The .Dev top level domain is off to a strong start. Google launched the .dev top level domain name yesterday and the domain already has over 64,000 registrations. The zone file for .dev on ICANN’s reporting system currently shows about 15,000, so it’s missing many of the domains. Still, based on my review of the […]
Private equity firm acquires domain name registrar with 2.5 million domains. Private equity firm Montefiore Investment has acquired domain name registrar Gandi. In a heartfelt blog post, Gandi CEO Stephan Ramoin explained the origins of the company and its values. One thing that’s unique about Gandi is that is has grown mostly by word-of-mouth; the […]
It was five years ago this month that the first domains under the new top level domain (nTLD) program started rolling out to consumers. The first Latin script general availability domains came out in early February 2014. Remember .guru? .Plumbing? Yeah, that was a long time ago. Here’s how I’d sum up the first […]
There is indeed a big elephant in the room. Paymium, SAS, which owns the domain name Blockchain.io, has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Blockchain Luxembourg S.A. & Blockchain (US), Inc., which own the domain name Blockchain.com. Blockchain Luxembourg S.A. (BL) filed a lawsuit (pdf) in September claiming that Paymium’s use of […]
Domain name was taken down after warning and request to remove content. The registry that runs the .ME top level domain name has released a statement explaining last month’s takedown of Incels.me. Incels.me was a forum for “involuntary celibates”, which basically means people who are unable to find a romantic or sexual partner. The term […]
Last week’s blog post was not the first time Verisign called attention to domain investors. Last week Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) shocked many of its biggest customers by saying that domain investors are a problem. It turns out that this was not the first time Verisign raised arguments about the domain aftermarket. It drew attention to […]
Attempts to get an injunction forcing a German registrar to collect certain Whois data are failing. ICANN has yet again failed to convince German courts that an injunction is needed to force domain name registrar EPAG to continue collecting certain information for Whois. The non-profit domain name overseer sued EPAG, part of Tucows, the day […]
No more volume discounts, focus on quality over quantity. Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit registry that runs the .org top level domain name, is making changes to how it markets its domains. Jay Daley, Interim President and CEO of PIR, said in a blog post that the organization is nixing volume discounts. These discounts […]
Format leads to higher quality questions and answers. Last month Tucows (NASDAQ: TCX) held an unusual earnings conference call. Rather than a live call with analysts asking questions, the company pre-recorded the prepared remarks portion of the call. It then invited analysts and shareholders to submit questions in writing, to which Tucows would respond. I […]
Seven-figure deal includes big geo domain name. A California company has made a big domain name purchase, scooping up California.com as part of a ten-domain deal for “mid-seven figures”, according to the buyer. One Planet Ops, which was founded by Autoweb co-founder Payam Zamani, has a number of web properties in the lead gen space. […]
