AEIOU.com among the domains for sale at this week’s live domain auction.

Rick Latona Auctions released its final inventory for this week’s TRAFFIC conference auction in Las Vegas. Lot #1180 may look familiar: AEIOU.com.

This is the domain name Rick Latona used for his minisite development service, which he closed down last year. It can be yours for a reserve range of $40,000-$50,000.

Here are a few domain names in the auction that I like upon first glance:

Motivating.com – $3,000-$4,000 – a no brainer for a motivational speaker. Perhaps Joseph McClendon III should bid on this one.

Lemons.com $30,000-$40,000 – I don’t know if it will sell in this market, but this is a great domain.

CatFood.com $50,000-$75,000 – Would be brilliant for a cat food company (not an e-commerce site).

This auction will be the first to use the new Latonas.com online bidding interface. Previously, Rick Latona Auctions used the third party service Proxibid for online bidding.

Web based form makes commenting easy.

Last week I wrote about how International Trademark Association (INTA) asked its members to comment on ICANN’s proposed “Expressions of Interest” (EOI) scheme for new top level domain names. As a result of INTA’s request to its members, the comments for EOI are filled with unhelpful one-liners such as “I do not support ICANN’s acceptance of pre-registrations for new gTLDs.”

If you’d like to leave a more meaningful comment on EOI, Minds + Machines is making it very easy with a new form on its web site. The form covers the major issues at hand with EOI (e.g., is the $55,000 fee fair?), and lets you check boxes and add your own explanation on each individual issue.

Minds + Machines stands to profit from new top level domain names and is in favor of EOI. But M+M is upfront about this, stating its view but also noting that some people may disagree (and allowing them to comment as such through its form). The form then automatically submits to ICANN’s web site, and all you have to do is click a link in a confirmation e-mail for your comment to be posted. The deadline for commenting is January 27, 2010.

Kudos to Minds + Machines for this great idea, and for being more open-minded than INTA. I’d like to see other groups, such as Internet Commerce Association, adopt this online form model to encourage commenting and participation in the ICANN process.

If you’re thinking about attending Domainer Mardi Gras ’10, the bell is tolling for hotel rooms.

Usually when you miss out on a domain conference’s hotel block, it’s not the end of the world. There are plenty of other hotels in the vicinity where you can stay.

But Domainer Mardi Gras is different — and that’s why you need to reserve your room by Thursday, January 21. If you don’t book by Thursday, here’s what’s going to happen:

1. Any rooms from Domainer Mardi Gras’ block will be given back to the New Orleans Marriott.
2. The New Orleans Marriott has sold out of regular rooms for the dates of the event, so the rooms given back will instantly sell out.
3. Good luck finding another hotel room in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, especially on Canal Street.

Last year a number of people tried to make last minute reservations for the trip and had difficulty finding a room.

So even if you’re not sure if you’ll be making the trip, reserve your room by Thursday (you can cancel later if necessary). Information on the event is at DomainerMardiGras.com, and the hotel link is here.

DotComBuilder launches 2010 edition of popular web site builder.

DotComBuilder has launched DCB2010, an update to its services that allows domain name owners to quickly build out their domain names.

DotComBuilder offers turnkey web sites, web templates, and CMS themes for a monthly subscription. The service also offers hosting, making it possible to literally click a couple buttons to develop web sites on domains.

For example, its turnkey web sites include classified ad sites, pixel ad sites, and business directories.

I’ve used DotComBuilder’s turnkey sites in the past. If you just set it and leave it, I wouldn’t expect to generate much revenue from the sites. However, it provides a way to get some search traffic and show that you’re actually using your domain names for a “legitimate” use.

DotComBuilder’s themes and templates are useful for developing your own web sites. In addition to traditional HTML templates, the service offers CMS themes for WordPress, Joomla, and many other content management systems.

With the launch of DCB2010, DCB is offering a 20% discount on new memberships using coupon code 31724355.

Taco Bell fails to get key domain name, then spreads hot sauce over the facts.

Taco Bell kicked off the new year with an unusual ad campaign for the Drive-Thru Diet. The campaign suggests that you can actually lose weight by selecting certain items off the Taco Bell menu.

Taco Bell smartly acquired the domain name DriveThruDiet.com prior to launching the campaign. But it didn’t acquire the correctly spelled domain name DriveThroughDiet.com, which is owned by Nelson Wellness & Therapy Center of Savannah, Georgia, a weight loss center. Taco Bell’s parent company Yum! Brands filed for arbitration at National Arbitration Forum to get the domain name.

But like a Burrito Supreme, the case left a bad taste in the arbitrator’s mouth.

To make the case that it should get the domain name, Taco Bell argued (in the panelist’s words):

Complainant has obtained in 2006 a trademark registration for the mark DRIVE-THRU DIET in connection with restaurant and carry-out restaurant services and alleges that it had been continuously using and promoting it since 2004.

Really? I don’t recall seeing ads for the Drive-Thru diet until just recently.

If you do a little digging, you’ll see that Taco Bell wasn’t exactly forthcoming. It was actually a company called Natural Selections and its owner that filed a trademark application on the term in 2004 that was granted in 2006. It wasn’t until 2009 that Taco Bell acquired the trademark from the previous owner in anticipation of its new ad campaign. In fact, as late as December 2009 DriveThruDiet.com showed merely a “coming soon” page. Respondent Nelson Wellness & Therapy Center registered DriveThroughDiet.com in 2007.

Panelist Hector A. Manoff denied Taco Bell’s request.