Premature press release discusses re-launch of .na.

Could the African country of Namibia be the next to capitalize on a commercialized TLD, a la .tv or .co?

A consortium within the country would like to, but it may be getting ahead of itself.

I received a press release from Groot Group this morning that announces:

In an effort to help businesses and marketers around the world specifically target their online customers, the .NA domain extension is due to launch this year.

Groot Group says .NA can stand for “National” or “North America” and could generate $3.7 M for the Namibia Ministry of Education each year.

Leave aside the issue that a .(north america) domain name makes little sense, I became concerned as I read through the press release.

STRAAT Investment, the investment company that funded the successful development and launch of the .CO TLD is looking to finance the development and launch of the .NA domain. While technology industry heavy weight firms of Afilias USA Inc. and Neustar Inc. are poised to provide the needed backbone Internet technology and infrastructure needed for the smooth launch and operation of the .NA domain registration.

Notice how it says either Afilias or Neustar might be the registry provider? Strange. But if STRAAT is behind it then there’s some credibility. The problem: STRAAT isn’t behind it. I checked with the company’s managing director and he told me STRAAT isn’t financing .na.

The press release even has the familiar “About STRAAT” and “About Afilias” blurbs at the bottom, which makes it look like they endorsed the press release.

Groot may not have the blessing and approval of the Namibia government yet, either.

It appears .NA may be getting ahead of itself. Either way, I think it has little more appeal than Somalia’s .so, which prompted many people to ask “.so what?”

Big milestone for world’s largest domain name registrar.

Last week I said Go Daddy was going to hit 50 million domains sometime this week.

Turns out the world’s insatiable appetite for domain names made it happen a bit faster than predicted: Go Daddy says it hit the milestone over the weekend.

The lucky registrant who will now get added exposure for his domain name? Kranthi Kumar Kukkala of India. Kukkala registered DBAkit.com.

Fortunately for him the site about Oracle databases is already up.

The Go Daddy Group has nearly 4 times as many domains currently registered as its closest competitor. Most of the registrations are made through its flagship GoDaddy.com registrar.

How to sell your portfolio in a hurry.

A reader emailed me the other day asking if I’ve ever written about exit strategies for domainers. I don’t think I have, but it’s a good idea. So here it goes.

The problem with exiting the domain industry.

Most domain names aren’t very liquid. They can be sold quickly but not at full market value.

A good portfolio of non-traffic generics turns over about 2% to 3% a year without pushing the sales out. You can achieve this by listing on Afternic DLS Premium or Go Daddy Premium.

At 2% to 3% that means 33 to 50 years to turnover your entire portfolio. That’s not really realistic since the 2%-3% a year is on a smaller base each year. But the point is it would take a long time to realize full market value.

How to sell a lot of domains quickly.

If you want to exit the domain name industry in a hurry you’re going to have to mark down your domains. You’re not going to get top dollar. But here’s what I would do if I wanted to liquidate my portfolio.

1. Sell traffic domains to a traffic domain buyer. Although companies like iREIT are long gone, Oversee.net and similar companies are still buying traffic portfolios.

2. Submit inventory to auctions and domain sales newsletters. This is a quick push method to get lots of attention for your domains. Consider Moniker’s auctions, TRAFFIC, Great Domains, and TobyClements.com. They won’t take your crap, but you can move some of your good domains at reasonable prices.

3. Do a personal Sedo auction. The marketplace runs auctions for an individual’s inventory. But they won’t want a list of junk domains.

4. List your domains on forums such as DNForum and NamePros. Price the domains and make them reasonable.

5. Send your list to Afternic. They’re still buying generic domain names that don’t get traffic. Keeping in mind its business model, don’t expect them to pay you much. Think of them as someone who buys the assets of a defunct company at a discount. They’ll make an offer and close the deal quickly.

6. Try NameJet. The company lists private portfolios on set timelines.

Any other thoughts on how to liquidate a domain name portfolio in a hurried manner?

Oversee.net continues to say lawsuit with Monte Cahn is merely about contract claims.

Oversee.net has filed a motion to dismiss (pdf) numerous claims in Monte Cahn’s second amended lawsuit.

The motion to dismiss starts out with this telling line:

“Apparently, the third time is not the charm.”

The second amended lawsuit was the third complaint brought by Cahn.

Oversee.net claims Cahn’s latest complaint is “fundamentally flawed”. It asks the court to dismiss claims of fraud or conversion and let the case proceed “as a matter rooted in contract law”.

The motion to dismiss states:

“Although Cahn has now abandoned some of his theories, he still seeks to turn a breach of contract claim into a claim for fraud, and he still seeks to plead conversion claims that fail as a matter of law”.

The company claims that Cahn has tried to revive two of the claims that the court dismissed previously.

“In an effort to conceal the lack of change, Cahn reformats some of his allegations and repeatedly adds to his factual allegations speculative contentions about the defendants’ states of mind…”

Oversee.net also claims that Cahn has added “several rhetorical flourishes about the supposed importance to Oversee of retaining Chan post-merger”.

Parent company considers spinning off registrar it bought two years ago.

Alibaba’s domain name registrar HiChina may be spun off into a public offering in the United States according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Alibaba paid $79 million for a controlling stake in HiChina in 2009.

HiChina could be considered the “Go Daddy of China”. This begs the question if Go Daddy should buy the company. As it turns out, one of Go Daddy’s new owners Silver Lake Partners is considering a buyout of Alibaba. Go Daddy has said the investment from KKR, Silver Lake, and Technology Crossover Ventures will help the company expand internationally.

The domain registrar has well over 1 million domain names registered according to Webhosting.info.