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Enom Adds .CO Domains to Cart

A few weeks ago, someone emailed me the following message about registering a domain name at eNom, the domain name registrar owned by publicly traded Demand Media (DMD).

Today I wanted to inform you about something I find really unacceptable: eNom keeps adding “.co” domain names to my shopping cart, even after I delete them from the cart.

At the time I received that email, I tested the registration process, but it didn’t happen to me, so I figured it was probably an isolated incident.

Today, when I went to hand register a domain name (WhateverYourHeartDesires.com), I was sure to only leave the .com field checked, as you can see above. However, upon proceeding to the checkout screen, the .CO domain name had been automatically added to my shopping cart. Had I been paying less attention, I could have very easily hit the checkout now button and bought a domain name I didn’t want or need.

In addition to this, there was also something called the “Rich Content Free Trial*” which had to be manually removed from my shopping cart as well. I didn’t review the *fine print, but my bet would be that it discusses that a free trial then turns into a paid renewal, which would be equally or possibly more annoying. I don’t know if this is the case for certain, but it would seem to be so.

I understand when companies use a checkoff box to encourage you to buy other domain names. However, it’s very annoying when I uncheck the box and they automatically add it to my cart. Why not just add .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us, .ws, and .name just for good measure? I guess they figure people might notice that but are less likely to notice a .CO.

I hope Enom will stop this.

Great Timing for G.CO Acquisition News

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Today’s news that G.CO was sold to Google must be exciting to those with .CO investments. The price Google paid wasn’t disclosed, but the key word is “sold” and .CO Registry CEO Juan Diego Calle did tell Reuters that “the price of one character (.CO domain names) is already north of $1.5 million.” I am sure Google will publicize this in a way that money can’t buy, similar to Twitter using T.CO.

The timing is very good for the .CO Registry in light of the pending renewals that are scheduled for the next several days. As one person pointed out on Mike Berkens’ blog, the Registry has great timing when it comes to important dates. The O.CO announcement came just before .CO names were available to the public a year ago.

While some people seem to be calling the .CO Registry out for dropping important news before big dates, I think it’s smart marketing, and owners of good .CO domain names will certainly benefit. Someone like Lonnie Borck of B52 Media (a good friend) who took a very big risk buying E.CO for close to 6 figures must be very happy right about now. I know he has turned down 6 figure offers for the name, and I would bet if he doesn’t sell it for over a million dollars, it will be close. News like this will help him and others.

This news should certainly not influence people who bought .CO domain names that aren’t worth anything to renew their worthless names. I posted an article offering people the space to list their .CO domain names for sale, and there were certainly a whole bunch of names I wouldn’t want to own at no cost. In my opinion, this happens with every single extension and will happen forever. There are always people making dumb investments (DMD @ $27 anyone?).

When .mobi was having problems, people who owned .mobi names seemed to chide and criticize the .mobi Registry for not doing enough to promote the fledgling extension. I don’t think anyone can accuse the .CO Registry of the same thing.

Kudos to the .CO Registry for their marketing efforts. The more people that see .CO domain names in action, the better investment good .CO domain names will make. Whether you have or will invest in .CO domain names or not, you have to respect the fact that .CO isn’t resting on its laurels.

Sell Your .CO Domain Names Before They Expire

I bought a number of .CO domain names via NameJet / Enom last July, and I started to receive renewal notices for them a few weeks ago. I did a couple of searches, and it appears that a significant number of .CO domain names bear registration dates around July 19 – 20, 2010.  

This means that the week of July 18 will be a hugely important week for the .CO Registry. Some companies are offering a .CO coupon code, but they are still relatively expensive compared to other extensions. I believe there are going to be a significant number of dropping / expiring .CO domain names in the next couple of weeks.

I know of a couple people who are interested in buying premium .CO domain names for good prices, and they would rather buy them in private than have to backorder and compete for them, or pay an extra fee for backordering the names.

If you own three letter or three number .CO domain names, or you own other GOOD keyword domain names and would like to sell them instead of renewing them, post them in the comment section below with their prices and way to contact you about buying them. It might also be a good idea to offer a bulk discount. Perhaps you can make a sale or two.


I am on vacation and posting with an iPad, so my apologies for any typos. I also may not be able to approve comments immediately.

GoDaddy Coupon Code: 30% Off .CO Domain Name Renewal

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Last month on DomainQuestions.com, someone asked if there were any coupon codes at GoDaddy for .CO domain name renewals. It took some time, but it appears that GoDaddy has activated a coupon code for domain owners to save 30% off the list price for .CO renewals.

I don’t know if or when this expires, nor do I know if there’s a limit on how many names can be renewed. Others have confirmed that this code works: gdz637cd

There is a lot of speculation that the .CO Registry will see a huge amount of dropped domain names when the first renewals begin sometime around July 19th. With good deals on renewals and transfers, I would imagine that there will be fewer dropping .CO domain names.

Personally, I believe there will be a very large number of dropping names, but I would bet that others will see many of these names and re-register them when they are able to do so. Mike Berkens recently discussed the .CO backorder reservation system in case you are interested in learning how these names can be re-purchased.

2011 ccTLD UDRP Cases at WIPO

With .CO domain names now available to register for almost a year, I did some research on the number of UDRP cases for ccTLD domain names filed at the World Intellectual Property Organization so far in 2011. These numbers don’t reflect the actual number of domain names, but just the number of cases filed (doesn’t differ by much but pointing it out).

On forums, my blog, and elsewhere, I read people’s comments about how .CO domain names would make for a field day for trademark and IP attorneys, and I did a brief analysis to see if this assumption is true to date, at least in terms of the number of UDRP filings so far in 2011 at WIPO.

Based only on assumptions, one would be likely to assume that there would be hundreds of UDRP filings because .CO is so close to .com. One might also assume that .CO would have far more UDRP filings than every other extension. While .CO did have more UDRP filings than almost all other ccTLDs that are listed at WIPO, I was personally surprised to see that .NL has the most UDRP filings in 2011. In my opinion, this assumption is proven to be wrong, at least so far.

One thing you’ll note is that not all ccTLDs are listed below. A number of popular ccTLD registries have their own dispute policies, such as .CA’s CDRP or Nominet’s DRS (.co.uk) as examples.

ccTLD UDRP filings in 2011 at WIPO:

  • .AE – 0
  • .AG – 0
  • .AM – 0
  • .AS – 0
  • .AU – 16
  • .BR – 1
  • .BZ – 0
  • .CC – 3
  • .CD – 0
  • .CH – 10
  • .CO – 37
  • .CV – 0
  • .CY – 0
  • .DO – 1
  • .EC – 0
  • .ES – 31
  • .FJ – 1
  • .FR – 17
  • .GT – 0
  • .IE – 2
  • .IR – 1
  • .KY – 1
  • .LA – 0
  • .LC – 0
  • .LI – 0
  • .MA – 0
  • .ME – 5
  • .MX – 19
  • .NL – 44
  • .NU – 1
  • .PA – o
  • .PE – 1
  • .PH – 3
  • .RO – 5
  • .SC – 1
  • .SO – 1
  • .TK – 0
  • .TM – o
  • .TV – 6
  • .VE – 1
  • .WS – 1

First UDRP Win for .CO Owner

A UDRP was filed for  Champagne.CO by Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne of Épernay, France, and the complaint was denied by the sole panelist. I believe this marks the first successful defense of a .CO domain name in a UDRP. Not only is champagne the popular sparkling wine, but it’s also a  region in France where the grapes for said wine are grown.

One reason the respondent one appears to be because the name is geographical in nature. The panelist referred to the WIPO Final Report on the First Domain Name Process and the Second Domain Name Process to determine that “geographical indications, as such, remain outside the scope of the Policy.” Personally, I feel even more comfortable now with my Bahamas.CO website.

The panelist further discusses champagne, the drink, vs. Champagne the region:

In this case, the Panel is not satisfied that the Complainant has shown that its rights in the expression “Champagne” constitute an unregistered trademark right of the kind that would satisfy paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy. First, the Panel notes that it is generally accepted that, to be a trademark, a sign must be capable of distinguishing the goods or services of an individual undertaking from those of other undertakings. It seems to this Panel that a geographical indication  per se does not distinguish the wine of one champagne producer from the wine of another, and so does not fulfill the fundamental function of a trademark of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings. A geographical indication is essentially designed to achieve a somewhat different purpose, namely to protect the producers of a particular region from loss caused by traders wrongfully applying that identifier to goods which have not been produced in the particular region, thereby appropriating to themselves the goodwill arising out of the reputation for quality which the producers of the protected products have built up. It seems to this Panel that geographical indications speak fundamentally of the quality and reputation of the goods produced according to certain standards in a specific geographic area, but not of any particular or individual trade source as such.”

Although it was unnecessary at the end, the panelist did discuss whether the respondent had registered the domain name in bad faith and/or had used it in bad faith:

“However the Complainant has not alleged that the Respondent’s intention was to sell, rent, or otherwise transfer the Domain Name to the Complainant or to a competitor of the Complainant – just that the Respondent’s primary intention was to rent, sell, or otherwise transfer the Domain Name to a third party. And even if the Complainant had said that the Respondent’s intention was to sell, rent, or otherwise transfer the Domain Name to the Complainant at a profit, the Panel has found that the Complainant is not in fact “the owner of the trademark or service mark”, as those words are used in paragraph 4(b)(i). The Complainant’s allegations therefore do not bring it within paragraph 4(b)(i) of the Policy, and the Complainant has not specified any other ground on which the Complainant is said to have been guilty of bad faith registration and use of the Domain Name. Trading in domain names is not per se contrary to the Policy (see, for example, Media General Communications Inc., cited by the Respondent).”

This is a very in-depth decision, and I recommend that you check it out when you have a chance since I have not adequately analyzed the decision in this post.

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