Home Blog Page 1201

Did UDRP Decision Get Revision After Publication Without Notification?

8

I read something pretty surprising on CircleID this morning pertaining to the Wooot.com UDRP decision that has reportedly been revised after publication. I initially wrote about the decision because I found it strange that the domain name was canceled by the panelist, and Andrew followed-up with more questions about the decision. Domain investor and frequent domain watchdog, George Kirikos, wrote the Circle ID article.

According to Kirikos’ research (and documented in Andrew’s article), someone removed the following important sentence from the UDRP decision after it had been published: “Complainant held a trademark registration for “AOL” and Respondent registered the domain name “iaol.com.”‘

Kirikos explains that the reason this line is important was that “This was completely out of place and nonsensical, because the complainant was Woot, not AOL, and iaol.com was a reference to a completely different case in 2002. This was the original “smoking gun” that caused the public to dig further into other cases of “cut/paste” amongst panelists. An archive of the original decision (cached on April 22, 2010) was made at Webcitation.”

There also doesn’t appear that there is any explanation as to why this UDRP appears to have been revised post-publication nor does there appear to be any notice issued on the National Arbitration Forum website. It doesn’t seem right that a UDRP decision could be revised after it’s issued without any sort of explanation or notice, especially when this particular section of the UDRP is one of the things that made Kirikos identify the cut/paste UDRP problem in the first place.

Want to Work for a Domain Company?

I love working for myself, but I know some people would either prefer to work for a large company because of the steady income and career opportunities. Chef Patrick Ruddell recently went to work for Moniker, and there are a number of other individuals who made the transition from self-employed to corporate.

Here are a few job openings I saw at leading domain-related entities in case you are interested:

NameMediaSenior QA Automation EngineerNamemedia is looking for QA Automation star to assist in delivering high-quality, high-visibility, high-traffic customer facing web sites and company-internal web applications. The successful candidate will have a passion for designing, building and executing automated tests against Java and Web applications.

SedoSales ConsultantAs a Sales Consultant in our London office, you are responsible for driving new business in our expanding UK market across all critical product areas while establishing high-level relationships with key decision makers and ensuring both growth and long term client satisfaction.   Successful candidates will have a demonstrated ability to drive new business, develop and leverage a strong client network, and deliver repeatable and consistent business offerings with a focus on quality, creativity, and integrity.

SedoAssociate Account ManagerWe’re looking for a motivated individual interested in the online-advertising industry for our office. This starting position within Sedo’s UK sales division will teach you about all of our products and services (domain-marketing, domain sales, etc.) and key clients groups as well as develop your sales abilities. As part of Sedo’s dynamic UK office, you will assist us to ensure the retention and maximum satisfaction of our client base through a mixture of account management and sales tasks.

Oversee.netPortfolio Account ManagerJoin Oversee.net as the Portfolio Account Manager for the Domain Management operations team. This position will be working with a group of diverse, energetic, and motivated members who encourage team collaboration. This position involves responding to customer inquiries primarily via email correspondence as well as assisting the team in managing internal domain portfolios. This is a great opportunity for an individual to learn more about the domain name industry.

Oversee.netAccount Manager Emerging BusinessesAs an Oversee Emerging Business Account Manager you will be responsible for growing and managing marketing partnerships, primarily for our airport parking reservations web business, aboutairportparking.com. Oversee has a major presence in online travel services with its lowfares.com web site, and seeks to expand its online travel business by leading specific niches like airport parking. This experienced, eager Account Manager skilled at closing new partners and growing and managing existing ones will play a critical role in growing the revenue of the Emerging Business group at Oversee.

Oversee.netSearch Engine Marketing Specialist – Emerging BusinessesOversee.net’s Emerging Businesses division has an immediate need for a motivated, creative and analytic thinker with excellent communication and leadership skills to join the paid search marketing team. Oversee.net’s Emerging Businesses division has the proven ability to leverage core competencies in bid optimization, landing page design and to monetize high volumes of traffic into quality leads for a network of advertising partners. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company’s core brands include LowFares.com, Degrees.com and IdentityTheft.com.

MonikerSales & Marketing Lead Generation SpecialistMoniker Online Services, LLC (www.moniker.com) is a leading provider of domain name registrations, auctions, appraisals and brokerage services for individuals and businesses that wish to have a unique address and branded identity on the Internet. The Sales & Marketing team is looking for a high energy and tech savvy individual to assist in developing lead generation and marketing programs to sell the company’s products and services – primarily focusing on premium domain name sales.

Domain SponsorSoftware Development ManagerOversee is looking for a talented and passionate individual to help bring our Domain Sponsor product to the next level. We are currently looking for a Software Development Manager to lead our core Monetization team which serves millions of page views a day. This is a critical position with big responsibilities and high visibility. The position requires a strong individual with demonstrated leadership ability that enjoys taking on big challenges that directly affect the company’s results.

Domain SponsorSoftware Development ManagerOversee is looking for a talented and passionate individual to help bring our Domain Sponsor product to the next level. We are currently looking for a Software Development Manager to lead our core Monetization team which serves millions of page views a day. This is a critical position with big responsibilities and high visibility. The position requires a strong individual with demonstrated leadership ability that enjoys taking on big challenges that directly affect the company’s results.

Domain SponsorSenior Data ArchitectWe are currently looking for an architect to identify and lead a comprehensive data strategy across our organization and design and build a scalable, extensible, and operable data infrastructure.

eNomSenior Director, Sales and SupportManage a team of over 40 Sales Representatives and Technical Support Representatives…etc.

Thought ConvergenceDatabase AdministratorThe ideal candidate will be a strategic thinking self-starter with a passion for technical problem solving. Strong candidates will have a solid understanding of the issues surrounding large-volume websites and scalability.

Thought ConvergenceSr. User Experience DeveloperIf you enjoy taking client user interfaces to the next level, are driven by the challenge of defining and maintaining long-term strategies, and want to contribute new and unique ideas to the UI design of rich Internet applications, this position may be perfect for you!

GodaddyKeyword Search AnalystThe Keyword Search Analyst is responsible for researching and compiling a list of keywords that target specific industries. This position requires the ability to write copy based on the top keywords within the category.

GodaddySocial Media DirectorThe Social Media/Communications Director oversees aspects of internal and external communications for the organization. Part of this responsibility is managing the Social Media department and maintaining a cohesive corporate message thru the various Social Media platforms.

GodaddyProduct Manager (Domain Monetization)The Domain Monetization Product Manager oversees Go Daddy’s domain monetization product line, including the domain parking platform. This person will develop and manage cutting-edge monetization solutions for domain names, and will be responsible for the vision and execution of Go Daddy’s domain monetization strategy.

Name.comUser Interface (UI) DesignerAt Name.com we want to put a greater emphasis on the usability of our tools and services. By focusing on the user, we believe the rest will fall into place. We’re looking for a UI Designer to help drive the design process for new Name.com products and features. As a UI Designer, you will work closely with our development team and company leadership throughout all stages of the product cycle. If you’re a critical thinker with a good design sense, a strong technical background, and an eye for making things better we want to talk to you. This is a full-time salaried position.

TucowsAssociate DeveloperWe’re looking for people that love to program.
This position is for a temporary full-time software engineer (for 3-6 months) that will design, code and test projects and enhancements within a small Agile team. Maintenance and testing of the products is expected, as well as tight collaboration with other developers, QA, product managers and other various members of the team.

Using Trademarks in Domain Names

I was searching Google for an accessory for a new Apple product, and I was surprised at the number of domain names that included Apple trademarks. Since receiving a cease and desist letter from a company several years back when I first started buying domain names, I have been very careful not to buy   domain names that contain obvious trademarks.

I believe many domain investors look at this and wrongly believe that the seemingly free usage of trademark domain names means that the trademark owner doesn’t care about protecting its marks, and domain investors can buy and sell them with limited risk. Although the risk may in fact be low for many trademark domain names, the penalty can be very high – up to $100,000 per domain name according to the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.

Apple may not be a company that appears to actively litigate for infringing domain names, but there are plenty of companies that do – like Microsoft. When thinking about buying these domain names, especially when the sole purpose is resale, you should consider the legal repercussions.

There are plenty of people and companies that make business decisions every day because they own revenue generating domain names that contain trademarks, but newly minted domain investors probably have a much lower chance at hand registering TM names that will produce revenue. If you own a TM name that doesn’t make money, you have a liability rather than an asset.

I know Rick talked about registering BP spill-related domain names that generate PPC revenue, but keep in mind that Rick can afford to fight a legal battle if necessary. It’s the cost of doing business. Others who try to emulate this type of registration may not be so lucky. There are plenty of companies and lawyers who would like to make an example out of someone.

New: Deal of the Week

As you may have noticed today, there’s a “Deal of the Week” link in the header of my blog. Each week, I will try to bring you a special offer or discount from a domain or Internet company that might benefit your business. Special offers may vary between domain registration discounts, web development deals, SEO offers, or other special offer or deal.

The deal of the week will be posted on Monday morning and it will run through the following Monday. The only caveat is that some advertisers may have a limited quantity or prefer their offer only stays live for a limited time, so you might want to act quickly. There will be a large “Sold Out” graphic if the offer is expired/sold out.

At the present time, there are several offers upcoming, but if a company would like to discuss posting a special offer for the future, please contact me and I will provide details.   In addition, I will have one banner spot coming available on July 1. Please contact me if you are interested, although I do have a couple companies on the waiting list who may take the spot.

Sunday Afternoon Thoughts & Update

What a weekend so far. Not such a great goal for the US in yesterday’s World Cup match against England, but we’ll take it. I feel badly for the keeper though since this will surely be a Bill Buckner-esque play that will go down in history, especially if England fails to advance. Tonight is a big Celtics game, and today is a great day to relax and enjoy the weather.

Here are a few things that may be of interest.

  • There was a great article about Warren Royal and his Bobbleheads.com venture in the Albany Herald, a local newspaper in Georgia. The article discusses how Warren acquired the domain name and then built the popular website.
  • If you have been thinking about applying for a .CO domain name via the .CO Registry’s Founders Program, now is the time to do it. Applications are due no later than June 15, 2010. I am in the process of applying for one, and if I am awarded the domain name, I will chronicle the build out process, as I am required to have the site launched by July 20, 2010. As an alternative, you can try to reserve one at a registrar like Register.com.
  • While thinking about the June 15th deadline, I also just remembered that 2nd quarter estimated taxes are also due on the 15th of June. If you need to pay estimated taxes, don’t forget to mail them out tomorrow (note to self).
  • Someone emailed me about an adult-ish website that was hosted on Blogger that got taken down. I know it’s been said before, but you really need to consider this type of thing when you use a service like Blogger or even possibly WordPress. I don’t know if the site was removed, or if the owner was able to access his articles/posts, but it’s important that you control your content rather than be reliant on another company.
  • Just a reminder, the cost of .com domain names will be going up very soon (July 1), so now is the time to take proper action. You can renew your domain names for several years in advance or you can transfer them as some companies like Name.com have transfer specials going on right now.
  • It looks like Rick Latona is moving into other areas in addition to domain names and watches. His newly re-launched RickLatona.com website has a section for diamonds, timeshares, and loans.
  • Francois Carrillo has started his own domain blog at DomainWare.com. His first post discusses why some Domaining.com accounts have been canceled. With all of Francois’ ventures and domain sales, this is going to be an interesting blog to read if he updates it frequently.

Thoughts on the e.CO Auction

I know there is an active discussion about the e.CO auction happening on Mike’s Blog and TechCrunch, but I want to share my thoughts on it because I have a unique perspective. It was reported that B52 and its CEO Lonnie Borck won the domain name for $81,000. Lonnie is one of my closest colleagues in this industry as well as a good friend outside of the business, and I was with him at the auction and after.

In my opinion, this was a very strong speculative acquisition. The .CO registry and it’s registrar partners are spending a lot of money on marketing the extension to ensure consumers know about it. .CO makes total sense for companies to use, and in fact, many companies use similar extensions in other countries – think .CO.UK and .CO.IL. I already gave some of my thoughts on .CO.

With the news that Twitter will be integrating T.CO into its system as the preferred URL shortener, and that there are many applications for the .CO Founder’s Program as well as already awarded domain names (Angel.co and Disrupt.co as examples), I think .CO is going to be big. As a one character domain name in this extension, E.CO will be worth much more than the purchase price assuming things play out like we believe they will, although Lonnie’s team acquired this domain name for a specific reason and may not be inclined to sell it.

I want to address a couple of comments made about Lonnie in the two aforementioned articles.

1) Regarding the charity being kept private: Lonnie is a fiercely private person, and he does not wish to disclose the charity recipient(s) publicly. Some people like to flaunt who they support and by how much, but that’s not Lonnie’s way to do things.

2) Regarding Lonnie’s smarts in this space: Keep in mind this public information – his company sold Scores.com for $1,200,000, owns Funding.com, Bookmarks.com, Shock.com, Winter.com, Camera.net, and Baby.net. He also owns a number of other considerable domain names that aren’t publicly known.

I think the acquisition of E.CO was a shrewd investment, and the charitable organization(s) that will benefit will certainly be very appreciative.

Recent Posts

Squadhelp Rebrands as Atom with Atom.com

5
Squadhelp announced a complete rebrand this morning. The company is now known as Atom, and it acquired the Atom.com domain name in advance of...

Nissan Going after Nissan.ai

3
Nissan is an automaker that uses NissanUSA.com for its website here in the US. The reason it uses an off-brand domain name is because...

Using AI For Background Image

9
I acquired a domain name last week, and once it transferred to GoDaddy, I set up a custom landing page using Carrd. Instead of...

It’s All About the Time You Put into It

2
A few years ago, my wife jokingly described my daily work lifestyle as leisurely. In some ways, I thought of that as a badge...

D3 to Host Invite-Only Dominion Conference

0
D3 is a relatively new entrant to the domain space, but it has a team with considerable domain industry expertise. In announcing its $5...