[Header image via Washington Post]

I’ve been disappointed in recent days to see some web industry leaders and mainstream publications come out against ICANN’s approval of the new TLD system, scheduled to go live in 2012.

There are concerns that new TLDs are just money-making schemes that provides no value to the internet, or that trademarked names are going to be rampantly squatted upon. Do you believe any of this is true?

This open survey features a few poll questions that should offer an idea of reader confidence or lack thereof in new TLDs.

New Top Level Domains Opinion Survey

Please submit your answers for the 5 brief poll questions below.

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Consider sharing this survey to include your networks’ opinion on new Top Level Domains.

Thank you for your participation. Please subscribe to DotSauce Magazine or come back at a later date to review the results.

Opinion Survey: New Top Level Domains DotSauce Magazine

Acclaimed info-graphic artist JESS3 was commissioned to design this beautiful illustration of the generic TLDs of tomorrow looming over the historic downtown of current domain spaces.

Take a moment to look closely over all the proposed extensions. There is actually a great selection of Premium TLDs including .RUN, .NEW, .SPACE, .CHURCH, .PAPER, .FUTURE; which I have not seen any group show interest in operating.

Washington Post Commissions Artist’s Illustration of New TLDs DotSauce Magazine

The number itself was inspired by Douglas Adam’s classic novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in which 42 turns out to be the meaning of life. It is a number many geeks will instantly recognize. 42 is meant to convey that this TLD is different and unique from all others. Previously no other domain extensions have been numeric.

There are a tremendous number of hurdles that stand in the way of .42 becoming truly public and fully functional as a true TLD. I commend the group for recognizing and aiming to tackle each obstacle that stands in the way of the TLD’s widespread adoption.

How To Resolve .42 Domains

To get this new TLD to work properly, you must configure your router DNS settings to be able to resolve the new addresses. Additionally, Windows users may need to modify a registry value in order for .42 domains to resolve. There may also be conflicts for certain browsers, but work-arounds are emerging quickly.

Several OpenResolver providers have made it fairly simple to access .42 domains by simply modifying the DNS settings of your router.

The goal of the experiment is to make the technical processes easy to overcome for the public. The 42Experiment Wiki has been created to educate and explain all aspects of involvement with the domain and there is a great FAQ on the 42Registry homepage (French).

How To Register a .42 Domain

The 42 Registry offers a single .42 domain name to each registered community member.
You can sign up here to join and apply for a domain. Each request will be approved manually by moderators. There are significant technical challenges involved with hosting and managing a .42 domain. Server configurations and mail clients need tweaking in order to handle the numeric TLD.

There are already a select number of .42 compatible web hosts who have shown support for the experimental TLD.

Can .42 Reach a Wide Audience?

Free software enthusiasts are not in short supply, you are likely a fan yourself. It is important to note that this reference is to open-source code and software packages, not to be confused with “warez,” which is essentially stolen software. So, I believe the concept of the project is admirable. Freedom of information and a connected world are the basis on which the Internet was founded upon. Recent events in Canada (rate limiting) and Egypt (blackouts) have caused many to question if governments are the best entity to manage the Internet.

The 42 Experiment needs to continue progress in simplifying the processes for resolving, registering and hosting domains. It’s not hard to imagine that this will soon be as simple as installing a browser addon. At that point, I think this private TLD could take off as a viable free domain for geeks and free software enthusiasts.

The community needs to grow to help spread the word and additional partnerships need to be formed with ISPs, DNS providers and web hosts. If the people behind 42 Experiment are able to reach popular DNS service providers such as OpenDNS, they have the potential to expand the reach of the TLD tremendously.

What are your thoughts on .42? Could it become a trend for hackers and the PC savvy? Will it be stomped out by ICANN and other powers that be? Please leave a comment below and consider sharing this article to spread the word about the 42 Experiment.

Experimental Numeric TLD, .42 Launches Without ICANN Approval DotSauce Magazine

The new response from GoDaddy’s servers only returns the Registrant Name and Domain servers. Below that information, GoDaddy directs users to their own Whois tool for additional registrant information with a URL address.

Restricting registrant information is an unnecessary step for users searching for complete information on a domain. The tactic may also be unfair to DomainTools.com, other Whois services and competing domain registrars.

I attempted to look up registrant information for domains registered at GoDaddy on numerous other services and registrars. Some provided complete Whois information, but it may be that they do not have updated data. Many others are now showing the restricted information and URL to GoDaddy Whois.

To make a comparison, Register.com Whois does not seem to be affected yet, while DomainTools, Moniker, eNom and other Whois tools are displaying the restricted output.

In one case the URL for more information was not even displayed. (Shown above)

I believe registrant information should be made available to the public as defined in ICANN guidelines. Restricting public information is not the way to do it and expecting users to copy and paste a URL address is too far fetched.

What do you think of this move by GoDaddy? Please leave a comment below if you have any further information or would like to contribute your opinion.

GoDaddy Is Restricting Whois Domain Registrant Information DotSauce Magazine

I recently discovered that NewTLDs.tv maintains an interesting list of new gTLD proposals. This database represents 135 applicants who have expressed interest in managing new top-level domains. However, there are some organizations that have competing interests in the same gTLDs, such as .NYC, .Shop and .Web.

A wide selection of major cities have submitted proposals including .Paris, .Berlin, .Dubai, .London and others. I would like to see more support around new gTLDs for cities and states in America. Several countries, continents and even .Earth are also represented.

Specialized gTLDs have made a strong showing, representing many industries such as .Game, .Bike, .Music, .Sport, .Money and ideas such as .Peace, .Love, .Eco and .Free.

I have selected what I believe are the top 10 gTLD proposals. To get an idea of how I selected these TLDs you may be interested in reading my article on premium TLDs.

Please take a moment to vote for the top three gTLDs you feel will be the most valuable in terms of domain resale for top keywords.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Thank you for your response. Check in again soon to view the results. If you would like, you can leave a comment below explaining your vote or why you think a different gTLD will be more valuable.

POLL: Which New gTLDs Will Be the Most Valuable? DotSauce Magazine

At the company’s existing free domain website, nic.cz.cc we can find information on what the .Free catch might be. This information is not mentioned or implied on the new DotFree website. With the goal of discovering just how they were making a profit, I explored the website and came across some interesting details.

What’s the catch?

I found that they are offering a premium domain registration option. This turned out to be a list of generic characters and dictionary words that were marked up anywhere from $4.95 to $14.95 per year. This is not a common practice. Most TLD launches typically reserve only the most premium keywords to be auctioned to the highest bidder during a landrush period.

The dotFree Group plans to host the premium auctions in addition to reserving most, if not all dictionary domains for “premium registrations”.

To be expected with any free domain, registrants are subject to various up-sell services including WHOIS privacy, SSL certificates and something called “Domain Lock.” I’m assuming domain lock is to prevent unauthorized transfers, but that seems like something that is typically default on most registrars.

State of .Free

DomainIncite reports 15,000 unofficial .Free pre-registrations have been claimed in the past two days by 2,787 people.

I am skeptical because Not all TLDs are created equal. A major portion of TLD launch success rides on how it is managed. Taking that out of mind, I would say that .Free has a lot of potential due to a wildly popular concept behind the name.

I believe .Free could do as well as .Me, .Co or even .Info if the concept is adopted by businesses. The domains could function as an excellent promotional marketing tool.

The .Free TLD plans to launch after ICANN approval sometime in the 3rd or 4th quarter 2011.

You can sign-up to pre-register a .Free domain now at DotFree.com

Let us know what you think about .Free domains. Would you consider paying for a quality keyword on this proposed extension?

How .Free Plans to Earn a Profit Giving Away Free Domains DotSauce Magazine

I have always had no problem with fee increases. I feel strongly that it somehow increases the bottom-line value of each domain name. Domainers could simply pass on that value by marking up domain sales prices.

I had to put this “gut feeling” that registration price increases may actually be a good thing for the industry to the test. So, I set about browsing a few microeconomics articles on WikiPedia about supply and demand. I wanted to see how the price increase may affect demand for domains.

Price increases generally do have an adverse affect on demand. However, there are a few products and services that do not apply to the normal rules of supply and demand. These goods are known to have a positive price elasticity, meaning that as prices increase so does the demand.

Could a domain name be classified as a Veblen good? These are luxury items that are not easily attainable.  Certain premium .com domains fit that description very well, some could even be considered priceless.

In 1998, I had no real concern paying $75 per year for .com registrations. It was a necessity for a quality web presence and perceived status of any business or personal site.

Today, domain registration costs are relatively low compared to what one would consider a typical Veblen or luxury good, but they have the special characteristic of being 100% unique.

Could it also be that as more people register domain names the overall desire to claim more domains increases? This is known as the bandwagon effect.

I’m no economics expert, so my ideas on the price-demand correlation may be wrong.  I can’t help but feel these fee increases are justified and beneficial to the industry as a whole. What do you think? You’re welcome to leave a comment below with your thoughts on the matter.

Why Domain Registration Price Increases Are Good For Investors DotSauce Magazine

In this article, I will be sharing my thoughts and opinions on the many domain name extension options available today and some that are coming soon.

Here is a brief explanation of the different types of top level domains.

Generic TLDs or gTLDs

These extensions include .COM, .NET, .ORG, .BIZ, .JOBS, .PRO, etc. ICANN is currently in the final rounds of policy making to open up applications for new gTLDs.

One of the first new gTLD extensions we will see is .XXX. Many others will follow such as .ECO.

Country Code TLDs or ccTLDs

These extensions include every country’s short-code. A handful of countries have been blessed with a pleasing acronym such as Tuvalu (.TV), Montenegro (.ME), and Colombia (.CO).

Other countries generally have to make due with local usage.

Which gTLDs are premium?

The clear winner is .COM. Most would agree that this is the best option for recognition, search rankings and inherent value.

Looking at .NET and .ORG sales, they are typically just a fraction of a comparable .COM sale. I will say that .ORG may be the best available option for organizations. I do not consider .NET at all, except for brand protection because it is a dated idea.

Aside from .COM, I don’t believe any other currently available gTLDs are premium quality.

I do admire and respect the promotion, innovations and community outreach by Telnic, managers of .TEL. However, I do not consider the gTLD itself to be premium. A premium alternative for what they are doing has not been created yet, it would be something like .SOCIAL.

.XXX, .MOBI, .BIZ, .PRO, .JOBS – These extensions all had the right intentions, but ultimately they are created for too small a niche to be premium quality in my book.

Which ccTLDs are premium?

I believe .ME is doing well after it’s launch just 2 years ago. Many successful websites are using the extension for blogging, social and personal apps. It has a broad, yet unique concept that is also memorable.

For the past few years, the internet and our televisions have been coming closer and closer together.  Finally this fall, Google TV will be made public, bringing the internet and a mass media of citizens to your TV box set. I think this will really seal the deal for .TV as a premium ccTLD. The extension has already had alot of success as businesses are founded and existing media outlets have adopted it with open arms.

On July 20th 2010, the unprecedented public landrush will take place for .CO domains. Unprecedented because of the phenomenal work by CoInternet in marketing the launch. There has been early adoption through innovative promotions like the CoFounders program in which Twitter was accepted and claimed T.CO.

So what makes .CO premium? The main fact is that it rides on the coat-tails of .COM. The extension could not have launched at a better time. Society has embraced bite sized information in the form of status updates, many of which contain odd two-letter ccTLD link shorteners.

This .CO extension will best other ccTLD options and will be adopted by a wide audience for both personal and business use. It also passes the requirement for both memorability and meaning, though in this case, .CO has a multitude of meanings.

More Premium gTLDs Coming Soon

The future is very bright for the domain industry. As I mentioned earlier, ICANN is finalizing policy to open up new gTLDs. This change will bring about many not-so-good domain extensions that you should avoid, but it will also introduce high quality extensions with real meaning and value!

For now, I’ve got my eye on a couple of generic .CO domains I’d like to develop or hold on to. GoDaddy’s .CO registration is $29.99/year and the public landrush will take place on July 20th 2010.

What domain extensions do you think are premium quality? Which ones are bad? Please feel free to share your opinions in the comments area.

Premium TLDs: Not All Domain Extensions Are Created Equal DotSauce Magazine

The World Domain Cup contest has just released a report on the top 100 most voted for potential gTLD (top-level domains).

Japanese internet service provider, Interlink is hosting a quirky large scale contest. Pick the right gTLD and you could win a revenue share of the first year of new domain registrations as well as a piece of $10,000.

Interlink is prepared to invest in a single gTLD when ICANN gives the go-ahead, so they have created the WDC to help select their gTLD.

WDC votes do not necessarily matter, Interlink will be making a selection they feel will be the most successful. However, it is interesting to see which future domains are getting the most votes.

.WEB has the most votes (350), followed by .EARTH (#2) and .LOVE (#3) with a little less than 250 votes each.

.WORLD (#4) and .ORZ (#5) has received about 145 votes, this seems to be a Japanese emoticon.

.BLOG ranks #6 with about 120 votes.

.WWW (Yes, as a TLD) has received about 75 wasted votes.

.MOE (#8) must be a popular name because it too received about 75 votes.

.HOME (#9) and .FREE (#10) round out the top 10 proposed gTLDs with a little over 50 votes in the WDC. For more, check out the Top 100.

.GAME (#11) and .LIFE (#12) both received a little less than 50 votes.

.XXX and .STAR have tied for position #13 with about 33 votes each, what a coincidence.

World Domain Cup Releases Top 100 Proposed New gTLD Extensions By Vote DotSauce Magazine

First, there were local computer networks established within government organizations and universities across the globe. In 1973 the TCP/IP protocol was being developed by Vinton Cerf from Stanford and Bob Kahn from DARPA which would allow diverse networks to connect to each other. Did they ever.

In 1985, the first domain name was registered (Symbolics.com). Years pass and a select few savvy entrepreneurs, businesses and investors including IBM, Intel, AT&T and Cisco stake their claim by applying for .COM domain names.

By 1995 the networks had exploded and become the world wide web, a collective pool of human knowledge. Millions are aware, if not getting involved actively or passively. The internet did what it is now known to do very well, that is, grow!

ICANN was established in 1998 as in independent organization with the task of managing IP addresses and domain names.

Just prior to ICANN’s formation in 1997, a major internet milestone was reached. 1 million .COM domain names had been registered. It took 12 years. This number is now dwarfed in comparison to the over 80 million .COM domains registered today.

Over the past two decades the internet has grown to become an integral part of our individual lives and society as a whole. It may even be getting the recognition it deserves with a nomination for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

The .COM top level domain has reached it’s 25th anniversary! You can join in the celebration and learn more at 25YearsOf.com

The .COM Bubble (Our 15 Minutes of Fame)

The .COM Bubble was the period from 1995-2000 during which investors poured massive amounts of funding into internet and technology startups. After seeing record rises in stock valuations, business was moving lightning fast and without caution. It turned out to be quite a big mess. I prefer to remember this as the period in which over 20 million .COMs were claimed.

In 1997, I taught myself how to code websites and soon had my very own one-man web hosting and design company up and running. I witnessed the boom in online business and began to create my own web properties, communities and sites for local business by contracting for design work and reselling hosting.

Along the way, I made a few domain sales on eBay and Afternic. Unfortunately, I lacked the capital to invest very much in domains (oddly enough, domain registration was $75 per year back then). A small barrier that would soon be broken down.

If you entered into the domaining industry after 2000, like myself, then you probably have a little nagging feeling that you somehow “missed the boat.”  The forethought and technical understanding to apply to register keyword domains was held by a select few. Many of those individuals are now famous today for their successes.

One of those founding domainers is Frank Schilling who holds one of the largest domain portfolios in the world. In an older post on DotSauce I featured some predictions from the pros, from which I’d like to share this quote by Frank:

Today, getting a good domain name may be pricier than it was in the early days of domaining, but dollar for dollar you are still far better off investing in .COM domains because .COM is a global brand.

There is still countless opportunity today, still massively profitable investments to be made in .COM domains. You simply need to break down the barrier of entry into this business.

The .COM Barrier

There are a few things that prevent your average internet enthusiast from becoming a successful domainer. Let’s review them and help break down the .COM barrier.

1) Price - High quality .COM domain names sell for $1 million+ seemingly every month. Countless small and medium sized sales in the hundreds to several thousand dollar range are made every day across many domain marketplaces.

Most would agree that it is easier to make more profit by investing in high quality domains at a price tag of a few hundred dollars each which can later be sold for several thousands rather than do lots of smaller sales. While this may be true, raising the initial capital is a barrier that many face.

You can, however, get started now with those smaller sales. New .COM domain registrations are around $7 if you use a coupon code and there are other bargain deals in the aftermarket to get you started towards building a valuable portfolio.

2) Domain Industry Knowledge – A successful domain investor understands the big picture. They know the life cycle of a domain, it’s expiration process, the registrars and organizations involved. They know the best research tools, analytics and data to discover worthwhile domains.

Some domainers have all this down to a science and keep watch for the latest news and notable sales.

It would be difficult to get far without a solid understanding of the domain aftermarket and domain names themselves. Having a passion for what you do goes a long way.

3) Common Sense – Unfortunately, this is a big part of the barrier to overcome for success in domaining. Without common sense, your experience domaining may not be such a pleasant one and could turn into a money-sink. One needs to apply common sense when undertaking these domain business tasks.

• When registering or buying a domain be sure the vision for your domain is clear. You want to know that it is worth your investment and ideally have potential end-users present. With new tools, like Estibot, it is becoming easier to evaluate a domains potential, but further research and a human’s perspective is always recommended.
• When choosing how to monetize a domain through development or parking. Without significant time invested in development and content creation, most mini-sites or landing pages will not be indexed high enough on search engines to be worth the time invested. As for PPC parking, if your domain does not receive enough traffic to recoup the yearly renewal fee then don’t bother with it. Many domains are not fit for either, and that’s OK. Instead, focus on sales or your established websites.
• When marketing domains for sale, pricing your inventory and negotiating sales you need to have a good understanding of the liquid and potential value of your domain. What a name may sell for years from now is not a realistic interpretation of present value. Understanding who you are marketing to is also a very important factor in determining a successful sales price.

Be reasonable, be real and learn from your mistakes to overcome these and the other barriers to .COM success.

The Future

In part 2 of this article series I will be exploring some of the latest innovations, research, data and predictions of how the internet will evolve and grow over the coming years.

I’m very excited about writing this feature as I’m somewhat of a futurist, early adopter and science-fiction fan. Or maybe it’s because I don’t want to miss the boat again. How about you?

Please subscribe by RSS, by email or follow @DotSauce on Twitter to be notified about part 2, The Future of The Internet!

A Brief History of the Internet and A Look At .COM Success Barriers DotSauce Magazine

There have been some great developments this week, interesting article guides, editorials and even big announcements from Microsoft and Google!

Let’s face it, nobody can really keep up with all of the news and articles surrounding the domain and internet industry and I’m sure all you guys who were at TRAFFIC missed some things. I monitor and share this stuff actively and I still manage to miss some of the news myself.

So, for your convenience, I have compiled below what I feel are the most valuable and important articles on domaining from the previous work week.

Domain Buzz – Monday June 1st through Friday June 5th

Whizzbang’s Blog – The PPC Industry: “For the first time ever Google posted a down-turn in earnings which is remarkable for a number of reasons…“

The Domains – Congress Calls ICANN Out On Finances: “Florida Republican Cliff Stearns called ICANN out on its finances , noting that the last balance sheet the nonprofit group showed a $7 million surplus.“

DNW – Congress Beats Up ICANN, 3 Part Series: “members of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet took turns ripping into Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and its President/CEO Paul Twomey.“

The Domains – Verizon Testifies To Congress Against New gTLD’s: “in front of the House Energy and Commerce Internet Subcommittee panel, which is holding hearings on ICANN, that new gTLD’s shouldn’t be allowed unless there is a proven market demand“

DN Journal – Final Day Photos and Highlights from the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. : “We have already seen one blockbuster sale, DiamondRings.com at €162,000 ($230,179 at today’s exchange rate). In a solid ccTLD sale, Houses.co.uk just went for €51,000 ($72,429).“

TechCrunch – The Dot Coms Are Booming Again (Domain Registrations, That Is): “VeriSign has just put out its quarterly report on the web domain industry stating that there are now just about 183 million domain names in existence. This represents a 3% increase from last quarter and a 12% increase from last year.” Full VeriSign PDF report here.

DNN – Targeted TRAFFIC ccTLDs 2009 Live Auction Results

INC. Magazine – Is Your Domain Name Killing Your Business?: “Choosing the right domain name is crucial to helping potential customers find you — with shorter, simpler, intuitive descriptive names ending in dot-com considered better.“

DNN – Dan Warner Sails From Dark Blue Sea: “Dan Warner, one of the most public faces of Dark Blue Sea has left his position as COO of DBS (parent company of Fabulous.com).“

DomainNews – President of CCIA will be keynote speaker at Domain Roundtable Conference: “Domain Roundtable Conference in Washington ,D.C. will start this month and will have as a keynote speaker Edward Black, President & CEO of Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA).”

Google – Page Speed Firefox Addon: “Page Speed is an open-source Firefox/Firebug Add-on. Webmasters and web developers can use Page Speed to evaluate the performance of their web pages and to get suggestions on how to improve them.”

DotSauce – SEO Advice of the Year! Google’s Matt Cutts on Successful Blogging: “Matt recently gave a presentation on the subject of SEO and blogging at WordCamp San Francisco and has been kind enough to share his presentation with everyone.“

DNJournal – Wednesday Photos & Highlights from T.R.A.F.F.I.C Amsterdam Including Kevin Ham’s Keynote: “With one day still to go I can tell you this has been an exceptionally informative and entertaining conference.“

DotSauce – POLL: Do You Buy Expired Domains?: “The nature of a domain registration will continue to provide virtually infinite opportunity for domainers, simply because of the fact that names expire.“

DotSauce – Hot New Domainer Resources Coming This Summer to DotSauce: “new Domaining Directory will feature comprehensive industry resources, tools and contacts. It is currently in early stages of development but is already an industry first.“

Rick Schwartz – It’s a DEAL! Candy.com (Sells for $3M). And the Buyer is…: “G&J Holdings, LLC today announced the purchase and acquisition of the web domain Candy.Com and the development of a new internet based confections retailer“

LLLL.com – Marketing — Are Domain Companies doing all they can do?: “9Domain Marketplaces should) have a link on your homepage which showed the last hundred or even the last thousand sales on your site? Would that not give potential buyers more confidence in making a purchase?“

DNJournal – Photos & Highlights From the First Full Day of Business at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. : “Internet Commerce Association President Jeremiah Johnson spoke about new threats facing domain owners, including efforts being undertaken by trademark interests to have the UDRP process replaced with a new system“

WannaDevelop – Exact Match Keyword Domains – Most Important Investment for Online Business: “Lots of opportunities for people who do get it to capitalize on this. Big time! Lots of opportunities for “domainers” and the collectors of quality exact match domains that are two to three keywords long…“

Domainvestors.tv – Do You Know Your Visitors? Why Analytics is Key to Monetization: “Analytics is an often overlooked part of the website development process but potentially the most important step in the long-term monetization of a site.”

eBusinessDomains – Bing Is Now Live – Microsoft Launches New Search Engine: “Microsoft has unexpectedly launched their new search engine ahead of schedule. Bing.com is the new face of search and will replace Live.com“

DNJournal – DN Journal’s First Report from Amsterdam: “The T.R.A.F.F.I.C. ccTLDs conference gets underway tonight in Amsterdam, Holland.“

Hope you enjoyed the Domain Buzz round up for the week! Have a great weekend.

If I missed anything feel free to leave a comment below.

Domain Buzz – This Week in Domaining DotSauce Magazine

Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, is warning ICANN about the hazards of allowing new gTLDs such as .christian, .muslim, .hindu, .buddhist, .jew, etc.

Rajan Zed later quotes Article 2.1 (b) of the ICANN GAC Principles Regarding New gTLDs, which state: “New gTLDs should respect the sensitivities regarding terms with national, cultural, geographic and religious significance.“

I believe he is right and according to the terms defined in the article mentioned above, we are safe from seeing any religious domain extensions.

Not to mention the fees and paperwork involved in launching a new gTLD.  I doubt any institution, religious or not, would be willing to put up the money to launch a new gTLD of this nature.

Hindus Speaking Out Against .GOD Domain Names DotSauce Magazine

Essentially, a virtual business card connected to the social web.

Over 20 million individual users access MySpace each month through mobile devices alone.

Register .tel Domain Names through MySpace?

MySpace is in partnerships with several ICANN accredited registrars and will be offering .tel domains to its community for $20 per year.

I recommend you register .tel domain names at Moniker for $14.99 per year.

Telnic May Fulfill a Need for the Social Web Generation

Telnic, the originator and registry operator for .tel,  has also introduced a free iPhone application, available from the iPhone app store, which it claims “means that, for the first time ever, anyone can edit and publish information on the Web under their own domain without needing web design skills or software or even a PC.”

You can view a live example at Emma.tel, a demonstration to show what your .tel web page might look like.

A little before writing this article I registered MarkFulton.tel at Moniker for $14.99 a year.  The .tel revolution may take off quick because of the viral nature of information sharing.

Social networking is at the forefront of the tech industry right now and has exploded over the last year, this deal marketing .tel on MySpace could be all that’s needed for success.

Here is a quirky video from Telnic that tells a story of how .tel might be used in the not so distant future….

Telnic seems to be putting in the effort towards promoting the extension as an ideal that is inventive, unique… that is, connecting and communicating with people effectively through short calling card websites.

Do You Think .tel is Going to Succeed?

Do you love the new .tel domain or are you having flashbacks of the launch of .mobi? Already investing in .tel domains?

Please share your comments below.

Millions of MySpace Mobile Users May Register .tel Domain Names DotSauce Magazine

This may present a good opportunity for domainers seeking to test the waters in ccTLD investing, myself included.  Continue reading below for other interesting ccTLD happenings.

Like other major ccTLD public launches (such as Montenegro’s .ME domains) there is what’s known as a sunrise period and a landrush period.  The general public will be able to register .MX domains September 1st.

However, It seems that if you own a .COM.MX domain you may register your exact corresponding .MX domain on March 1st.

.MX Domain Registration Schedule

• March 01 to July 31, 2009: owners of domain names in the five sub-extensions (.COM.MX, .NET.MX, .ORG.MX, .EDU.MX, .GOB.MX) can register their sites with the .MX extension. The new domain names will be registered under exactly the same name as the previous domain names. If there are more than one domain name applicant with the same domain name, the one with proof of having the name for longer will be granted the .MX domain name of the same name.
• August 1 to August 31, 2009: during the transition period, the register will analyze the requests received for domain name registration.
• September 1 to October 31, 2009: the .MX domain names will be open to everyone (general registration period) on a “first come, first served” basis.

In Other ccTLD News…

TheDomains is discussing issues concerning ICANN’s latest confusing policy on gTLD (Geographic domain names such as .NYC, .Paris, .Berlin) and the serious implications this might have on the domain industry.

The January 2009 issue of Modern Domainer Magazine featured a cover story on ccTLD.

Can ccTLDs Earn You $3000 a Day?

Rick Latona is talking about it and Sahar Sarid gave his commentary. It seems like everybody is talking about the revenue potential of ccTLDs (Country Code) domain names.

Thanks to some cool videos from the people behind the scenes at $3000 A Day Domainer, the public is seeing first hand and possibly for the first time ever, a domainers’ success story built on ccTLDs.

If you’re interested in ccTLDs sign up for their newsletter. You will get updates featuring general ccTLD information as well as tips and suggestions for getting started off on the right foot when investing in ccTLDs for the first time.

What is your take on ccTLDs?  Please leave a comment below with your experiences with ccTLD investment or any questions you might have.

2009 ccTLD Buzz! Plus: The .MX Domain Extension Making a Comeback After 20 Years DotSauce Magazine

The conference is January 27-30, 2009 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, Calif.  Full agenda and speaker information is available at www.domainfest.com/agenda.

Agenda, Wednesday, January 28th
DOMAINfest Global 2009 is packed with sessions that focus on change and the strategies and tactics necessary to succeed.

• Domaining 2.0™-What Does the Next Evolutionary Phase of Our Industry Look Like? This session focuses on trends driving the industry and includes industry thought leaders: Gregg McNair (Strata Services Limited), Nico Zeifang (Zeifang.com), Ofer Ronen (Sendori), Michael Berkens (Worldwide Media, Inc.) and Steve Hisey (Oversee.net).
• Keynote. Tech icon Steve Wozniak, the legendary entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Computer, will share his perspective on technology, innovation and change.
• Domain Build-out Showcase features speakers who have built domains into thriving businesses. Panelists are the Castello Brothers (Castello Cities Internet Network, Inc), Elliot Silver (Silver Internet Ventures, LLC), Pinkard Alan “Pinky” Brand (dotMobi), Ari Goldberger (ESQwire.com), Rick Waters (Webcast1), and Larry Fischer (DirectNavigation.com).
• Domain Build-out Nuts and Bolts panelists include Danny Sullivan (Search Engine Land), Lee Gientke (OrangeSoda), Mike “Zappy” Zapolin (Internet Real Estate Group, LLC), Michael Zacharski (CPX Interactive), Jamie MacMillan (LinkShare), Bruce Clay (Bruce Clay, Inc.) and Alex Gardner (Casale Media). They will offer specific advice in their particular area of expertise, such as SEO/SEM, affiliate marketing, branding and content.

Thursday, January 29th

• What Can We Expect from the Legal and Regulatory Environment? This session will leverage the fresh, new perspective of expert panelists not seen at other industry events. Speakers include Doug Brent (ICANN) and David McGuire (463 Communications).
• The Google Perspective: Winning over the Advertiser and Optimizing Site Performance through Analytics. Google executives Matt Parry and Hal Bailey will share their knowledge of the evolving analytical tools available and show how to use those tools to optimize the monetization of domain portfolios, with the goal of maximizing quality and conversions.

Domain Industry Bootcamp Session, January 27
Bootcamp sessions are designed for beginning and intermediate domainers interested in refining their portfolio strategies and learning about best practices.  The sessions promise immediate benefits.

• Domain Industry Trends—What’s Your Action Plan? Industry experts will discuss the latest trends, revealing how business models should be changed to capitalize on or mitigate the impact of these trends. Speakers include Andrew Allemann (DomainNameWire.com), Michael Gilmour (WhizzBangsBlog.com), and Adam Strong (DomainNameNews.com).
• Domain Monetization 101 & 201. Experienced domain name investors will share their knowledge and insights on the critical factors to consider when weighing monetization options. Speakers include Howard Hoffman (PPC Income, Inc.), Leonard Holmes (ParkQuick), Donny Simonton (Parked), Randy Charach (Synergy Domains Inc.) and Sam Tseng (DomainSponsor).
• Legal Issues to Consider as You Build Your Business. Panelists William Delgado (Willenken Wilson Loh & Lieb LLP), Paul Keating (Renova, Ltd.),  Derek Newman (Newman & Newman) and John Berryhill will discuss the latest legal issues to consider in creating and building a domain business.
• The Art & Science of Buying and Selling Domains will focus on the different domain buying and selling strategies and tactics. Speakers include Anthos Chrysanthou (Lease Domains, Inc.), Lance Wolak (.ORG, The Public Interest Registry), Ron Jackson (DN Journal), Monte Cahn (Moniker/Oversee.net), and Kathy Nielson (Sedo).

Structured Networking
This year’s conference will offer a new twist on networking called “Structured Networking.” Industry experts will be available at the end of each day to facilitate dialogue and build mutually beneficial business relationships with participants.  Google’s Domain Management Team and Yahoo’s Domain Match Team will also participate.

Moniker Auctions
DOMAINfest Global 2009 will feature two Moniker live domain auctions. The Low and No Reserve Auction will be held on Tuesday, January 27 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. PST with live and online bidding. The Premium Live Auction will be held on Thursday, January 29 from 1:30-5:00 p.m. PST with live and online bidding. An Extended Online Auction is available from Thursday, January 29 to Thursday, February 5 and will only involve online bidding.

Fun at Universal and the Mansion
There will be a Welcome Party at Universal Studios Hollywood on Wednesday, January 28. DomainSponsor’s legendary DOMAINfest party this year will be held at the Playboy Mansion on Thursday, January 29, and will benefit Autism SpeaksTM, an organization dedicating to researching the causes, prevention and treatment of autism. DFG guests will spend the evening with an eclectic crowd, including Hollywood celebrities and professional athletes.

Sponsors
DOMAINfest’s 2009 list of sponsors is its longest yet and includes a wider range of leading service providers. Companies sponsoring and/or exhibiting at DOMAINfest include DomainSponsor, Moniker, SnapNames, CPX Interactive, Casale Media, Parked, Name.com, Banks.com, .travel, Bank of America, DomainMonster.com, dotMobi, InterNetX, Sedo, Hostway, NameDrive, Skenzo, VeriSign, .ORG, DomainCapital, DDC, NameJet, DotAsia, euroDNS, Modern Domainer, Affinity, Domainer’s Magazine, Trellian, offshoring.com, Escrow.com, 7search, RevenueDriver, SafeNames and Sendori.

Registration Information
Visit the DOMAINfest website to register for the event: http://www.domainfest.com. Registration is $995 up until the conference begins. A spouse pass for meals and the evening parties is available for $495. On-site registration is $1195.

About DOMAINfest
DOMAINfest® is a premier conference and marketplace built to promote and support the advancement of the domain industry. Founded and hosted by DomainSponsor, the domain monetization division of Oversee.net, DOMAINfest brings domain industry and Internet professionals together to learn, network, and do business.

About Oversee.net
Oversee.net is a technology-driven Internet-based company that offers a suite of integrated domain name management services, from registration to monetization to aftermarket sales. The company uses its unique, highly optimized technology to connect consumers and advertisers with highly relevant advertisements. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company’s core brands include DomainSponsor™, SnapNames®, Moniker®, and LowFares.com™.  To learn more, please visit www.oversee.net.

DomainFest 2009 Agenda Announced: Stellar Keynotes, Networking and Domaining Education DotSauce Magazine

DotSauce has been hesitant to cover this news for the very reasons these experts describe below, that and the fact that it has spread across many many news sources, domaining releated and otherwise. This editorial should put to rest the debate and give you a clear understanding of what will go on in the near future.

Click on the image below for a copy of the June newsletter.

Ron Jackson, Editor of DNJournal says…

“In a nutshell, past history has not been kind to new TLDs and I see little reason to believe that dumping a massive number of them on the market at once will be any more or less successful than ICANN’s previous strategy of releasing new extensions in a slow, deliberate manner.”

Michael Castello of CCIN says…

“The markets within markets of domain speculation are timing out and so many new extensions will only confuse the masses. Most domainers only talk to domainers and do not understand the logic on the street. Domainers are thinking way too much and in reality success in this business is very simple. Search engines will help with the clutter of these new vTLDs (‘vanity’ TLDs, a term coined by Michael’s brother and CCIN partner, David Castello) but in the long run .com is the easy way for people to navigate.”

Rick Schwartz, co-founder of TRAFFIC says…

“This is the biggest nothing I have seen in quite some time. It won’t affect anything for 10 years and when it all kicks in, it will cost traffic to .com…ZIPPO. It may even increase it as folks become more aware of the browser bar and direct navigation.”

Putting the Vanity Domain Extension Debate to Rest DotSauce Magazine

Beginning October 1st 2008 there will be a domain price increase.

The price for a .COM domain name registration will increase 7% from the current base price $6 to $6.86. This does not include ¢0.25 ICANN fee and registrar markup.

According to the ICANN-VeriSign Settlement, this 7% price increase can and may be implemented each and every year. This may be a good time to bulk-renew your domain names and register new domains while pricing remains low.

From: VeriSign Customer Service nfo@verisign-grs.com
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 4:02 PM
Subject: Advisory: Notice of Fee Change

March 27, 2008
VIA Email and Express Delivery

Re: Notice of Fee Change

To All Registrars,

VeriSign, Inc. and it’s wholly owned subsidiaries (“VNDS”) is hereby notifying all registrars of a fee change for .com and/or .net domain names effective October 1, 2008. In accordance with our contract, ICANN has already been notified. Details as follows:

1. VNDS’ fee for each annual increment of a new and renewal .com domain name registration and for each transfer of a .com domain name registration from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another will be US $6.86, exclusive of any ICANN Variable Registry-Level Fee (as defined in the .com Registry

Agreement) or any other ICANN fee; and

2. VNDS’ fee for each annual increment of a new and renewal .net domain name registration and for each transfer of a .net domain name registration from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another will be US $4.23, exclusive of any ICANN Variable Registry-Level Fee (as defined in the .net Registry

Agreement) or any other ICANN fee.

Except for the above-described fee changes, all other terms of the relevant agreements (.com and .net Registry Agreements and Registry-Registrar

Agreements) remain unchanged.

Please contact Customer Affairs Office at cao@verisign-grs.com if you have specific questions regarding this notice.

Best regards,

PJ Bolanos
Vice President, Customer Support
VeriSign, Inc.

Domain Registration Price Increase Beginning October 1st DotSauce Magazine

Facebook and other social networks will play a large role in the ever increasing exposure of the domaining industry in the next couple years. The closer we work together and learn from each other the better and more profitable our businesses will become.

If you would like to connect with me on Facebook, visit my profile.
Also, please show your support by joining the DotSauce Fan Page.

Facebook can offer you a direct line of communication with brilliant minds in the domain name and development industry. Facebook messaging is less-intrusive than direct email. Sometimes you can get behind the scenes access to what is going on in the lives and projects of those people, promising new websites that might not be released yet, ideas and business plans.

It’s pretty sweet that I am Facebook friends with people like Jay Westerdal (DomainTools), Seth Coman (Modern Domainer), Frank Michlick (DomainNameNews), Ryan Stout (Bust-A-Name), Nate Whitehill (Unique Blog Designs) and many more.

Groups on Facebook related to the Domain Industry

• Domain Name Marketplace – 180 Members
• Domaining – 151 Members
• Domainer – 276 Members
• LinkedICANN – 129 Members
• ICANN (Official) – 162 Members
• Facebook Domain Name Network – 459 Members
• DOMAINFest – 244 Members
• NamePros.com Group – 84 Members
• GrassRoots.org Group – 57 Members

Useful Facebook Applications

• Mixx on Facebook – Social news, photo and video sharing.
• Stumbleupon – Discover new websites and promote your own.
• Sphinn: Hot Topics – See what’s new in Search Marketing and SEO.
• Business Cards – Design and share virtual business cards with friends.
• LinkedIn Contacts – Get friends to connect with you on LinkedIn.
• Blog RSS Reader – Share updates from your own blog posts instantly.

Late last year I beta tested a Facebook application which was essentially a fully featured marketplace for buying and selling domain names. It was extremely well made, I am honestly not sure why it is not live and active right now. Maybe we’ll here more from the developer after he reads this article.

Facebook Instant Messaging: Coming Soon!

Facebook recently announced at a press conference that they will be releasing a built in instant messaging application to allow friends to chat with each other. While web based chat is nothing new, it will bring social ties between friends that much closer.

Here is a short video preview of the yet-to-be-released Facebook IM.

Look forward to seeing you all on Facebook!

Facebook: Social Domaining DotSauce Magazine

Grace Period Abuse Leads to the End

In this preliminary report, you will see the acronym AGP thrown around alot. AGP stands for “Add Grace Period” an idea initially created to reimburse domain registrants for names they accidentally registered or miss-typed.

The official resolution states, “The practice of ‘domain tasting,’ by which names are registered and then deleted during the AGP, has grown at a very great rate since 2005, with tens of millions of domains registered and deleted each month.”

And the kicker… “The Board believes that the withdrawal of ICANN’s waiver of ICANN’s non-refundable transaction fee to the deletion of names within the AGP will substantially end the practice of abusing the AGP.”

A voice vote was taken of all Board Members present and the motion was approved by a vote of 13-0.

What does this mean for the domaining industry?

This change in policy will improve many aspects of domaining in general;

• The typo-squatting business will plummet as domain tasting is somewhat essential for profitable typo choices.
• Expired domain after-market will thrive as lists begin to be “cleansed” from these bogus tasted names.
• Pay-Per-Click parking services may become more reputable as domains will be long standing and garner targeted traffic.
• Registrars will become more credible down the road, because in many cases they themselves were the biggest players in domain tasting.
• Domainers will not have to worry about companies stealing WHOIS search data.

It is not certain when this change will begin to take effect, but sources reveal it may be within a month.

What are your thoughts on this revolutionary news?

Domain Tasting Goes Sour: ICANN Will No Longer Issue Registration Refunds DotSauce Magazine

There has been alot of buzz surrounding the release and questionable launch date of the .ME top level domain. Well, we don’t have an official launch date just yet, but can confirm it will be later in 2008! GoDaddy.com announced in a press release today that they have won the bid to manage the new .ME ccTLD.

Insight into the Value of .ME

• Will not be restricted, anyone in the world can claim one.
• GoDaddy will use its marketing muscle to globally promote it.
• Many languages contain the word “me” with various catchy meanings.
• Huge branding potential for English speaking countries.
• All registrars will be invited to resell the .ME extension.

Click Here to Register Your .ME Domain!

Alongside GoDaddy, Afilias Global Registry Services will have oversight of the domain. Afilias is a highly respected organization which also manages the .INFO and .ORG registries.

“To take full advantage of .ME, it needs to be properly promoted and properly managed. We have an unparalleled track record in promoting domain names and keeping customers happy. Afilias has an impeccable record when it comes to managing domain extensions. We offer the complete package to catapult .ME into the International mainstream.”

Bob Parsons
Founder & CEO
GoDaddy.com

In September, DotSauce reported here that ICANN approved a request for assigning the .ME domain to the country of Montenegro, which declared independence from Yugoslavia (.YU) in 2006.

If you are looking to branch out from your .COM investments into something that will retain and increase in value over time, you will want to seriously consider composing a list of potential .ME domains to register.

With the launch of any new domain extension there will be a sunrise grace period for companies with certified trademarks to claim their respective domain names.

Get ready for a huge land rush on launch date. DotSauce will keep you updated with any developing information, we too are actively interested in this extension.

What do you think of the potential brandability of the .ME domain? Do you plan on registering some when the registry opens?

“.ME” Domain Names to be Managed by GoDaddy DotSauce Magazine

Tralliance Corporation entered an agreement with ICANN to manage the .TRAVEL TLD in May of 2005. Tralliance Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of theglobe.com, Inc.

According to this report filed to the Securities & Exchange Commission, Labigroup (Who is owned by Michael Egan, CEO of .Travel) has agreed with theglobe.com, Inc. to buy 25,000 .TRAVEL domain names within the period of one year.

On December 20, 2007, the Company, through its subsidiary, Tralliance Corporation (“Tralliance”), entered into a Bulk Registration Co-Marketing Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Labigroup, under Tralliance’s Bulk Purchasing Program available to entities committing to a minimum purchase of 25,000 “.travel” domain names within one-year. Labigroup is controlled by the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Egan and our remaining directors own a minority interest in Labigroup. Under the Agreement, Labigroup committed to purchase a predetermined minimum number of “.travel” domain names on a bulk basis from an accredited “.travel” registrar of its own choosing and to establish a predetermined minimum number of related “.travel” websites. As consideration for the “.travel” domain names to be purchased under the Agreement, Labigroup agreed to pay certain fixed fees and make other payments, including but not limited to, an ongoing royalty calculated as a % share of its Net Revenue, as defined in the Agreement, to Tralliance. The Agreement has an initial term which expires September 30, 2010, after which it may be renewed for successive periods of two and three years, respectively. Labigroup has paid Tralliance the sum of $262,500 under the Agreement to date.

This seems like an excellent marketing campaign, which should drum up interest and exposure of the new .TRAVEL TLD. However, there has been some controversy and speculation of insider trading.

As reported in this NamePros discussion, a registrant going by the name of “Labitrav” (assumed to be Labigroup’s Michael Egan) claimed the domain Tours.travel on December 20th, 1 day before the public registration launch. (See: WHOIS record for “Tours.travel”)

Updates will be posted as this story unfolds.

The “.Travel” Travesty DotSauce Magazine

Triple’s Thanksgiving special offer is valid for new registrations, domain name renewals and domain transfer. More than that! Sharing this offer you can get a bonus $5.55 credit to your account with every third friend you refer. You can refer up to 30 friends which would earn you the equivalent of 10 free domain registrations!

You can be assured there’s no hidden costs. All fees included.

Hurry and buy a domain name for $5.55 before this offer expires on Dec. 6th. Or you can sign up for a free account and start telling your friends to earn your free domain names.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Update: I have referred several people through this article and Triple.com has indeed credited my account balance. The registration process is simple and straight forward. You can even pay for registrations directly with PayPal! So, I can officially say that I recommend you take full advantage of this special offer.

Super Low Priced Registrations and up to 10 FREE Domains! DotSauce Magazine

Early speculation is leading many domainers to believe this new extension will be a smash hit, though not in the sense that it will replace current generic and popular extensions such as .com, .net, and .org. However, it is my feeling that .ME could be an excellent domain for personal blogs and web applications which are focused on social networking and personal development.

There is no official time frame for the public release of the .ME extension or any mention of projected registration fees. A report must be filed to the United States Department of Trade for review and following approval an order will be sent to the Verisign company to implement the .ME domain in the root-zone. Once completed, the technical requirements for its implementation, registration and sale will be met.

I will post another update when more information is available on release date and pricing.

What are your thoughts on the possible success or failure of the .ME domain?

I would love to get some insight from the readers, please leave a comment.

Montenegro Granted New “.ME” Domain Name DotSauce Magazine

The idea behind this application is to draw valuable information from numerous web services and bring them into one easily readable and sortable list. Google’s PageRank, various search engine’s backlink counts, Alexa Rank, DMOZ status and domain age are a few of the services that are queried for your list of domains or websites.

Help Me Spread the Word

Please feel free to use and share BulkSEO for your domain and website research! I would very much appreciate if you would bookmark it, submit it to Social Networks (Del.ici.us, StumbleUpon, Bumpzee, Digg) and email the link to fellow web developers to help spread the word!

Limited Time Offer to Purchase the Code

I would also be willing to sell personal and reseller rights copies of this script for you to use in your own development projects or a standalone service for your website visitors. Please view a demo the exact script that is available for purchase.

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Please contact me for complete script details or if you are ready to purchase this excellent bulk domain lookup script. Payment is accepted by PayPal and the script will be emailed in a ZIP archive with simple installation instructions.

Presenting BulkSEO.com Domain & Website Research DotSauce Magazine

The deal, reached with the support of the Internet’s key oversight agency, means that customers of that rival,
RegisterFly, could once again renew names, or transfer them elsewhere if they do not want to stay with GoDaddy.

Those names had been in limbo following financial and operational troubles at RegisterFly. In some cases individuals, groups and businesses were finding their Web sites inoperable because they could not properly renew their addresses before they had expired, nor could they move them to another company, officials said.

«For the past few months, they were pretty much in the dark and there was a lot of frustration there,» GoDaddy Chief Executive Bob Parsons said in an interview. «All that is a thing of the past.»

Parsons refused to disclose terms of the transfer deal, saying they are confidential. But he said GoDaddy isn’t buying RegisterFly, so any lawsuits and other previous disputes remain with RegisterFly.

The deal calls for RegisterFly to give GoDaddy its customer databases. Transfers of names will be automatic, and GoDaddy will notify existing RegisterFly customers about the switch and set up a Web page and telephone hotline. GoDaddy expects to start running those names within a week.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the organization in charge of the Internet’s addressing policies, said the deal was good for RegisterFly customers.

«GoDaddy is a well-known, large customer-service-driven organization, and so that should diminish the sorts of problems people have experienced,» said Paul Levins, ICANN‘s vice president for corporate affairs.

The deal also marks a win for GoDaddy, which can make money when those names are up for renewal.

«If it wasn’t for that, our interest in doing the deal would be diminished quite a bit,» Parsons said. «It is going to take a certain degree of efforts on our part. We’re going to have to answer any questions customers have and resolve any issues.»

ICANN already had moved to yank RegisterFly’s accreditation and sued the company for its databases. Levins said ICANN would proceed with the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, saying the company still wasn’t prominently notifying customers of the decertification decision.

GoDaddy Group Inc. manages more than 20 million domain names under «.com,» «.net» «.org,» «.biz,» «.info» and other suffixes. Like RegisterFly, GoDaddy functions as a registrar, meaning it registers names on its customers’ behalf and submits them to a central database for each suffix, known as a registry.

GoDaddy Takes Over RegisterFly Data DotSauce Magazine

“This is all about choice. We want the diversity of the world’s people, geography and business to be able to be represented in the domain name system. That is why it’s so important for people to participate in the development of a new gTLD process.”

“If the new approval process comes on-line as planned, the global Internet could see new top-level domains added and available between June and August 2008.”

Many domainers continue to be skeptical about the need for alternative gTLDs. Frank Schilling, one of the most successful domain investors, has some good ideas on the topic that I tend to agree with. He believes that more gTLDs are pointless unless they are anything short of a direct competitor to .com. (He suggests .web would be a good candidate) Schilling also believes “shadow TLDs” or miss-spellings of existing domains should be introduced to deliver that traffic back to the web developers as opposed to the internet browser giants such as Microsoft (IE) and Mozilla (Firefox) who earn millions of dollars in revenue from domain extension miss-types.

The Houston Chronicle mentions that “Some ICANN critics have complained that the agency has been slow to approve new names and that the procedures have sometimes been arbitrary. Businesses and trademark owners, meanwhile, worry that more names will lead to more cybersquatting, the practice of grabbing names before companies can in hopes of selling them at a premium.”

When new extensions are introduced there is sure to be mad rush of registrations. I don’t recommend that you get caught up in the hype. As I have mentioned before, the risk factor for “.com” is significantly less and it’s popularity has stood the test of time.

New General Use Domain Extensions Expected Summer 2008 DotSauce Magazine

• Web Design
• Web Development
• Web Hosting
• Buying Domains
• Selling Domains
• Social Networking

If you are reading this from our RSS feed, please drop by the site and check out the new sections.

Each section will contain relevant articles from DotSauce Magazine as well as a list of external articles on the subject from various quality blogs and news sources. Each section also features a link directory of websites, tools, tutorials and web applications.

I am actively working through the tedious process of merging my extensive bookmarked links and articles into these pages, so please bare with me as the resource lists continue to grow over the next few days. I am most definitely interested in your suggestions. My goal is for DotSauce to become a comprehensive source for information on the domain industry, how to get started, be successful and maintain a high-level of productivity.

Please contact me if you have any suggestions for relevant links to be included.

Restructuring DotSauce, in-depth resources for domain owners DotSauce Magazine

…well, I’ve been associated with ICANN since before there was an ICANN.

It is amazing how much ICANN resembles the old USSR. ICANN is very much like central bureaucracy that is drawing up five year plans for the internet. And like the USSR that had a never ending problem with getting the right products to customers, ICANN has warped internet innovation in the domain name space with enough red tape to choke a Godzilla or two.

Take a moment to read this article and tell a friend, insider information such as disclosed in this interview is all too often kept behind closed doors and most definitely not publicized enough. Auerbach is questioned on various aspects of the domain registration industry, his history and experiences with ICANN while a board member, ICANN’s relationship with VeriSign, corruption, security, RegisterFly, monopolization, and the future of ICANN.

Same for TLDs – if the applicant (countries) is willing to abide by broadly accepted and used written internet technical standards then the applicant ought to get the TLD, otherwise not. There is no need for massively expensive and massively subjective beauty contests.

ICANN is smothering the internet in a way not far different from the way that J D Rockefeller smothered the oil industry.

You can find all of Auerbach’s insight into these controversial topics in this full interview. Many people now believe that ICANN needs to be dissolved and taken over by an organization such as the U.N. It has evolved into a governing body which has not subjected itself to any checks and balances. Please post your stance in the comments section.

Corruption and Scandal, One ICANN Insider Speaks Out DotSauce Magazine

Marina del Rey, CA: Under a preliminary injunction issued yesterday by US Federal Court Judge, Manuel J. Real, ICANN now has the right to terminate RegisterFly’s accreditation as soon as possible. The provision to ICANN of current and accurate data for all of RegisterFly’s domain names has also been ordered by the Court as RegisterFly failed to meet the conditions of a temporary restraining order (TRO) which the Court issued on April 16, 2007.

You can read the full article on ICANN’s announcements.

“Registrants are our first concern. ICANN is following a very determined approach to returning access to domain name registrants impacted by the collapse of RegisterFly,” said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN President and CEO.

“ICANN knows that many registrants are anxious for a transfer to occur. We are committed to making sure this process is put in place as quickly as possible,” Dr. Twomey added. “While we understand that this process may be frustrating for some RegisterFly customers, it is the first time that ICANN has had to intercede in such a way and these steps are being taken to ensure that the system introduced works as effectively as possible” he said.

Court Decision Declares RegisterFly Be Swatted DotSauce Magazine

A 1994 law bars “any” use of the name of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service and their initials, logos and other symbols to solicit business. The law also states that a disclaimer is not a defense against either civil or criminal action.

The House vote would clarify the law by specifying that the prohibition against “any” includes Web site names. “I bet Bush would sign the law – he wants WhiteHouse.com. But it would be wrong for the law to be created, since it would just bar the use of the domain be a for-profit company. The Government should purchase the domains at fare market value instead of targeting a company that bought the domains and broke no laws at the time. I think there is a law already on the books called imminent domain. If the Government wants your property, they just take it and give you money for it. We have never seen anything like this for domain names, but the Internet is young. If the federal goverment did this, could we soon see City Governments pulling out the same trick and trying to get Local City domains?” ((Source: DomainTools Blog))

Law bans domains resembling those of U.S. agencies DotSauce Magazine