Part 9 – Domain Valuations and Point C

You can read the previous articles in this series by clicking on the following links:
Part 1 – Domain Industry and Valuations (http://www.whizzbangsblog.com/index.php/20080728452/MyBlog/Domain-Industry-and-Valuations-Part-1.html)
Part 2 – The domain bubble (http://www.whizzbangsblog.com/index.php/20080818456/MyBlog/Part-2-The-domain-bubble.html)
Part 3 – What caused the domain bubble? (http://www.whizzbangsblog.com/index.php/20080915460/MyBlog/Part-3-What-caused-the-bubble.html)
Part 4 – Domains and the sub-prime shock (http://www.whizzbangsblog.com/index.php/20080918461/MyBlog/Part-4-Domains-and-the-sub-prime-shock.html)
Part 5 – Domain values and opportunities (http://www.whizzbangsblog.com/index.php/20080924468/MyBlog/Part-5-domain-values-and-opportunities.html)
Part 6 – The Pressures on PPC (http://www.whizzbangsblog.com/index.php/20081003470/MyBlog/Part-6-the-pressures-on-PPC.html)
Part 7 – domainers under the magnifying glass (http://www.whizzbangsblog.com/index.php/20081006472/MyBlog/Part-7-domainers-under-the-magnifying-glass.html)

ICANN – Public Comment: CRAI Report on gTLD Registries and Registrars

ICANN has received a report today, issued by CRA International, titled “Revisiting Vertical Separation of Registries and Registrars (http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-crai-report-24oct08-en.pdf) ” [PDF, 493K].

ICANN requested CRAI to perform economic research pursuant to two resolutions of the ICANN Board of Directors: 1) the 18 October 2006 resolution of ICANN’s Board of Directors seeking more information relating to the registry and registrar marketplace; and, 2) the 26 June 2008 resolution of ICANN’s Board, directing the development and completion of a detailed implementation plan for the new gTLD Policy.

Without typosquatters, how far would Google fall?

The money Google makes from typosquatting has been in the news over the
last week, with some asking what proportion of their incomes comes from
typosquatters.

Flanders region wants its own gTLD

The prime minister of Flanders Kris Peeters has said he will look into
a gTLD for the region, in the northern part of Belgium reports The Register (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/22/flemish_toplevel_domain/). The Flanders region also covers parts of France and The Netherlands.

Part 8 – Domain Values Increase

Over the past few weeks I’ve been going through my thoughts on a really important chart that I developed for a conference over 12 months ago. It was during this time that I was observing domain prices that were largely underpinned by the industry itself and in particular a select group of individuals. What the industry really needed was an injection of fresh capital. Here is a list of the previous articles in the series:

ICANN – ALAC Review WG Posts Mid-Point Consultation Report

The ALAC Review Working Group (WG) has released its Mid-point Consultation Report (http://www.icann.org/en/reviews/alac/midpoint-consultation-report-21oct08-en.pdf) [PDF, 285K] for discussion with the ICANN community. This preliminary report presents the WG’s initial thinking on the questions under review following the publication of the Independent Review of the At Large Advisory Committee by Westlake Consulting. It is based on consultation that the WG has undertaken with the ICANN community at the Paris meeting, through an online comment forum and at meetings with a variety of groups with the ICANN community. A summary of the consultation is contained in an appendix to the report.

ICANN – Draft Strategic Plan Priorities

Explanation: As part of its annual planning cycle, ICANN is seeking comments on a draft of the priorities for the strategic plan (http://www.icann.org/en/strategic-plan/draft-strategic-plan-2009-2012-en.pdf) [PDF, 88K]. These priorities will become the framework for the July 2009 June 2012 Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan sets out ICANN¹s priorities for the next three years and is the reference point for the preparation of the annual Operating Plan and Budget. All those interested in the in the future activities of ICANN are encouraged to review and comment on this material. Further details can be found at http://www.icann.org/en/planning/ (http://www.icann.org/en/planning/)

Afilias Announces Membership with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)

Today, Afilias announces its membership with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). As a member, Afilias will have access to important data enabling them to better patrol the .INFO domain for child pornography and child sexual abuse content. This relationship supplements the recently announced .INFO Domain Anti-abuse Policy in creating a comprehensive safety plan to protect .INFO users.

Additional information on IWF and Afilias’ involvement is in the official press release below…

Nominet Launches New Domain Name Business Resource

Nominet, the registry for ..co.uk, is launching a new domain resource to help businesses protect their domain names, as the next step in the evolution of brand management and protecting you online reputation. The site is called www.keepyour.co.uk (http://www.keepyour.co.uk/), and allows companies to know more about their .uk web addresses to find out how, why and when they need to renew their domain names. We have included the official press release below…

Seks.nl on auction

Sedo Premium BeNeLux Auction

From today 16:00 CET until October 30th 16:00 CET the third Sedo Benelux Auction will be taking place. The first 2 auctions were quite successful, with sales up to 72.000 euro (100k USD) per domain. (www.relatiegeschenk.nl (http://www.relatiegeschenk.nl)) But the domains that are up for sale in this 3rd version of the Benelux auction promise to easily exceed the results of the first two auctions.

Think of premium domains like www.seks.nl (http://www.seks.nl) (Dutch for ‘sex’ and probably one of the most wanted local domains), www.daten.nl (http://www.daten.nl) (Dutch for ‘dating’) and www.liedjes.nl (http://www.liedjes.nl) (Dutch for ‘songs’).

With the number of .nl registrations growing towards 3.2 million (making .NL the 4th largest ccTLD in the world) this auction might be an excellent opportunity to step into an ever expanding market.

Find the full list that will be up for auction in a few hours here (http://sedo.nl/search/searchresult.php4?auctionevent=nl language=nl).