You can insure the title of art, but domain names lag behind.

I’ve written numerous times about the potential of domain name title insurance. I’ve argued it’s not a profitable product to offer. Although I still feel that way, I was surprised to see an article in the latest Economist about title insurance for art.

The article discusses Blanchisseuses souffrant des dents by Edgar Degas, which Sotheby’s listed for sale in an auction. Someone viewing the auction catalog was surprised to see the painting for sale since he knew it had been stolen in 1973.

The person who had listed it for sale most likely was unaware it was stolen when he bought it. Yet he or she is also probably out whatever they paid for the stolen artwork.

Thankfully there’s title insurance for art. Insurance company ARIS insures the title on art for a one time charge between 1.75% and 6% of the art’s value. The company has insured around 1,000 items and hasn’t yet had a claim.

There are numerous cases in the domain name industry where someone buys or sells a stolen domain name without knowing it. It can be a costly mistake. So could we have domain insurance similar to art insurance?

The domain name industry is somewhat different from the art industry. The article discusses the complexity of understanding title in art:

An alternative to art-title insurance is for collectors to do due diligence about the provenance of a work of art themselves. Yet many do not have the time or the tools to carry out such research, which is a complex undertaking as there is no central register of art ownership.

In the domain name industry we do have a central register of ownership, and you can easily track history thanks to DomainTools.

Another obstacle is the relatively low value of most domain name transactions and the nature of the typical domain buyer. We’re talking about an industry where someone will buy a domain name for $25,000 from a person they’ve never met without bothering to sign a contract. Would the same buyer be willing to pay $1,000 for title insurance? I doubt it.

Web host plans for big growth.

Web hosting company HostGator has published excerpts of founder Brent Oxley’s recent email to employees. I found it interesting on a number of fronts.

1. The company is giving its Houston employees a 10% raise immediately. This sounds like what Google recently did. This 10% is on top of any usual raises.

2. HostGator is no longer for sale. Oxley said he had an end-of-year deadline to sell the company and he’s taking it off the market.

3. The company wants to take on GoDaddy. “This next year we will be going directly after GoDaddy’s business. I plan on investing over a million dollars a month into TV commercials. We are going to grow extremely fast, much faster then any growth we’ve ever seen before”.

4. Offer to transfer to Austin. The company is making a big splash in Austin with the announcement of lots of hiring. Now it’s offering any of its Houston employees the option to move to its Austin office.

I think the email is an interesting look at how a fast-growing internet company is planning for the future.

Domain registrar to continue tradition of big holiday parties.

The latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek has a story titled “The End of the Office Holiday Party” that prominently features domain name registrar Go Daddy.

The article starts off by mentioning that Queen Elizabeth II canceled this year’s Christmas Party, saying it wouldn’t be right to throw a lavish party while asking everyone else to cut back.

But there’s one company that’s not cutting back, and it’s right here in our industry. Go Daddy will again return to Chase Field in Phoenix for its annual shindig. Over 6,000 people are expected to attend the December event including Go Daddy Girls race car driver Danica Patrick, personal trainer Jillian Michaels, singer Ella Koon, and poker player Vanessa Rousso. Company founder Bob Parsons has also lined up three major bands to perform.

Parsons told Bloomberg Businessweek that he will dole out $1 million in cash to company employees during the party.

“I’ll give away a million bucks by pulling names out of a hat. And when I give money away, I pay the taxes on it,” he says. “I don’t want to be the richest guy in the graveyard.”

Not bad.

Keep your chin up. The year will finish strong.

This year has been one of ups and downs for domain name investors, but I have reason to be thankful as we move past Thanksgiving into the final month of the year.

1. The Yahoo-Bing transition is complete and revenue is stabilizing.

True, not all Yahoo advertisers made the move to Microsoft. But with the holidays here even more advertisers will pay attention to advertising on Bing. In the long run this partnership will be good for domain name parking.

2. Afternic’s partnerships with eNom and Moniker will be implemented next month.

This will give domainers the ability to list their domain names in the registration paths of major end-user domain name registrars. Until now you had to have your domains at Network Solutions or Register.com to get this access. If the results are anything similar to with GoDaddy’s Premium Listings service, this is going to be a home run for domainers.

MyRecovery.com trades hands, buyer has big plans.

The top reported sale coming out of Afternic this week is for MyRecovery.com at a healthy $40,000. The seller? Worldwide Media, Inc, run by blogger and domainer Michael Berkens.

The buyer has already uploaded a placeholder in anticipation of his 2011 launch of the site. It reads:

Inside myRecovery you will find comprehensive on-line programs, services, and solutions to alcoholism and drug dependency based on the spiritual principals of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Congrats to Michael on the sale and Afternic for brokering the deal.

Here are some other notable sales from Afternic this week. Note that Afternic only releases a portion of its weekly sales data.

.com

godata.com $17,600.00
blueteam.com $8,250.00
becode.com $7,500.00
billycox.com $6,160.00
fome.com $6,112.00
tefa.com $5,993.00
seemless.com $5,800.00
patriotbank.com $5,520.00
acidtest.com $4,982.00
learnalot.com $4,500.00
business-bankruptcy.com $4,450.00
winchip.com $4,400.00
aspireglobal.com $4,288.00
airplayer.com $4,188.00
ecodata.com $4,000.00
picquet.com $4,000.00

Other

ipnetwork.net $4,988.00
DriverUpdate.net $3,999.00
hyperwave.net $3,388.00
adultdatingsites.net $3,100.00
critic.org $3,000.00