about networking. Domainers have always made their deals not via panels or seminars but up in hotel rooms, the lobby, at the pool and in dance clubs. A lot of it forged in friendships that emerged before the partnership. We have always been competitors so we started out at arm’s length from each other until our friendships and trust solidified.

Unlike almost any other industry, this industry is ‘business’ but it’s also ‘personal’, mostly because the original core was not made up of multi-national corporations but individual, single domainers.

And that means removing conferences from the traditional template of most industries and bringing it down to a personal level. That implies, for example, creating networking opportunities instead of meals and seminars – we want to relax by the pool, not sit in another ‘ballroom’. Create activities that encourage personal connections and help the tight and overworked domainer unwind and relax.

Another still viable aspect of the shows is the high-level keynote-speakers like Steve Forbes and Barbara Corcoran. Again, this is about individual experiences – we can learn most from each other’s stories. And unlike seminars or even panels, it offers substance on a custom level by people who are not trying to sell you anything.

And finally, it’s about the auctions which, with their online systems, actually deter attendance by domainers – better to bid online than raise a paddle and make yourself known. But cutting the system is not the answer. The onus is actually on the market to create new, well-funded buyers – again, lacking because the last generation has not worked to create a new generation. And to date, auctions have done an awful job of trying to attract buyers outside the usual industry veins, the ‘mainstream’ as it were.

As noted in a previous article, Domain Names as Investment Hedge, this down time is a great opportunity to entice new buyers into the market by introducing the idea of domains as investment to the average Main Street investor - live auctions provide a familiar and credible venue.

This is all particularly valid at a time when average people are looking, desperately, for alternatives to traditional systems and gold becomes an overpriced commodity. Domains are global, the Internet is relatively safe and domains have already weathered multiple down slides. It’s like betting on the future, not the past or its shaky credit-based foundations.

To achieve this would require a dedicated, industry-wide PR campaign to mold perception. This should be in conjunction with a series of city-by-city seminars – as used to great effect in real estate investment. Set up a few domain investment centers for the public, create literature and give them the assistance they need to see good returns –should not be too hard to get a 5%-10% return for investors.

Sure, domainers are used to and even expect much higher returns, but the average person would be more than satisfied with far lower numbers – given their current, sad options.

In the end, success of the industry resides in its ability to expand beyond traditional borders and create fresh demand - while adjusting to bring the tried and true domainer back into the fold.

It benefits us all, so get to work and get it done…before it’s too late - for the old and the new.

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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The full auction list including reserve prices is available after the jump…

[via Domain Convergence]

Full Disclaimer: Frank Michlick, the chairman of Domain Convergence, is also a co-editor with Domain Name News.

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

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(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Will the registry be opening the registration to a global customer base or will the .OM extension only be available to residents of Oman ?
Will the registry be auctioning any domain names ?
Will there be a wild-carding of non-registered domain names such as what is being done on the .CM (cameroon) extension?

In response we were sent the following:
“As answers your questions, the proposed domain name policy framework is currently in public consultation stage, the details are available at TRA’s website

From the consultation document, it can be seen that Oman’s intention is to limit .om domain names to Oman companies. As for wildcard and auction, we apologise that we are not the decision makers so it would be inappropriate for us to comment.”

According to the framework paper, an applicant for the .OM must be “an excellent company registered with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Sultanate of Oman” and is required to show documentation to that effect.  The paper also identifies names that the registry will reserve, forbids the sale of domain names by registrants and addresses the issue of “misspellings and close and substantial connections” in a rule about typos. TRA is still accepting public commentary on all of these proposals through email at fpconsulting@tra.gov.om.

In addition to providing us with this document, RegistryASP responded to our article by issuing the following statement on their blog :

Sorry to burst the bubble for domainers who seeks to monetize on typos but .OM ccTLD registry intent to only limit Oman companies to register domain names. You can read more about their policies over here.

Since the concept of wild-carding these domains doesn’t seem to clarified, these potential typos may still be monetized.  Oman and the registry operators seem to be making an effort try to prevent “domainers” from monetizing these domains with these policies. If there is anything that has been proven over the years, there are plenty of people who will find a way around “policies” to make a buck, “domainer” or not.

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The ccTLD .OM is one of three highly desirable ccTLDs because of the typo traffic that spills over to these extension by way of internet users leaving off a letter when typing the popular GTLD .COM.  The traffic that would come to any domain with this extension by mistake could be sent to a search engine landing page. For example, say a registrant were to purchase the domain name Facebook.om.  From the sheer volume of traffic that Facebook.com receives, it is natural that thousands of users will leave off the “C” in .com every day and it can be assumed many of those users will click or search on whatever page they land on.

Other ccTLDs that benefit from this .COM typo leak include .CO and .CM.  Columbia controls the .CO extension and does not currently have .CO domain names wild-carding. The second extension is .CM which is the ccTLD for the country of Cameroon.  The success behind the wild-carding of that countries traffic was talked about in a Business2.0 article about Kevin Ham.  Ham stated that the traffic through that channel was “in the ballpark” of 8 million unique visitors per month.

Since that article, many of the most popular .CM domain names have apparently switched ownership or have been diverted from the original Agoga.com lander.  Domains such as facebook.cm and yahoo.cm go to a viralvideos.org lander.  CNN.cm or ABC.cm goes to a domainsponsor lander and Google.cm goes to an Eharmony landing page.  It can be assumed that these other players jumped in after reading the story.   As John Berryhill put it, “As soon as it started happening, there was a huge sense of ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’”

It isn’t clear from this announcement whether the operators of the .OM registry will open up registrations to non-residents, auction domain names, or even operate a wild-carding similar to the .CM registry operations. What is clear is that this registry operation will have a host of people knocking on their door soon including many attorneys.

Good luck Qinetics. Good luck domainers.

KUALA LUMPUR**, Malaysia, October 6th, 2008* — Qinetics Solutions Berhad (Qinetics), a leading Registry system provider, announced today that it has been awarded the tender by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Oman to provide consultancy services to develop the domain name policy framework for Oman.

Each country or autonomous territory has a 2-letter country code that represents its “Top Level Domain (TLD)” under which Internet domain names can be assigned. For Oman, the country code is ‘.om’.

TRA, the body in Oman that regulates the telecommunication sector of the Sultanate of Oman is in the process of taking over the function of managing the ‘.om’ TLD from the current incumbent ‘.om’ manager Omantel.

“TRA is committed to implement a fair, efficient and effective world-class framework for the ‘.om’ TLD. A consultancy is thus requested to review the domain name environment for the ‘.om’ TLD taking into account the local and cultural values of the country.” said Eng. Naashiah S. Al-Kharusi, TRA Board Member.

“TRA decided to award the tender to Qinetics who shall draft the necessary regulations and policy framework documents as required for implementation of a professional .om TLD administration.”

The tender require Qinetics to provide a comprehensive consultancy service spanning areas of Administrative Policy Framework, Domain Name Policy Framework and Industry Model Framework.

Among other things, Qinetics will advise TRA on the setup of the entity to manage ‘.om’, registrar accreditation framework and domain name policies such as domain name eligibility and allocation policy, WHOIS policy, reserved names policy, complaints policy, domain life cycle policy and domain name dispute resolution policy.

“We are indeed honored to be selected by TRA for this consultancy. Our dedicated consultants within the RegistryASP team have years of practical experiences running ccTLD registry operations, registry systems and also registrar systems so we are intimately familiar with all aspects of domain name business. We are confident that we will be able to provide sound advices to TRA on the best domain name management framework for Oman,“ said TK Tan, CEO of Qinetics.
About TRA, Oman
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) was established in 2002, to liberalize and promote the telecommunications services in the Sultanate of Oman under the Telecommunications Act which was issued under the Royal Decree No. 30/2002. TRA is committed to develop the telecommunications sector in the Sultanate by regulating and maintaining the telecom services, promoting the interest of telecommunications services providers and beneficiaries, and ensuring that consumers receive world class standard quality telecommunications services, with range of choices within reasonable limits at affordable prices. * *The Authority’s policies and regulations is aimed at the development of infrastructure and the attraction of foreign investment into the sector to further promote the Sultanate’s economy and increasing employment prospects for Omani citizens. Website: http://www.tra.gov.om

About Qinetics Solutions Berhad
Qinetics, a regional company headquartered in Malaysia, focuses on Registry and Registrar service, consultancy and solution, software development and IT services. Qinetics is a MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor) pioneer-status company in Malaysia for its merits in R&D. Qinetics’ subsidiary, Web Commerce Communications Limited (WEBCC – www.webnic.cc) is the largest ICANN Accredited Registrar in South East Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan (source: Frost & Sullivan), serving over 400,000 domain names in over 40 domain name extensions. Qinetics has over 5 years of experience in the development of RegistryASP SRS (www.registryASP.com) – its flagship Shared Registry-Registrar System (SRS) solutions that powers country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) such as .hk (Hong Kong), .sg (Singapore), .cd (Democratic Republic of Congo), .my (Malaysia) and .gw (Guinea Bissau). Website: http://www.qinetics.net

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Although the deal isn’t official, Verisign announced the move in an email to registrars. This email was obtained and posted on TechCrunch by Michael Arrington:

We are pleased to announce that VeriSign closed on an agreement to acquire Global Name Registry, Ltd., which includes management of the .name top level domain on October 1, 2008. We believe the addition of .name is a natural fit, as we have run the technical backend in support of .name for more than five years.

What does this mean for existing registrars?

Your interface to VeriSign for .name domain names will continue to operate as it has in the past with no changes.

We are currently assessing enhancements to the service offering that meet the needs of the registrar channel in servicing the consumer market. Please look for service notices in the coming weeks that will outline those changes and the steps you need to take advantage of those features.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service at info@verisign-grs.com.

Very truly yours,

PJ Bolanos
Vice President, Global Customer Support
VeriSign, Inc.

Northzone Ventures and Verdane Capital also invested in the company, although the details of the transaction are not expected to be released.

[via TechCrunch]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

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Hitfarm, a company specializing in domain parking, is releasing two major domain market indices - the Reinvent Index (RVT-200) and the Hitfarm Composite Index (HCI) - so domainers can increase the performance of their parked domains. DNN will be featuring the indices on the homepage in the coming months.

The Reinvent Index tracks the results of over 200 privately held domains owned by Reinvent Technology. Measuring the performance of these domains will allow domainers to have a benchmark to understand the ups and downs of the parking industry while comparing various categories of domain names. The complete index, which will be available to all domainers, is listed at the bottom of this post.

The Hitfarm Composite Index is a broad-base index which will represent the performance of all domains managed by Hitfarm. For confidentiality reasons, the details of each individual domain, total unique visitors, and total revenues will be hidden. However, measured trends will be demonstrated through a percentage change metric, allowing domainers to compare their portfolio’s performance to the general market trends. This index will be available to all Hitfarm clients.

“With everything our clients have been asking for to increase their revenue and enhance their experience with Hitfarm, we have either addressed it already or we’re currently working on a solution,” Don Ham of Reinvent Technology explained in an email with DNN. “With parking revenues decreasing we realize it is more important than ever before for domain owners to find a solution that maximizes their revenue…

…We have some of the best portfolios parked with us for one reason - we deliver. We are setting the trend with the Indexes, as well as with the new Hitfarm 2.0 that we’re working on which will allow our clients to have access to many features that our account managers use to personally manage an exclusive account. If our clients want to manage their own accounts, then we want to offer them the best tools to do this.

These indices are a bold step in the right direction for domain parking. Domainers have never before been able to track the many factors affecting their domain names including seasonal trends, technology issues, or general market swings. Both indices will act like any stock market index to help domainers determine whether the changes in their parking performance are consistent with the overall market conditions or if there are other factors playing a role.

Hitfarm was previously only available to owners of large domain portfolios with pay-per-click earnings in excess of $10,000 per month and with portfolios containing only mainstream generic domains. According to their website Hitfarm does not support adult, gambling, controversial, trademark or arbitraged traffic. With the release of the forthcoming Hitfarm 2.0, the company now seems to have lifted the earnings cap and are interested in working with domainers of all sizes who have quality generic domain traffic. “The best just got better - because we are going to open up Hitfarm for any domainer that has good traffic.” stated Ham.

In addition, Hitfarm 2.0 provides more features for domainers interested in engaging in an exclusive contract. The exclusivity requires a minimum year long commitment with each client receiving a dedicated account representatives who provides monthly reporting and feedback on improving domain portfolio performance catered specifically to the domain owner. The exclusive contracts also provide domain owners another level of transparency not seen previously. All exclusive contracts will provide an option to audit all payments from Hitfarm.

Ham explained, “Hitfarm contracted a certified accounting firm who specializes in audits and had them create a platform whereby any certified accounting firm can come in and do an audit to confirm Hitfarm revenue payments to Hitfarm clients. Hitfarm itself is audited by PWC annually but the audit conducted by our clients will leave no room for doubt that we are honoring our agreement with our valued clients.”

This type of benchmarking and transparency should be a welcome addition to domain owners and help to improve accountability in domain parking. We look forward to more companies pushing forward with creative ideas to improve performance and open up transparency like Hitfarm has done here.

[More info available at Hitfarm]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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The Domain Owners Association of Canada will have its inaugural meeting at the Domain Convergence conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on October 7. The association is primarily focused on giving a voice to Canadian domainers in order to address their key concerns.

“It’s high time Canadian domain owners get their voices heard,” said Peter Maxymych, founder of the Domain Owners Association of Canada. “Domain owners in Canada have often felt like they are working alone. This does not have to be the case. With this association we can work together to promote our interests in domaining.”

The association’s website, DOAC.ca, will be accessible once the association is officially launched later this month. In the meantime, you can contact Zak Muscovitch, the association’s solicitor, at zak (at) muscovitch.com for more information.

[via Domain Convergence]

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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Domain Convergence has lined up numerous training sessions and networking opportunities to help domainers reach their full potential. Now, with the addition of the domain auction, the conference has become a must-attend event for every domainer in the area.

“Our aim is to put together a great conference for the Canadian and international domain community, filled with valuable sessions and opportunities to network,” explained Frank Michlick, chairman of Domain Convergence. “The live auction is the icing on the cake.”

Fusu is aiming for around 30-40 premium domain names to be sold to conference attendees and online bidders during the 1-hour auction on October 8. Any domain names not sold at the event will be re-auctioned online afterwards.

Domain owners are requested to submit their domains - plus reserve price, postal address, and phone number - via email to auction@domainconvergence.com before October 4. Fusu will charge a 15% fee to the seller, plus a 1% up-front fee based on the reserve price to encourage low reserves.

[via Domain Convergence]

Disclaimer: Frank Michlick is co-editor of DomainNameNews.com.

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

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*DVF= DomainVermarkterForum

(c) 2008 DomainNameNews.com

Domain Convergence, October 6-8, 2008, Niagara Falls

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