Amazon Acquires ProjectZero.com for Counterfeit Initiative

This morning, I saw several “Project Zero” related domain names registered by Amazon. I saw that they company registered domain names like AmazonProject-0.com, AmazonProject0.com, Project-0.net, and quite a few other similar “Project Zero” domain names of various lengths. I searched Twitter to see if I could find anything about Amazon’s Project Zero, and I saw this tweet from The Verge with more information about it:

After reading the article, the first thing I did was check to see if Amazon was able to get the ProjectZero.com domain name. The other domain names I saw registered to Amazon were easy pick ups because they were previously unregistered. ProjectZero.com, on the other hand, was a pretty solid domain name that I was sure had been registered a long time ago (1999, in fact).

A quick check confirmed that Amazon was able to acquire ProjectZero.com in advance of the launch. When you visit ProjectZero.com, you are forwarded to the Project Zero page within Amazon’s website. On that page, it concisely explains the intent of the Project Zero initiative: “Project Zero leverages the combined strengths of Amazon and brands to drive counterfeits to zero.

Prior to the acquisition, ProjectZero.com had been registered to a California entity called Project Zero. Using DomainTools’ Whois History tool, it looks like the domain name was acquired sometime in late 2019 or earlier this year. In November of 2018, the domain name Whois record became private at GoDaddy, and I suspect this was when the acquisition took place. ProjectZero.com later transferred to MarkMonitor’s privacy service (DNStination Inc.) in February of 2019.

I reached out to the prior registrant of ProjectZero.com via text message to see if he could comment on the sale. He had an @projectzero.com email address, which will likely no longer work after the acquisition. If he is willing to comment, I will update the article with the information he shares.

Even though Amazon is forwarding ProjectZero.com rather than using it for an independent website, I think it was a wise buy, especially for a counterfeit-defeating program.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

1 COMMENT

  1. This appears to be a rebranding of the Amazon “Transparency” program in which manufacturers partner with Amazon to fight counterfeiting by adding unique serialized barcodes to each legitimate product manufactured. Then those barcodes are registered with Amazon and scanned upon entry into the Amazon warehouses. Any products with that UPC which are submitted for sale through Amazon which do not carry that barcode are presumed to be counterfeit, and are rejected and are not allowed to be sold through the platform. We were accepted into the early program beta last year because of extensive problems that we’ve had with counterfeit and unauthorized versions being made of our products. Amazon’s eventual hope is that the barcodes will be adopted universally, at all other large retail stores, outside of Amazon.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recent Posts

Namecheap Prioritizing Sedo Listings Over Afternic

3
Michael Sumner from NameBio mentioned an unexpected uptick in sales closed via Sedo over the past couple of weeks, and he asked about whether...

Cloud.ai Sells for $600k via GoDaddy DBS

2
This afternoon, James Booth announced the $600,000 sale of Cloud.ai. The domain name was acquired anonymously by the buyer using GoDaddy's Domain Broker Service...

OnlyFans Founder – He’s One of Us

0
I read a NYPost article about the owner of OnlyFans, Leo Radvinsky, who is reportedly looking to sell his business for billions of dollars....

How Would You Spend $50,000 USD?

1
There's no doubt great .AI domain names are selling for big money on the aftermarket. This has been the case with great .com domain...

Do You Want a Domain Portfolio Tracking Tool?

2
Over the weekend, Atom's Darpan Munjal mentioned that Atom is considering building a domain portfolio tracking tool. He asked if anyone is using a...