Telnic reports 200,000 registrations for .tel domain name.

Telnic, the operator of the .tel domain name, today announced that it has over 200,000 domain names registered. The company reported 100,000 .tel domains were registered a day after general registration became available in March. (Domains were available at higher prices prior to the general launch).

Some of the growth is likely coming from Telnic’s distribution agreements with directory providers in Europe and MySpace. Registration breakdowns by registrar are available through ICANN but are delayed three months, so it’s impossible to tell who the biggest .tel registrars are at this point. (MySpace and the directories are resellers, though, and probably won’t show up in Telnic’s reports.)

.Tel domain names can’t be hosted or parked. They serve like a yellow pages listing for a business or person. For an example, visit allemann.tel.

250,000 .me domain names have been registered. Here’s what it means.

250,000 .me domain names have been registered since its relaunch earlier this year. I draw two conclusions from this.

First, it shows the power a registrar has in pushing a domain. .Me is run by a partnership between Afilias and GoDaddy. GoDaddy has aggressively pushed the domain and dissed others at the same time. (Bob Parsons stopped using BobParsons.tv and switched to BobParsons.me). This is particularly relevant in light of a current discussion of reducing registry/registrar separation.

Second, it shows there are many people who still hope for instant riches from domain names and see new releases as their shot at the glory. A number of .me domains sold for high prices at auctions during and after the launch. Some of these were purchased by “experienced” domainers. But many others were web site owners with a handful of domains. I read many blog posts by people who wrote that GoDaddy account reps contacted them to see which domains they wanted to get in the landrush. These people bought a number of domains, even though they don’t have much experience in domain selling. I suspect they’ll be disappointed with the results.

Existing registries fight registrars over registry-registrar separation.

Registries: In this corner we have three registry providers, Public Interest Registry, Afilias, and NeuStar. They provide the backend and management of domain names such as .org, .biz, and .info, that are sold to customers by registrars.

Registrars: In this corner we have domain name registrars hoping to profit from the release of new top level domain names.

Issue: Until now, there have been rules that separate registries from registrars. This prevents a registrar, which has market power to promote certain domains, from competing with registries which are required to give “equal access”. But these restrictions will be curtailed with the launch of new top level domain names.

The registries, in a letter and presentation to ICANN (pdf), argue that separation between registries and registrars is critical. They complain that registrars are already using their market power and ownership of the domain customer relationship and to sow up back end registry services in competition with existing registries. For example, Network Solutions partnered with Central Registry Services and issued this press release:

“Central Registry Solutions will guarantee distribution of domain names for its customers through Network Solutions one of the most trusted retail registrars. In addition, Central Registry Solutions will leverage CentralNic’s network of registrar partners to provide further distribution of domain names, which will help customers succeed in the marketplace. Finally, Central Registry Solutions will offer other retail services that will enable new registries to package domains with web sites, online marketing services and security services, as well as other value-added services.”

The registrars are fighting back and calling the registries hypocrites. Jonathon Nevett, Senior Vice President at Network Solutions, writes (pdf):

The Incumbent Registries advocate for a market that limits their competition by restricting new competitors from entering. Therefore, their arguments are completely self-serving and anti-competitive. Not only do they argue that registrars or registrar affiliates should not be permitted to be Registry Operators (the entities that have contracts with ICANN), they also go so far to argue that registrar or registrar affiliates shouldn’t even be permitted to supply Registry Operators with back-end registry services. In their protectionist letter, they seek to constrain the supplier model for New TLDs and thus merely advance their narrow self-interest at the expense of competition.

Nevett points out that Afilias already has an arrangement with GoDaddy to run .me. Demand Media, parent company of eNom, also wants to be a registry and registrar. It challenges the registries’ claims, too (pdf).

Get ready for a Battle Royale with millions of dollars at stake.

BuyDomains sells domain name for $50,000.

BuyDomains has sold the domain name MyHomepage.com for $50,000. The buyer appears to be in Germany and the page currently resolves to WhyPark’s name servers. This will be one to watch, as the buyer clearly has plans for it.

Other notable .com sales at BuyDomains this week include:

a6.com $34,000
loterij.com $11,645
honestkitchen.com $5,000
i-me.com $4,988
justscooters.com $4,788
renascimento.com $4,770
ecosociety.com $4,250
centurycommunications.com $4,188
helpbank.com $4,088
geeku.com $3,988
petsnetwork.com $3,988
fastdraft.com $3,788
callsoft.com $3,750
timedoctor.com $3,688
BUYERSAGENTS.com $3,600
sopas.com $3,500
tahl.com $3,500
ewsgroup.com $3,488
commercialrefrigerator.com $3,350
healthindustry.com $3,250
generaljobs.com $3,200
cohealth.com $3,188
webtitan.com $3,188
dermalabs.com $3,088
tastykitchen.com $3,060
fxfx.com $3,001

The sale of JustScooters.com gives me hope for my domain AllScooters.com. In other top level domains, BuyDomains sold:

abi.net $12,600
nursingschool.org $6,000
houseandhome.net $4,788
critical.net $4,500
cuencas.info $3,500
usasports.net $3,088
theearth.org $3,080
blooks.net $2,970
govnet.net $2,788
simplesolution.net $2,570
baselayers.co.uk $2,500
whywait.net $2,088
golfacademy.org $1,820
briard.net $1,745
foamdepot.net $1,688
strategiccapital.net $1,588
musicvillage.net $1,500
MatchMD.us $1,500

In total, BuyDomains sold $500,000 worth of .com domain names and about $100,000 of other top level domains in the past week. This only includes the disclosed sales.

New Premium promotion option utilizes instant transfer technology.

Over the weekend Afternic rolled out a number of changes, including a new “Premium” promotion level.

I caught up with NameMedia Senior Vice President and General Manager Peter Lamson, as well as members of the product and customer service teams, to learn more about this new level of promotion. (NameMedia owns Afternic.)

Premium promotion improves on the existing “Enhanced” promotion level. Domain names listed at the Premium level are shown in the results of customer searches on a growing roster of domain registrars, including Network Solutions and directNIC.

These registrar partners have specific requirements. “Most registrars will want to have their site visitors be able to buy a secondary market domain the same way they would register a regular domain,” said Lamson.

The key is being able to instantly transfer a domain name. With Premium promotion, domain names must be transferred to NameMedia partner Network Solutions, which has instant transfer functionality. Although NameMedia is happy with its Network Solutions partnership, it is working on other registrar partnerships so that names don’t have to be transferred to Network Solutions.

NameMedia runs a number of checks on domains that are submitted for Premium promotion. It does a basic valuation to make sure bad domains aren’t listed for a million dollars, then it performs the standard compliance and trademark check. Domains are also screened for baseline quality and ownership is verified. Through its partnership with Network Solutions, domains are constantly monitored for whois changes. If you sell a domain outside of Afternic, the system will be quickly alerted to remove it from Afternic’s inventory.

Afternic’s latest release has a bug that prevents you from changing promotion levels right now, but this should be fixed soon. The big question for most domainers is if it will be worth transferring domains to Network Solutions to take advantage of this sales opportunity. Network Solutions is offering $9.99 transfer pricing, but I suspect many people will hold off until other registrars come on board.