In my morning DomainTools Registrant Alert email, I noticed that the WWDC.com domain name changed hands. The domain name is now registered to DNStination Inc., which is a privacy registration service offered by domain registration and brand protection firm MarkMonitor. The first thing I thought when I saw the registrant change is that I wonder if Apple acquired this domain name.
Apple operates its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which is regularly abbreviated and referred to as WWDC. In fact, the meta description on the conference homepage within Apple’s website has the WWDC abbreviation. Apple uses the conference as an opportunity to show off and introduce new software, technology, and tools for developers. The 2017 WWDC will be held June 5 – 9 in San Jose, California.
I did a Google search to see if there are any other obvious suitors for the WWDC.com domain name, and all of the top results I see are for Apple’s WWDC – either the Apple website or news sites covering the conference. In addition, all of the keyword search suggestions at the bottom of Google’s search results page are related to the conference.
WWDC.com was originally registered in 1995. There is an active listing for the domain name on Sedo, although I would guess that listing is a former owner’s rather than a current/new listing. At the time of publication, the domain name appears to be using a zero click landing page, so I was forwarded to a couple of other websites when I checked to see how it is being used. Perhaps tellingly, the Wikipedia page for MarkMonitor mentions that Apple is a client of the company’s. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but it seems that Apple has used the company’s services before.
Because WWDC.com is currently registered to DNStination Inc., it is not possible to tell what company actually acquired and owns the domain name. When I saw the domain name registrant change, my first thought was about Apple and its Worldwide Developers Conference. I will keep my eyes on the registration and usage of the domain name to see who bought it.
5/17/17 Update: As confirmed by DotWeekly.com, Apple did acquire this domain name.
Apple mainly uses CSC, so that decreases the chances of it being Apple IMO. Apple does use MarkMonitor but mainly for new gTLD’s, so the chance still remains in general that the buyer could be Apple but it’s reduced.
Coincidentally WWDC (101.1 FM) – branded DC101 – is a commercial alternative rock radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., WWDC serves as the flagship station for Elliot in the Morning
January 14, 1982 the day after AIR FLORIDA 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge departing Washington National Airport, WWDC DC101 morning shock jock Howard Stern calls the airline desk asking for a one-way ticket price to the 14 Street Bridge. On June 29, 1982 Stern’s contract at WWDC was terminated.
In 1985 Stern went on to New York and began a 20 year run where 2.5 million dollars in Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fines were issued to station licensees for indecent statements and material.
I was 10 when this happened so I remember it well. By 1990 when I was 18, Stern was on roll, right at the time him and Sam Kinison were good friends, before Kinison wrecked his 1989 Pontiac Trans Am and died.