nominet

Nominet Overhauls Its Procedures

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Katharine

 

Nominet, a popular registrar of .co.uk domain names, recently outlined a comprehensive set of changes to its services, which it will implement beginning in May of 2012. The biggest change is that a single-year registration of a .uk domain name will cost £3.50 per year, where a two-year registration will be £2.50 per year. Both prices will have the standard VAT added atop those prices. The two-year price is the same as before, but the availability of one-year domain purchase is a new element to Nominet’s services.

Domains will also be available for renewal for up to 10 years, and renewal will be possible at any time, as long as the renewal years do not add up to over 10 years. Prior to these changes, registrants could only acquire Nominet domains in two-year blocks.  There are other new aspects to Nominet’s operating procedures, too, many of which seem to streamline customer services, billing, and renewal processes. One of these changes includes an inability to cancel a purchase once the registration invoice has been issued to the customer.

Apparently, there had been concern that the availability of single-year domain registration would increase the number of non-serious domain customers – people who want abusive or throwaway domains in the .uk registry. Hopefully, a slightly higher cost for a one-year period of registration will set this problem back slightly.

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Domain Registrars Protest SOPA/PIPA

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Katharine

On January 18, 2012, several websites, including domain name sites, went dark to protest the proposed legislation restricting the use of copyrighted material on the internet. This legislation, in the form of two linked bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), was moving through Congress at an accelerated pace thanks to the support of numerous media conglomerates such as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and AOL/Time Warner.

Websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit shut down for 24 hours, beginning at midnight on the 18th, to protest the bills and spread awareness to areas of the nation that might not be aware of them. Google, while it didn’t end any functionality, had a blacked-out version of its logo and a link on its homepage requesting protest by citizens to their congressional representatives. Some were upset with those companies that are very involved with online content such as Go Daddy. However they have great customer loyalty with their godaddy coupon and other features to keep prices low.

Many large and small sites joined in the protest. These bills represent a cause that matters to virtually the entire internet community. GoDaddy, one of the supporters of the bill, lost an enormous number of subscribers due to its pro-SOPA stance (which it later reversed). Additionally, domain name registrars NameCheap.com, Name.com, and Hover.com joined in the protest, showing that it wasn’t just sites that rely on user-submitted content to find the legislation ill-intentioned.

SOPA has been stalled indefinitely due to the outcry. Many of the bill’s congressional sponsors have backed down their support.

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Network Solutions Offer Code

New Network Solutions Deal

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Alex

If you build websites and you want to get your domains cheap, and I mean really cheap, check out this new Network Solutions Offer Code we just got. This Network Solutions Offer Code will let you register domain names with NetSol (Network Solutions) for only $6.99 per site. If you are looking for hosting as well, you can use the code to get hosting for just $5.99 per month.

NetSol is one of the best (and was actually the first) domain name registrars out there, and they are offering this code for a limited time to try and attract some new customers. Use the Network Solutions Offer Code below at checkout and you will receive the discount.

Network Solutions Offer Code

This Network Solutions Offer Code will get you domains for only $6.99.

Make sure to use this code while it is still functioning, whenever NetSol decides they have had enough users redeeming the code, they will disable it. The sooner you make your purchase using this Network Solutions Offer Code, the more likely you are to get the discount applied.

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DOMAINfest Global Fantasy Domaining Contest

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Katharine

Each year, Oversee.net hosts an event in Los Angeles called DOMAINfest Global. It has expanded through the years to include just about anyone who has an interest or investment in domain names and “domaining”, and in 2012 the event will host a contest with a terrific prize.

The Fantasy Domaining Contest will run a little like a fantasy football tournament. The big winner will receive a trip to the 2012 DOMAINfest Global conference, including a $1,000 travel stipend and four nights at a hotel in addition to free tickets to the conference and a publicly-awarded trophy. The second-place and third-place winners will get free and half-off tickets to the conference, respectively.

The contest will help hone the skill of its contestants at the domain name game. From a list of 1,000 domains, the entrants to the contest will draft a roster, put domains “in-play”, substitute and trade domains with other users, and project PPC revenue. From an original list of 35 selected from the 1,000, 25 domains are put into play. The contestant must choose the domains that s/he thinks produced the most PPC revenue between December 1, 2010 and January 16, 2011, and the actual revenue recorded for the domains between those dates determines the contestant’s overall ranking based on his or her roster.

The contest began on December 1, 2011, but you can still sign up and play (if you’re a resident of the United States) through January 16, 2012. Signing up is free. Winners will be notified on January 18, 2012. For more details, visit http://www.domainfest.com/fantasy.

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German Company Sues Facebook Over Page Name

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Katharine

Domain name squabbles aren’t just restricted to .coms, it seems. A German pharmaceutical company doing business as Merck evidently entered into an agreement with Facebook in March of last year to hold rights to the page at www.facebook.com/merck. However, the U.S. company doing business as Merck is now “squatting” on that page, and the German Merck has filed suit in New York to get its Facebook page back.

Interestingly enough, the two companies were separated as part of German reparations after World War I. They are not affiliated with each other and are, in fact, competitors. (Who knew a Facebook war could have its origins in 1918?)

This dispute raises the question as to whether regulatory efforts regarding domain names can be translated to other styles of websites. The German Merck’s lawyers argue that the Facebook page is of great marketing value, and that because Facebook does not differentiate internationally in the same way that .coms don’t, the German Merck’s rights to this property of value have been co-opted.

Merck is not suing the U.S. Merck, however; it is suing Facebook only at this time, because Facebook has refused to hand over documents and information that Merck finds necessary to determine how the U.S. Merck obtained access to the facebook.com/merck page. The suit also claims that Facebook was unresponsive and evasive to the German Merck when the company tried to resolve the matter, and hints at further action if nothing is done to restore the Facebook page to the German company.

The suit was filed on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Time will tell whether the page will be returned to the right Merck.

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GoDaddy-Black-Friday-Deals

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Domain Sale

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Emmanuel Dato

After thanksgiving, we expect the massive black friday sales in wallmarts and other top shops offering huge discounts fromalmost all items especially the gadgets like tablets, xbox, PC and more. We always see it in the news how malls slashed the prices for the holiday spirit but aside from that we also saw how cruel the black friday sale usually ends up.

Shoppers punches and kicks each other just to get the best deal like for a $2 waffler maker a woman got pepper sprayed by another woman and an elderly man  was arrested for causing trouble during the sale.  It’s not actually just walmart or target that are giving big discounts during black friday to cyber monday day sale. Top domain sites are also offering huge discounts and giving away promo codes and coupons to kickstart the holidays. At least you dont have to get trampled to claim the promo codes and discount. Get a godaddy promo code here in this list that is constantly updated.

The no.1 domain provider GoDaddy on Black Friday put an special offer of $1 for a one year domain subscription. This coming cyber monday, GoDaddy is putting up a $5 dollar one year domain subscription and its expected to be sold out the same with the black friday offerings. Other domain providers like NameCheap, Hostgators are also providing Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts as well.

Actually, domain providers like GoDaddy have year round discounted domain subscriptions. They usually offer promo codes and coupons but if you want to get really cheap domains then check out GoDaddy’s website this Monday and maybe you will get lucky and be able to purchase a domain name for $5 only.

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xxx

.xxx for Colleges

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Katharine

.xxx became available to trademark owners on September 7, 2011, and will become widely available to general domain name buyers on December 6th. In the meantime, an unlikely group of buyers has been snapping up the domain names ending in .xxx – colleges and universities.

No, Harvard isn’t going into the pornography business. But if a domain name buyer picks up harvard.xxx before Harvard does, you can bet that site would make an awful lot of money. Harvard wants to avoid its name being smeared in this way (and someone else profiting off the Harvard name, more likely than not). When getting a domain try a network solutions coupon for a discount. Colleges and universities are buying the domain names to keep them safe, to keep them from being utilized by pornographers hoping to capitalize on fantasies about Harvard girls on a site that ends in .xxx.

.xxx domains are currently selling for about $200 apiece, and multiple domains are being purchased by some schools of higher learning. Let’s hope the Board of Trustees never finds out about such an expenditure – or that they get a quick explanation.

.xxx reportedly raked in about $10 million from domain name buyers just during its sunrise period, which expired on October 29. Currently, .xxx is in landrush, and apparently pricing and information have been difficult to find for those in the business of domain name purchase. December 6th will certainly be a big day.

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Should You Worry About UDRP?

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Katharine

The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) is a policy established by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to put some order to disputes between people who have purchased certain domain names and people who want the rights to those domain names without paying exorbitant prices for them. For example, the Trump Organization has recently filed UDRP proceedings so as to try and get the owner of TrumpWine.com and TrumpWines.com to hand over ownership of those domain names to The Donald. (Trump has only recently gotten into the business of wines.)

In order for a UDRP complaint to succeed, the complainant must establish three elements:

  1. The complainant has rights to a trademark or a service mark which is identical, or similar enough to be confused with, the domain name.
  2. The person who owns the domain name does not have any rights or any real interest in it.
  3. The person who owns the domain name is using it in “bad faith”.

“Bad faith” can have a complex set of meanings in legalese, and the panel adjudging the UDRP complaint will use a variety of factors to assess whether the use is in bad faith or not. But since a lot of people buy domain names that they hope to sell back at a profit when those names become useful to others, UDRP can be a real concern for people who traffic in domain names.

Unfortunately, the UDRP is weighted somewhat in favor of the person who owns the trademark, not the person who owns the domain name – basically, Trump is likely to win this round. Further legislation is almost certainly coming in the future, but for right now, you’ll walk a thin line in buying a domain name that’s similar to a well-known trademark or service mark.

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google-plus-pages

Google Launches The + Page Today

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Emmanuel Dato

google plus, google +, google page, google + pageEarlier today, I was surprised with the notifications of my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts from my colleagues and previous clients, I got almost 50 notifications and its all about the launching of Google + Page. The business brand page of Google that was developed to counter Facebook Page which is the current leader in Social Media Marketing industry.

I was also asked by a client to create the Google + Business Page for their brands and as I was creating the page, top companies like Pepsi, Starbucks, TechCrunch and other firms have started spreading their Google Pages. It was amazing to witness the creation of different business pages and it seems that they have been waiting for the launching of Google + page.  It was phenomenal and surprising for internet marketers are rushing to get on hold with their brands and companies.

Basically, the Google + Pages is very much similar to Facebook Page for its has the same services which allows corporate brands and businesses to set up a special page within Google’s social networking service. Social networking pages like the Facebook Page and the Goole + Page are important for they reach new customers develop steady relationships with loyal customers through special offers and promotions.

Although Google Page is not fully polished yet and bugs are constantly appearing, it was a very successful launching and in a matter of days more companies and businesses will be swarming this new feature from the no.1 search engine with also having a 40 million subscribers of the google + for individuals.

The only visible complain that I have is its lack of pretty links and its permalink cannot be changed into a brand name yet but I am sure it will be changed in the coming updates. If you have a brand or own a website then taking advantage of Google + is a smart idea. It may not seem polished yet but with its “direct connection” feature which means directly accessible in the Google search engine and its future updates, you are putting your business in a really good marketing spot.

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What’s in a CNAME?

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Julie

As described in RFC 1034 and detailed in RFC 1035 back in 1987, a CNAME, or Canonical Name, DNS resource record is an alias for a host.  By example, let’s take a look at a fictitious host (sigma) in a fictitious domain (example.com) with the following A (address) record:

sigma.example.com      IN   A                     192.168.1.100

This would make sigma.example.com resolve to an IP address of 192.168.1.100.  We could use a CNAME record to make an alias for sigma.example.com:

www.example.com        IN  CNAME          sigma.example.com

A DNS query for sigma.example.com or www.example.com would return both the CNAME and Address resource records.  All modern web browsers would then use the Address resource record to connect to the site.  This enables a single physical host machine or server to mimic multiple individual servers, without the typical user knowing that the web server that their browser connects to is a shared resource.

Using our fictitious host, sigma.example.com, and our fictitious CNAME or alias, www.example.com, we could include the following in our Apache 2.x configuration:

NameVirtualHost *:80

<VirtualHost *:80>

DocumentRoot                 /server/www

ServerName                      www.example.com

</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:80>

DocumentRoot                 /server/sigma

ServerName                      sigma.example.com

</VirtualHost>

Our configuration would allow the single real host, sigma.example.com, to serve web pages for both sigma.example.com and www.example.com.

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