Snapnames/Moniker will be auctioning off the single letter domain name, i.CO at the beginning of February. In order to bid, entities must be pre-approved by January 21, 2011 – less than 10 days away. If you want to bid but aren’t approved, it looks like you’ll be SOL.
The private auction  will open online on Thursday, February 3, 2011 and conclude at 3:15 pm (US) Eastern time on Thursday, February 10, 2011. Bidding can be done online at Snapnames.
i.CO, or by contacting Moniker: Â sales@moniker.com or (800) 688-6311.
According to the press release,
“I.CO is one of the shortest and most memorable URLs in existence,” said Juan Diego Calle, CEO and founder of .CO Internet S.A.S. Â “This is an exceptionally valuable piece of Internet real estate, and the teams at SnapNames and Moniker have set up an outstanding auction process to alert and engage the right buyers.”
The .CO Registry has allocated only a few single-letter domain names to date, several of which have enjoyed high-profile success, including Twitter’s t.CO and GoDaddy’s x.CO, both used as branded URL shorteners, and Overstock’s o.CO, which is replacing Overstock.com as the company’s primary brand for all of its international websites.
e.CO was sold by Sedo last year for $81,000, and the domain name is currently up for sale. Interested buyers can visit e.CO to contact the domain owner. I understand the owner is considering offers of $350,000 or higher at the present time.
What ever happened to free enterprise in domaining? This is why I will not buy a .CO domain ever.. The fact that they lock/restrict all the good ones instead of instilling a free enterprise like the ORIGINAL .com/.net/.org release. It’s a wannabe .com anyways….
In free enterprise, a lucky guy with a lucky snap before anyone else can get rich.
In .CO’s system, only the rich can invest in nice names. What kind of fun is that?
@ kinesis
I’d say it’s a better system than randomly allocating them or giving them to someone who can connect to the server faster than others.
One of the rare times I full on disagree with Elliot, with respect I think all names should be first come first served, regardless of their perceived or apparent premium (tm’s notwithstanding). I recognise that bigger players can afford more server time and faster ones to boot, even so – its as level a playing field as possible. IMO even the “random allocation” notion would be fairer than a closed shop pre-vetted cleaned up auction. In fairness that would probably go down quite well amongst the lucky few Colombian taxpayers 😉
Im of the belief a true free market as unimpeded as reasonably possible should reign (in matters such as this anyway) sadly that concept seems have been completely erased from the current consciousness.
Ah, I figured it out. Columbia, a third world country, much deserves another method of making money besides drugs and violence. I think this is a unique situation where this type of ccTLD release fits fine. I am after a certain .ER domain though, .CO is great and has potential otherwise. You’re right in your theory all too often I see sites go to waste. The one I’m listed for at ER is very sacred and sentimental to me. If the dude threw it on auction NOW I would be pretty heartbroken as I wouldn’t have the funds 🙂 Maybe I’ll get it for free or a small amount like $100 someday…
I don’t understand why people seem to get upset, when the .CO registry is trying to maximize their profit. They are a there to make a profit and as any other company they try to maximize it, there is nothing wrong with that.
Because traditionally that’s the way it’s suppose to be executed, .CO changed everything. Verisign’s original 3 (Com/Net/Org) were up for free enterprise grabs – anything you wanted you could get. There was no auction. .CO is an actual company behind an IANA delegation for the CO root zone. Not all ccTLD root zones have companies behind them.
Most every ccTLD launch to date allowed you to grab anything. Even the recent .MX you could get tacos.mx, burritos.mx, a-z.mx, etc. They didn’t charge exorbitant prices for them. You’re right it’s their choice, but as a person I don’t have to buy the product or support their choice. I am only going to count .CO as an exception being it’s a very 3rd world country and they need to make money 🙂 I guess you could say that of.. a lot of them. There are some ccTLD’s that charge $1000 per year for a reg.