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Lebron James’ New Nike Television Commercial

Elliot Silver
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2

This isn’t domain related, but have you seen Lebron James’ new Nike tv commercial yet? It’s pretty dramatic and mixes some old school Charles Barkley with some new school Tiger Woods. Nike always comes out with interestingly dramatic commercials with their star athletes.

Lebron James and his marketing company own LebronJames.com, and the website has been “coming soon” for quite some time. I’m somewhat surprised they haven’t launched a new website on it yet with the Heat’s season opener game against the Celtics happening tomorrow.

I Have Very Little On the Line, So The Big Guys Can Foot The Bill

Elliot Silver
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19

I just read Mike’s post about powerful DC politicians coming to a domain industry conference, and I’ve read quite a few posts he and others have written about supporting the ICA. I’ve also written posts imploring domain investors to support the ICA, in addition to contributing to the ICA.

From my own perspective, I think the general consensus amongst most people in the domain space (which I disagree with) is something along the lines of “I have very little on the line financially compared to others, so I will let the big guys foot the bill for protecting all of our interests.”

It seems that many domain investors aren’t doing this full time, and/or they think their holdings pale in comparison to larger companies. These larger companies, with so much more on the line, should use their vast assets to protect their own holdings and the holdings’ of others by default. I can see this side of the argument, although I don’t agree with it.

In my opinion, one of the wisest “investments” a domain investor can make is in the formation of a business entity to protect personal assets. In a poll I ran on my blog not too long ago, 41% of the people who read the article don’t even have a simple LLC to protect their own assets.

If people aren’t protecting their own assets, does anyone think they are going to financially support organizations or associations that supposedly support their interests?

I can imagine someone thinking that their $100 or $500 donation will result in no recognition or support, even if they need an assist with a UDRP or some other issue that might impact their holdings. Instead, the money will be spent on lobbying or something else that can’t be seen and can be difficult to quantify.

I know that Phil Corwin works hard for the ICA representing the interests of domain owners. I also know that others are working hard to protect domain investors’ interests behind the scenes, but the truth is that we are a very fractured industry. People don’t agree on the smallest things, and in most cases, it’s every person and company for itself.

I really don’t know what can be done to “unite” this industry to support even the most obvious of objectives.  What do you think?

Can Firesheep Plugin Be Used to Steal Domain Names?

Elliot Silver
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3

There’s an interesting article on TechCrunch about a new Firefox plugin called Firesheep that exploits some websites’ non-usage of the secure https for logins. The jist of it is that if you log in to a website that is known to Firesheep from an unsecured network (think a domain conference or a Starbucks), and someone has Firesheep installed, they can access your account.

According to the Firesheep website, it’s this easy:

  • After installing the extension you’ll see a new sidebar. Connect to any busy open wifi network and click the big “Start Capturing” button. Then wait.
  • As soon as anyone on the network visits an insecure website known to Firesheep, their name and photo will be displayed
  • Double-click on someone, and you’re instantly logged in as them.

Further, according to the TechCrunch article, a number of large websites have vulnerabilities: “to give you a sense of Firesheep’s scope, the extension is built to identify cookies from Amazon.com, Basecamp, bit.ly, Cisco, CNET, Dropbox, Enom, Evernote, Facebook, Flickr, Github, Google, HackerNews, Harvest, Windows Live, NY Times, Pivotal Tracker, Slicehost, tumblr, Twitter, WordPress, Yahoo, Yelp.”

eNom, Demand Media’s domain registrar and partner company of NameJet, is listed as a website whose cookies could be captured by Firesheep.

I don’t know if it would be possible for someone to log in on someone else’s account using the Firesheep plugin, but that’s what the article seems to imply. Perhaps there are other domain registrars that are vulnerable as well?

I sure hope domain registrars know about this plugin, and if not, I hope they learn about it quickly. I for one generally don’t log in to secure websites while at domain conferences or in public places, but when I do, I change my passwords quickly after.

New Unsolicited Emails Received

Elliot Silver
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17

I bought a domain name this morning at Moniker, and this evening I received the unsolicited email below. It’s kinda crazy that they are sending out these emails the same day as the domain registration. I wonder how many people are getting the same crap.

Ironically, I got a similar email last week under similar circumstances.  See that one below for something interesting I noticed.  Who else is getting these emails?

Email received 10/24

From: newdomain@inline.me
Subject: xxxxxxx.com purchase

I noticed you just bought xxxxxxxxxxx.com.

Our statistics indicate that your domain’s primary keyword phrase, ‘xxxxxx xxxxxx’, gets around x exact local searches per month and x exact global searches per month. We have many similar domain names available that get a lot more monthly searches and will bring you a lot more traffic.

Here is our list of domains about xxxxxx xxxxxx.
http://adddomainnames.com/?id=xxxxxxxx

We also have a daily premium domain drop list.
Subscribe to our drop list
http://adddomainnames.com/drop_subscribe.php?id=xxxxxxxxx

We can also help you with developing your domains, hosting your websites, and getting your sites to rank high in the search engines.

Now have a look at the previous email that I received last week. Notice the bolded segment, which seems to have been removed, perhaps because of the legal intervention from my registrar.

Email received 10/15

From: newdomain@inline.me
Subject: xxxxxxx.com purchase

I noticed you just bought xxxxxxxxxx.com from one of our partner registrars.

Our statistics indicate that domain’s primary keyword phrase, ‘xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx’, gets around x exact local searches per month and x exact global searches per month. We have many similar domain names available that get a lot more monthly searches and will bring you a lot more traffic.

Here is our list of domains about xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx.
http://adddomainnames.com/?e=xxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com&k=xxxxxxxxx

We also have a daily premium domain drop list.
Subscribe to our drop list
http://adddomainnames.com/drop_subscribe.php?e=xxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com&k=xxxxxxxxxxxx

Random premium domains we purchased and pricing.
These are first come first serve. Send an email to newdomain@inline.me
keyword | domain – (exact local searches | exact global searches) – price
motorcycle audio systems | motorcycleaudiosystems.com – (1600 | 1300) – $80
miss swan | missswan.com – (40500 | 90500) – $120
blood sugar levels chart | bloodsugarlevelschart.com – (22200 | 18000) – $200
how to tie your shoes | howtotieyourshoes.com – (2900 | 4400) – $110

We can also help you with developing your domains, hosting your websites, and getting your sites to rank highly in the search engines.

newdomain@inline.me
10765 Reading Road – Cincinnati, Ohio
To Opt out:http://adddomainnames.com/unsubscribe.php?e=xxxxxxxxxx

Argument for Traffic Price Reduction

Elliot Silver
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35

On Friday, I wrote about the successful Traffic conference that concluded last week in South Beach. I wasn’t there for the entire show, but I can’t really offer much criticism because there weren’t many things I would change. Well, maybe one thing… the price.

Traffic is still the most expensive domain investment conference. With ticket prices ranging from somewhere between $1,295 – $1,995 depending on location and time of purchase, the cost of the Traffic conference is hundreds of dollars more than the cost of other conference tickets. It’s also more expensive than other similar tradeshows. (As Howard points out in the comments, I am incorrect and the cost was $995, and Rick emailed me to mention they  offered an 895 price plus a $100 room credit for all those that acted early.)

I know that Rick and Howard said that the conference is for serious domain investors, and the price is high to reflect this. People who want to cause trouble for them or who aren’t professionals won’t pay the price to attend. I get that and understand that perspective.

I am not an affiliate expert or SEO expert, but on occasion, I attend affiliate and SEO conferences when they’re in NYC. I never pay for the full rate because I wouldn’t take away enough to justify the cost, so I either pay for a pass with less credentials, or I simply attend the exhibition hall for free. I meet with some of the exhibitors, and I generate business for some of them. My attendance is added value to them, and they are willing to pay for booths because they know there will be thousands of people in attendance, including many people who only go to the exhibit hall.

I believe there are a lot of people who buy, sell, and monetize domain names as a hobby or they own decent names and don’t know there’s an actual domain industry. The cost of a Traffic conference ticket is prohibitive to them, so they’d never show up. If there was an option to buy an exhibit hall ticket or a less expensive ticket, attendance would be greater and there would be more opportunities for everyone.

Sure, some amateurs might show up, and perhaps even some “riff raf” who don’t really belong, but I bet there would be a number of people who have an interest in learning more about the domain industry, and it could bring some new blood into the space.

I think it’s a great idea to have a Traffic conference in San Francisco right around the time of ICANN. However, if there is a hope for some attendee overlap, the ticket prices will have to come down. Otherwise, it’s going to end up being a bunch of meetings in the lobby, which will be annoying to show organizers.

Wanted: CityJobs.com Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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12

I have a buyer looking to acquire US CityJobs.com domain names, such as BostonJobs.com, PhiladelphiaJobs.com, SeattleJobs.com…etc.  The domain names must meet all of the following criteria to be considered for acquisition.  If one is not met, please do not waste your time or ours since this is a very specific purchase:

  • US city with a population of 90,000 or more in the city limits
  • Exact city name like Boston or Detroit, not BostonMA or something else
  • .COM only
  • Domain registration must be pre-2004

Please post the domain name and price in the comment section or email it to me. Domain name must be priced. I am not taking a commission on the sale, so don’t mark it up for that purpose.

If you have any questions, please read above. Again, please do NOT waste our time with a domain name that does not meet all requirements. I can guarantee you that the buyer will not be interested in anything else right now.

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