Domains / Internet Technology News - DNS News: November 2008 Archives

Aftermarket.com Live Auction TRAFFIC Down Under

By Michele Neylon on November 19, 2008 8:07 PM | Permalink

Aftermarket.com's live auction for TRAFFIC down under is taking place today.

Unlike SnapNames', Aftermarket.com's system is 100% browser based and cross-platform, so there are no real barriers to sale ie. if you've got a computer, a 'net connection and the money, you can bid on domains and spend money.

As the auction is being held as part of TRAFFIC Down Under it's only natural that some of the domains listed would be either com.au or .asia:

2o.com $8,500
AccentTables.com $5,000
Antiitch.com $0
athletic.com.au $2,000
Authentication.com.au $500
BajaAdventures.com $100
Bake.com.au $0
Barbecuing.com.au $500
BikeRims.com $1,500
BirthstoneJewelry.com $1
BlackCherry.com $6,000
BookTemplates.com $0
Branding.com.au $0
BrightonBeachHomes.com $0
Broadcasting.com.au $0
BroadcastingSchool.com $6,000
BusinessFinancials.co $0
BusinessFirms.com $0
CalgaryPersonals.com $350
Camera.co.uk $15,000
Camp.com.au $0
Card-Processing.com $350
Carpenters.net $6,722
CDs.com.au $51
CheckoutLane.com $0
CheckRegistry.com $0
ChildLocation.com $0
ChulaVistaProperty.co $500
ClearanceHouse.com $2,000
Coed.com $50,000
Courtdate.com $7,500
CreativeSoftware.com $0
DentalPolicy.com $0
DigitalVideos.com $5,000
DirtBiking.com.au $500
DownloadIt.com $5,000
ebon.com $1,995
Enter.com.au $2,000
Essays.com.au $0
Eternally.com $3,500
ExamServices.com $2,000
Exhilarating.com $3,500
FixedHomeLoans.com $3,500
GourmetStores.com $0
HandicapShop.com $450
Heldover.com $0
HispanicKids.com $500
HotMag.com $0
HouseRefi.com $1,500
HungerControl.com $1,500
Hunting.com.au $0
ijar.com $0
ImageViewer.com $1,500
Income.info $1
IndianaHome.com $1,933
InsuranceOffers.com $0
iUS.com $25,000
Jackets.com.au $0
JetSkiing.com.au $0
Jeweller.com.au $0
JobListings.com.au $3,000
Knit.com.au $0
LandDownUnder.com $0
LastYear.com $350
Laughter.com.au $2,000
LightGauge.com $0
LuxuryTownhouse.com $0
Medicinas.com $25,000
MensClothing.com.au $0
Migrant.com $3,500
NewTLD.com $1,800
Nightscape.com $3,500
NoCalorie.com $0
Parasailing.com.au $0
PassYourTime.com $0
PersonalChauffeur.com $0
Plans.com.au $0
Pollution.com.au $0
PrivateResort.com $1
Refrigerate.com $3,500
Rules.com.au $0
SafariAdventure.com $0
Saws.com $50,000
Sello.com $4,000
Shout.com.au $1,000
SkiEurope.com $5,000
Somehow.com $3,500
Southwest.asia $0
SportsMix.com $0
StartingCapital.com $800
Stealin.com $0
SurfingLessons.com.au $0
TaxDownloads.com $0
Telecard.com $1,500
ThisDay.com $24,000
Toons.com.au $500
Undergraduate.com.au $500
Up.com.au $0
Veg.as $0
VoipService.com $30,000

(price quoted is the reserve if set)

Unfortunately the registry rules for com.au domains are quite strict, so not everyone will be in a position to purchase domains. Having said that, there are some really tasty names on offer including camera.co.uk, which should easily reach its reserve.

Further information on the DomainTools site and you can follow the auction here.

Tucows (OpenSRS) Launch New Storefront For Resellers

By Michele Neylon on November 19, 2008 2:15 PM | Permalink

Tucows, via their OpenSRS brand, are launching a new service option for their resellers - the storefront.

In a move which brings their reseller offering into line with that offered by the likes of eNom and Directi, the Canadian based registrar is rolling out a "full ecommerce" solution for its reseller base.

The company's blog has more details including screencasts of the system

More Nominet Jigs and Reels

By Michele Neylon on November 16, 2008 3:31 PM | Permalink

In the lead up to Nominet's AGM earlier this year I mentioned some of the squabbling.

While we may have had a respite, it's now "open season" once again.

The latest news is that some people are pushing a vote of no confidence in the current Nominet board and demanding that an EGM be called.

What exactly happened?

As usual trying to make sense of any debacles that breakout on the Nominet member lists is awkward, as a lot of the issues seem to have historical backgrounds that mere mortals struggle to comprehend (ie. I am as confused by it all as the next person)

What is known is that two things happened.

First off the board's October communique (pdf) referenced issues surrounding one of the board's non-executive directors, a Mr Jim Davies:

Following a formal complaint against one of Nominet's non-executive Directors, Jim Davies, which was upheld in August 2008, the Board was disappointed to receive two more formal complaints concerning Jim Davies (who withdrew from all discussions and decisions about the complaints).
The first complaint was by one of our largest member/registrars, which alleged that Jim Davies had a conflict of interest and had brought the Nominet Board and company into disrepute by acting as a solicitor against them on behalf of another large member/registrar. In investigating the complaint, it emerged that Jim Davies had failed to disclose specifically - either to the Board, or to the membership prior to his election - that he had been on a retainer with the second large member/registrar since March 2008. Jim Davies stated that all relevant disclosures had been made.
The Board upheld the complaint. Angus Hanton abstained from this decision.
The second complaint was from a litigant in a domain name dispute, which alleged that Jim Davies had an interest in a contract between Nominet and a third party, and that he was in breach of his fiduciary duties to the company. In investigating this complaint, it emerged that Jim Davies had personally given a statement to the Court indicating that Nominet was in breach of contract or other duties to the third party. Jim Davies stated that all relevant disclosures had been made.
The Board upheld the complaint. Angus Hanton abstained from this decision.
The Board noted that, as advised by leading counsel, all directors have a legal duty to avoid situations of conflict and possible conflict. The Board requested that Mr Davies urgently sign written undertakings that he will not breach his duties in future.
•
The Board continued to press for Jim Davies to sign the standard Non Executive Director contract, outstanding since his election in May 2008.
•
Following the recent changes to the Companies Act, the Board reviewed a draft Conflicts of Interest Policy. The Board unanimously agreed to update the register of Directors' interests in the light of the new legislation.

Then, on 12 November, Angus Hanton, who had abstained from the votes surrounding Mr Davies, tendered his resignation from the board citing issues with how Nominet was being run and who was running it.

So what now?

I suspect that this debacle will keep growing, so the upcoming registrar conference should feature some interesting interactions between the delegates, though whether or not the current debacle will spill over into the conference proper or not remains to be seen

Tucows Launch New Status Site

By Michele Neylon on November 15, 2008 1:46 PM | Permalink

Image via Wikipedia

While the news from Tucows earlier this week may not have been that positive for their staff, clients will be able to make use of their new status site and twitter service (They've also setup a page on Facebook)

More Registrant Exploitation From Namesco Ireland AKA Register365

By Michele Neylon on November 12, 2008 5:14 PM | Permalink

Rather than rehash my original post from earlier today take a look here

ICANN Mexico

By Michele Neylon on November 8, 2008 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

While the ink still dries on the press coverage of the most recent ICANN meeting in Cairo, the next one is already gearing up.

The next ICANN public meeting will be held in Mexico city from March 1st to March 6th 2009.

The Mexico meeting site is already online with basic information on the venue and the meeting. Obviously the finer details are yet to be arranged, but you can already start booking hotel rooms etc.,

Tucows Sells Shares In Afilias

By Michele Neylon on November 5, 2008 2:29 PM | Permalink

According to an announcement made earlier today, Tucows has sold back its equity stake in Afilias

RegisterFly Rebrands?

By Michele Neylon on November 5, 2008 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I don't check the RegisterFly website that often, so I've no idea when they "rebranded"

The most obvious difference is subtle:

has become:

Not that big a difference admittedly, but still you'd have to ask what they're playing at.

Back when RegisterFly was still RegisterFly the emails they sent out were a lot less dodgy as they included tangible contact details in the email footer AND on the website.

Now, in the latter half of 2008, all you get is a link to the website and if there are proper contact details there I had issues locating them this morning.

But what drives them to do this minor rebrand?

If they wanted to shake off the old name then why not do it cleanly?

Ours is not to reason why I guess ....

ICANN Shares Even More Data With Users

By Michele Neylon on November 2, 2008 6:43 PM | Permalink

ICANN may have its flaws, but transparency is one area where they have been making some fantastic progress.

ICANN has just announced a range of new material available to the public via the "dashboard"

You can now easily see all sorts of statistics and graphs related to registry activity, finances and more.

Pretty cool!

ICANN Domain Tasting Deadline

By Michele Neylon on November 2, 2008 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Stephane has an interesting post on the possible end of domain tasting.

While the debate around domain tasting has been going on for quite some time ICANN can be a very slow moving beast. In some ways it moves far too slow, but when you consider the range of different opinions that have to be taken into consideration for such a significant policy change to come into effect it's a different story.

Domain tasting grew out of a loophole. Like so many things involving the internet and governance policies, the goalposts move over time. A big issue 10 years ago may have vanished completely, but a whole new range of issues will have taken its place, so nobody could expect policy makers to "second guess" every change.

The AGP (Add Grace Period) is an important function for any registrar. It allows a registrar to delete a domain that is less than 5 days old.
Why was this needed? Is it still needed?

There are a lot of very valid reasons why a registrar might need to delete a domain shortly after its creation.
Obvious reasons would include things like credit card fraud and purely abusive registrations (eg. spammers / phishers registering domains for purely abusive usage).

Of course the entire debacle was sparked off when some registrars realised that they could use the AGP in way that ICANN and the registries had never intended.

A lot has been written about how tasting was abused, so there's no point repeating it. Suffice to say that there are some very valid reasons for blocking abuse, but whether the proposed change that is on the table will negatively impact registrars or not is another question.

Hopefully the change will lead to an improved experience for end users.

So Where Exactly Is The Comreg Report?

By Michele Neylon on November 1, 2008 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

The Irish Communications Regulator (Comreg) were meant to publish a document based on the public feedback they'd received regarding IEDR before the end of October.

It's now November 1st and there's no sign of it.

So what happened?

When will we see the document?

Or are we all going to be fobbed off again?

At the moment the IEDR and stakeholders are waiting in limbo.

November 2008 Archives