There are just under 24 hours to go in my auction for PuertoRicanVacation.com, which currently has a high bid of $300. All funds from this auction will go to the ICA to help protect the rights of domain investors. The auction is being held on Nameade, a new domain auction website. They are giving the ICA $1,000 on top of the high bid price for the domain name. This will be a win/win for all.
The auction ends on Wednesday, March 5th at 3pm.
In this morning’s New York Times, there’s an article about an English travel agent who owned several Cuba-related domain names which were shut down by his registrar eNom, due to their listing on the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). While owning and operating these websites on his own soil is legal, since they were being managed by eNom, a US-based domain registrar, eNom had to take possession of the domain names and essentially put the owner out of business.
While I am not going to debate the merits of this decision by the Treasury Department, I do think it is important for everyone to take a few moments and check to see where their domain registrar is located. Just a few months ago, a similar situation occurred with Internet gaming giant Bodog, whose domain names were taken and awarded to a litigant who filed suit in the US. While the situation was different then, it still shows that a US government decision or a ruling in a US court could potentially lead to losing domain names.
When doing business in another country, it is important to know that country’s laws related to your business. Since many non-Americans who own domain names are doing business with American-based companies, it is important to know US law when it comes to domain names and online activities. If you should have any questions related to domain name law, I urge you to contact an attorney.
Nameade, a new domain auction venue, is now hosting my auction for PuertoRicanVacation.com. Originally, I listed this charity auction on my blog, and Nameade offered to host it to increase awareness and raise more money to support the ICA. The payment and transfer of the domain name will still be done through me to make things easier.
Nameade is a new site that launched last week. They provide a full service staff that contacts domain owners who are not in or familiar with the domain industry and finds individuals or companies willing to sell their domains. The entire inventory of names secured is then auctioned every two weeks to the domain community.
The idea is to move away from domainer-to-domainer or expired domain auctions and introduce new names into the space which otherwise would not be available.
Nameade will make a $1,000 donation to the ICA in addition to providing the venue for this auction.
Early last week, a reader of mine asked me to go through a portion of his portfolio (about 250 domain names) to review which names I would renew and which names I would drop. He offered to pay me for my time, and I agreed to do this in exchange for a donation to the ICA. While reviewing his list of domain names, I thought about the types of names I think he should keep and the names I think he should drop.
Most of the names in his list have strong keywords, but many were backwards and out of place. This isn’t one of his names, but it would be like RestaurantsNewYorkDelis.com or something like that. While the keywords
Please read the following ICA article and then Digg it!
http://digg.com/politics/Snowe_Bill_Threatens_Domain_Name_Registrants
And if you can, please support the ICA.
The beauty of living in the United States is that we can support an organization that will help make sure our collective voice is heard. The ICA will continue to lobby on our behalf to help change the bill to protect our domain assets. If this bill is passed as is, our domain names could be vulnerable like never before. I don’t understand the logic of not supporting them. I don’t see anyone else stepping up to the plate to lobby and get this bill changed.
I’ve said it before and I will reiterate it again. The Anti-Phishing Act is a consumer (voter) friendly bill that no elected official is going to vote against. We need it changed before it is passed because it contains language that will be detrimental to this business. You might not get sued by someone, but you better believe that if a domain owner does get sued and loses his generic domain name, ALL domain names will lose significant value since they will become much more risky assets. Currently, generic domain names are fairly safe from trademark violations, and consequently they are valued greatly. However, if this bill is passed as is, they may no longer be safe, and their value will drop.
I don’t see anyone else stepping up to represent us other than the ICA. Whether you are big time or small time, if you own domain names, I think you need to support the ICA’s efforts to change this bill before it is passed. I urge you to read the legislation and then please support the ICA.
I am in the process of reaching out to the companies with whom I do the most business. I am thinking about only doing business with companies who are members of the Internet Commerce Association. Is this a drastic measure? Perhaps, but if we don’t stand up for our rights, do you think anyone else will?
This is the email I am sending to my partners:
“Is xxxxxx a member of the Internet Commerce Association? The recent Anti Phishing Act proposal has some scary language for domain investors, and I think the ICA is our best chance at making sure it isn’t passed as is. I am toying with only doing business with members of the ICA. Please let me know if xxxxxxxx is a member of the ICA, and if not, when they might become a member.
Thanks,
Elliot”
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