Flock: Directi Launches Business Chat Product

Divyank Turakhia, co-founder of Directi, announced that his company just launched a chat service targeting business users. The service is called Flock, and the company is using the Flock.CO domain name for this new  business app.

Here’s what Div had to say about Flock in a Facebook post announcing the launch:

“Excited about the launch of our new cool product: http://flock.co – awesome chat service for businesses – teams, groups and workplaces. Runs on iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, Chrome. Switch devices and pick up right where you left off.”

For companies that have employees all over the world (like

Escrow.com Acquires Agreed Escrow Service

I just received a press release from Escrow.com announcing that the company has acquired the Agreed.com escrow service from Thought Convergence. Agreed was granted its escrow license from the California Department of Business Oversight in October 2012, and the escrow service was introduced during NamesCon. Terms of the acquisition have not been released given that both companies are closely held.

Although this news was surprising to me, it was somewhat less surprising given the recent news of Thought Convergence’s sale of Aftermarket.com to Igloo. It made sense for Thought Convergence to operate an escrow service that worked closely with its domain resale marketplace, but after the sale of Aftermarket.com, it probably didn’t fit within the company’s ecosystem.

This acquisition allows Escrow.com to acquire the updated technology and platform that Agreed uses, which should benefit customers as well as the company. For the time being, Agreed.com will forward to Escrow.com, and the Agreed technology will be integrated with Escrow.com’s technology.

The press release announcing the news is published below:

Mike Robertson Hired By DNC Holdings

This morning, DNC Holdings, Inc. announced that Mike Robertson was hired by the company as its Business Development Director. Mike Robertson is the co-founder of DomainGuardians.com, and he and co-founder Jen Sale recently brokered the million dollar BTC.com deal. Mike is also known by many in the domain space after working in a business development role at Fabulous.

This news comes shortly after the company announced that domain industry veteran Kellie Peterson was promoted to company President from her role as Chief Strategy Officer of DNC Holdings.    In case you aren’t familiar with DNC Holdings, it is the company that operates Directnic, a domain registrar and hosting company.

In his new role with the company, Mike will be working with Directnic, DomainApps, and other company projects. Mike will be relocating to DNC Holdings’ Tampa, Florida office from his native Australia.

The press release announcing the news is below:

Igloo.com Acquires Aftermarket.com Marketplace

I just received word that Igloo.com has acquired the Aftermarket.com domain name resale marketplace from Thought Convergence. Terms of the private deal were not released. I’ve always felt that the Aftermarket.com platform had the ability to compete with the largest domain name marketplaces, and perhaps this acquisition will spur that to happen.

The acquisition indicates to me that Igloo.com is poised to grow beyond its reputation as a high end domain brokerage service. There is a major difference between brokering 6 and 7 figure domain names and operating a platform that specializes in the sale of every type of domain name. The key factor for Igloo.com will be its distribution channels because the most successful marketplaces have a wide variety of sales outlets. I am interested to see how Igloo.com establishes those relationships.

The press release announcing the sale is below.

Kathy Nielsen Leaves Sedo to Join Dot Green

Kathy Nielsen worked at Sedo for nearly seven years in a variety of roles, most recently as VP Business Development in Sedo’s Registry Services group. I noticed a change on Kathy’s LinkedIn page, and  she is now listed as Executive Director of Registry Operations and Channel Relations at Dot Green Community, Inc.

I reached out to Kathy to get more information

NameCheap & Fight for the Future Protesting in Front of FCC Building

Net Neutrality Billboard

NameCheap has been one of the leading Internet companies behind the fight for Net Neutrality. NameCheap has been advocating for Net Neutrality in a variety of ways on its website as well as on its NetNeutrality.com portal.

This afternoon, I saw a Facebook post from NameCheap CEO Rick Kirkendall with a photo of a video billboard advocating for Net Neutrality that has been set up right outside of FCC headquarters in Washington, DC. I learned that