Home Blog Page 1161

Are Demand Media Insiders Holding?

Elliot Silver
-
3

DMDLet me start off by saying that when it comes to the stock market, I let professionals handle my accounts. I dabbled in day trading a few years ago, and it didn’t end very well at all.  That being said, I am noticing something interesting with Demand Media (ticker symbol: DMD) stock over the last week and want your take on it.

I believe that the 6 month lock up period for insiders ended a week ago, meaning that company employees and others with special stock rights couldn’t sell until 6 months after the company had been trading publicly. According to the DMD S-1 filing, company employees and insiders hold millions of shares of stock.

Although it’s not usually smart to sell a stock when it’s down, I would bet there are a lot of employees who have considerable amounts of net worth tied up in DMD stock. Many are and were likely counting on selling the stock to pay for various expenses. After all, they worked at a growing company to accumulate this stock, and selling it would allow them to be compensated.

The lock up period is now over, but I haven’t seen much of a change in the volume of shares traded over the last few days. If insiders were selling their millions of shares of stock, one would expect the volume to go way up. Although the price has fallen, there seems to be some stability at the $10 mark.

From my outsider’s perspective, it would seem to indicate that company shareholders think that DMD at around $10 is undervalued and they aren’t willing to sell at this price. Maybe they realize that putting many shares for sale with lower demand would end up lowering the price even more than the last few months, but from my perspective, perhaps insiders think the company is undervalued. What do you think?

I don’t know enough about the company or its valuation to give an expert stock opinion, but it’s been interesting to watch. To my knowledge, I do not own any shares of DMD and have not discussed this with anyone working for the company, although I do business with Enom and NameJet.

Grid.com Sold for $275,000 via Sedo

Elliot Silver
-
10

Sedo domain broker Dave Evanson is reporting that he brokered the sale of Grid.com for $275,000. With a creation date of 1992, Grid.com is one of the oldest domain names created. At the present time, the sale of Grid.com will rank in the top 15 domain sales of 2011.

The Whois listing for the domain name now shows a “Nicole Hutchings” as the registrant. I reached out to the phone number in the Whois database to ask how Grid.com will be used, and I reached a voicemail for someone with a different name. Upon further research, the phone number appears to be connected to a person named Amy, and based on a LinkedIn profile for that person, it looks like she might work for a social gaming company.

I am awaiting a return phone call and email to see if the phone number in the Whois database is incorrect or to confirm that the buyer was the gaming company. Whatever the case is, congratulations to the buyer, seller, and Sedo on a nice sale.

The domain name currently resolves to a GoDaddy landing page.

John Berryhill Defeats Harvard (Lampoon) in Battle Over Lampoon.com

Elliot Silver
-
4

John Berryhill is known as one of the most successful domain attorneys, and in a UDRP decision that was released today, he successfully defended Reflex Publishing’s ownership of Lampoon.com. As I reported back in May, the Harvard Lampoon filed a UDRP for Lampoon.com, a seemingly generic domain name.

One interesting facet of this case that Berryhill brought up was that one of the panelists has Harvard connections. According to the response, “We note that the present Proceeding involves claims and evidence relating to Harvard University, as the Complainant has made various allegations relating to ‘alumni’, and that the presiding panelist is identified as a ‘Harvard trained mediator.” Despite this fact, the panel “deemed Respondent’s note as not raising any “material issue of actual conflict.”

From my perspective, the panel got this one right, and for the right reasons. According to the decision,

“Complainant has failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that Respondent has no right or legitimate interest in the Domain Name. In the present case, the fact is that Respondent registered a domain name using an ordinary dictionary word (“lampoon”) in the absence of circumstances indicating that Respondent’s aim in registering the Domain Name using “lampoon” was to profit from Complainant’s LAMPOON Mark. Indeed, Respondent established legitimate rights to the Domain Name before Complainant was able to demonstrate to the USPTO its rights to register the LAMPOON Mark (i.e., Respondent registered the Domain Name in 1998 before the USPTO issued Complainant trademark registrations under Section 2(F) of the Lanham Act for the LAMPOON Mark). And, as discussed below, there is no evidence of Complainant’s “many years of using the LAMPOON Mark” from which the Panel might possibly infer that Respondent knew of Complainant’s rights in the LAMPOON Mark and intended to exploit it. Furthermore, Respondent is using the Domain Name on a website having sponsored links to a wide variety of subject matter none of which Complainant has shown, or the Panel deems, to compete with Complainant’s parodical magazines and books.”

The panel also noted that the domain owner had not registered the name in bad faith. It seems rather obvious, but sometimes you just never know how these UDRP cases will turn out, as there isn’t always consistency between panelists and cases.

According to the decision,

“One fact bears noting as an initial matter – Respondent registered the Domain Name in 1998, some thirteen years ago. “The longer the time a disputed domain name has been registered, the more difficult it is for a complainant to prove bad faith registration. “AVN Media Network, Inc. v. Hossam Shaltout,  WIPO Case No. D2007-1011. The only evidence of record showing that Complainant took any action against this Respondent to enforce its rights was a letter proffered by Respondent in this case dated September 24, 2001, aimed at persuading Respondent to transfer the Domain Name. Complainant sent that letter three years after Respondent registered the Domain Name and then waited another ten years to assert its rights to the Domain Name by commencing this proceeding. There was no explanation for Complainant’s delay in complaining about Respondent’s domain name. Although the Panel’s decision in this case that Complainant has failed to establish bad faith registration does not rest simply on the passage of time between registration of the Domain Name and Complainant’s assertion of its rights, it is a fact that the Panel cannot ignore.

After carefully considering the totality of the circumstances in the record, the Panel does not find any evidence demonstrating that Respondent registered the Domain Name with the aim of profiting from and exploiting Complainant’s rights in the LAMPOON Mark. While Complainant has established registration rights in the LAMPOON Mark sufficient to satisfy paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy, the LAMPOON Mark nonetheless comprises the common dictionary word “lampoon,” which the record and the Panel’s own searching indicates is subject to significant and widespread third-party use in its ordinary or descriptive sense  (inter alia, in articles discussing satirical commentary, in the name of business establishments, as a font name, in event names, book titles and name of hanging lamp).“

It’s refreshing to see a case like this go in favor a a domain registrant. Congrats to Mr. Berryhill on this win.

Sedo Launching New Marketplace Today

Elliot Silver
-
7

SedoI was just informed that there are going to be some  noticeable  changes at Sedo, and I want to let you know about them in case you are a regular Sedo buyer or seller. From my own experience, when a company changes the design and/or functionality of a website, it can be frustrating, so take a look at what you can expect to see when you visit Sedo after the re-launch.

Here’s what Sedo has to say about the changes that are coming today:

An Enhanced Version of Dropdown Navigation Returns to Sedo!

We’ve had a lot of feedback from our customers in the last two years following our website redesign. One of the major pieces of feedback we received is that our members prefer the classic style of navigation, featuring dropdown menus rather than a horizontal tab structure. That’s why we’ve decided to bring back an enhanced dropdown structure. This will make it easier for all members and visitors to the site to find what they need quickly, easily, and in the way they’ve asked for.

A New Homepage Design Puts Domains and Accounts at Buyer’s Fingertips

Starting with our .com site, we’re testing a new and simplified homepage. This test will enable us to better meet our visitors’ needs and empower customers to access domain listings and their accounts without distraction. Visitors to the US homepage of Sedo’s website will see either the current homepage, or this new version. We’re excited for the results of this test!

Expanded Reach Makes Sedo the Premier Choice for Listing Domains for Sale

All domain listings are automatically promoted across Sedo’s Domain Marketplace, including the SedoMLS Promotion Network. This expanded reach will help all sellers connect more readily with potential buyers and can help to increase the rate of sale.

Promotion Levels Make It Easy to Optimize Domain Listings

With the new marketplace come new promotional options, including SedoMLS Premium for eligible domains. We’ve introduced an easy and intuitive way for all sellers to check each domain’s promotional level at a glance and make changes to optimize exposure. You can find this new feature in Domain Management. Once all four bars are filled on the green gauge, a domain has reached maximum promotion and has the greatest chances of selling.

Fixed Prices are now Buy Now Prices for a Clearer Marketplace

We’re making things more consistent for buyers and sellers throughout our marketplace. From now on, fixed prices will be known as Buy Now prices, and those domains will be available to others as Buy Now listings. These listings receive exclusive promotion in our marketplace and are preferred in Sedo’s marketing, such as the monthly newsletter and cross-promotions with partners. Further, buyers can shop for domains with confidence and without the guesswork.

Great .com Domain Names Wanted

Elliot Silver
-
253

I am looking to purchase a couple (maybe a few) strong keyword .com domain names. The maximum budget is $10,000 for each name, although I may be persuaded to pay more for the right name(s). You can have a look at my recent sales and current projects page to see what types of names I’ve sold and own to give you an idea of what I am looking to purchase.

Some of my most recent aftermarket purchases include NapaValleyRestaurants.com, PaymentProcessors.com, DogBalls.com, and DelrayBeachRealEstate.com, among others.

The only requirement is that the names be great, .com names. They must also include the price and your contact info. If you happen to see a name that you like, feel free to contact the seller. There aren’t many requirements on this post, so please keep them in mind to not waste your time, my time, or the time of anyone else.

Cautionary Tale About Subdomains

Elliot Silver
-
7

Yesterday evening, I read Michele Neylon’s article about the current issue with websites that once resided on subdomains of GB.com. According to Neylon’s post, there is an ongoing dispute involving Centralnic and the company operating the GB.com domain name, and as a result, all of the GB.com subdomains no longer resolve. Instead, they are forwarded to a message on the GB.com homepage:

“You may be here because you have been sold a domain or email service using the gb.com domain that has ceased to work.

You can restore that service swiftly by registering with GB.COM Ltd.

GB.COM Ltd will not provide a service that you have paid others for, unless they have an arrangement with GB.COM Ltd.

If you have already paid for future service and it has ceased then you should contact your supplier.

If you have any queries please send us an email and we will endeavour to answer your questions.

GB.COM Ltd.

You can sign up here or if you have an account you can login here. “

Not only does this mean that the website operators no longer have operational websites where they once existed, but it also means that emails that utilize the subdomain probably won’t work either. Clearly this could be  crippling  for a business that operated on one of these subdomains.

Centralnic has put out a statement about the current situation, and that can also be read on Neylon’s post.

From an outsider’s perspective, this issue appears to be some sort of internal dispute. At the present time, GB.com seems to be registered to steve@enovi.com, and enovi.com is registered to a person named Steve Dyer. According to ICANNWiki.com, Centralnic was co-founded by Steve Dyer.

Hopefully this situation is resolved soon since there are a whole lot of sites operating on the GB.com domain name. However, it’s a cautionary tale about what can happen to websites that operate on subdomains.

1...1,1601,1611,162...1,559Page 1,161 of 1,559