A UDRP was filed against the generic one word Playhouse.com domain name at the World Intellectual Property Organization. The sole panelist, Robert A. Badgley, found in favor of the domain registrant and also ruled that this was Reverse Domain Name Hijacking (RDNH). The decision was published this morning on the WIPO website. Zak Muscovitch represented the domain registrant.
In the decision, the domain registrant’s sworn statement about acquiring domain names as investments was published:
I had to be a soccer dad on Friday afternoon, and I missed the close of the Accelerator.com expiry auction at GoDaddy Auctions. When I returned, I saw the domain name had sold for $145,050, according to NameBio. When I clicked the auction page link, however, I saw a message that said “Auction cancelled,” which I shared on Twitter to see if someone could shed light on this:
I was following the https://t.co/xbkfsGhcnN auction at @godaddyauctions until I had to leave with 30 minutes remaining. The auction page currently says “auction cancelled” but @NameBio says it sold for $145,050: https://t.co/jADS0tev0L
I reached out to @GoDaddy for clarity. https://t.co/AhIiKV3Pyx pic.twitter.com/H8wx3nlqLR
— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) October 20, 2023
I reached out to a contact at GoDaddy to ask if the domain name was sold or if the auction was cancelled. A GoDaddy contact replied to me and told me he thought the auction is still valid and awaiting payment.
When Accelerator.com went to expiry auction at GoDaddy Auctions, the Whois registrant was (and still is as of publication) listed as “Afternic, LLC – On Behalf of Domain Owner“. If you look up just about any GoDaddy-registered domain name currently in auction at GoDaddy Auctions, it likely has the “Afternic, LLC – On Behalf of Domain Owner” registrant information. At any given time, there are thousands of domain names with this registrant information.
I have been asked many times who this actually is, and I have come to understand that this is essentially a holding account for domain names that are pending completion of a sale. A GoDaddy-registered domain name that expired and is no longer able to be renewed will be moved to this account once it is past the renewal time and before the auction transaction is completed.
When someone previously asked about this registrant, GoDaddy’s Joe Styler answered on NamePros:
I learned there was a round of layoffs this week involving GoDaddy’s Domains, Registrars, and Investors (DRI) Group. This is the team that interacts with domain investors and partner domain registrars. I do not know the scope of the layoff, nor do I know if employees who work directly with domain investors were impacted by this layoff.
I reached out to GoDaddy to seek information about the layoff. The company seemingly confirmed that jobs were lost but did not share much additional information. I was given the following statement by a company representative:
A Belgian company called IBA SA filed a UDRP against the valuable IBA.com domain name at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Not surprisingly, the sole panelist, Nick J. Gardner, ruled in favor of the domain registrant. The panelist also ruled this was Reverse Domain Name Hijacking (RDNH). The decision was published today.
The complainant attempted to acquire the domain name for $2,500 in 2021 using a domain broker. According to the panelist’s interpretation of the discussion between the broker and the complainant, the broker told the complainant it” should offer over USD 25,000 if it wishes to make a credible offer.”
Monte Cahn emailed me today about the inaugural Domainer Expo. I understand it is an event that is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas from December 6-7th at the Westgate Resort and Casino. Aside from an email a month ago from one of the event’s organizers, I had not heard about this event until receiving Monte’s email (I don’t believe Monte is involved with organizing the event).
From the looks of it, conference organizers are expecting a large turnout. Quite a few domain industry participants are lined up as speakers. The cost to attend the event is $497 for standard passes or $697 for VIP passes.
The event organizers put together a video explaining what attendees can expect to see at the conference:
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