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Latest New TLD Applicant Guidebook Still Disses Go Daddy, Demand Media

Andrew Allemann — Tue, 31 May 2011 13:56:10 +0000

Companies still fall victim to anti-cybersquatting rule for new TLD applicants.

The latest (but certainly not final) version of the new top level domain name guidebook still includes a provision that, at least by the spirit of the clause, would prevent Go Daddy and Demand Media (NYSE: DMD) from applying for new top level domain names.

Section 1.2.1 of the May 20 release (large pdf) includes a laundry list of reasons why an applicant would be barred from registering a top level domain name, including if they have been “involved in of a pattern of adverse, final decisions indicating that the applicant or individual named in the application was engaged in cybersquatting.”

The guidebook defines this as three adverse decisions (including UDRP) including one in the past four years.

Both Go Daddy and Demand Media (which owns eNom) would be barred under this provision as they have multiple UDRP losses. Demand Media is clearly concerned about this provision.

That said, I still think there are loopholes that would allow these entities to apply.

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Demand Media Reports Q4 Results

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:14:46 +0000

Demand Media results shed light on revenue sharing, eNom results.

Earlier this week Demand Media reported fourth quarter results. The company eked out a small profit in the quarter, but expects to return to losses going forward.

You can read the complete details here, but here are some interesting numbers:

Revenue Sharing: In Q4 its network of customer web sites (which would include parked pages) generated 3.866 ~~million~~ billion page views with an RPM of $3.11. But the company reported that its RPM excluding traffic acquisition costs (ex-TAC) was $2.25.

The company says “Revenue ex-TAC is defined by the Company as GAAP revenue less traffic acquisition costs (TAC). TAC comprises the portion of Content & Media GAAP revenue shared with the Company’s network customers.”

So according to this definition, of the $3.11 generated per thousand page views, only $.86 was shared with publishers. This seems very low, but I’ve contacted Demand Media for an explanation and will update accordingly.

Changes in RPM: The gross RPM on customer web sites was down 22% compared to Q4 2009. The RPM on Demand Media’s owned and operated network was up 36%. Of course, a lot of Demand’s owned and operated revenue comes from actual web sites such as eHow.

eNom Growing: Registrar revenue for 2010 was $100M, up 10% compared to 2009. Including all of Demand Media’s registrars (eNom is the biggest), it had 11 million domains under management a the end of 2010. That’s up from 9.1 million at the end of 2009.

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Will You Buy Shares in Demand Media?

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 07:00:33 +0000

Company sets flotation price range.

A large domain name company is getting ready to go public. Will you get in on the action?

Demand Media, which owns eNom, has set an expected price per share of $14-$16. It plans to sell 4.5 million shares while existing shareholders hope to offload 3 million shares.

The company also released preliminary, unaudited numbers for Q4 2010. In the last quarter of the year it grossed between $71.5 million and $73.5 million, a 31% increase over the same quarter in 2009. Demand Media credits the growth primarily to increased content revenue due to both more pageviews and a higher RPM. Increased domain name registrations also helped, but to a lesser extent.

So, do you plan to buy shares in Demand Media’s IPO?

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Afternic Premium Now Works with eNom and Moniker

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:29:00 +0000

Afternic “turns on” its two new partners, giving domain name owners access to a powerful sales network.

Yesterday I wrote about my success with Go Daddy Premium Listings. The only downside to the service is that your domain names have to be at Go Daddy. But there’s good news for domainers who want to get similar reach for domains that are currently at Moniker and eNom — those two registrars are now active with Afternic’s Premium listing service.

What This Means

If you have your domain names at eNom/eNomCentral/BulkRegister or Moniker, you can now get them listed for sale within the registration path at four of the top 10 domain registrars. In addition to these two new registrars your domains will be listed for sale at Network Solutions, Register.com, and Name.com directly within the registration process. Customers can immediately purchase your domain name through the shopping cart and your domain will be transferred to them without any direct involvement with you.

The domains will also be listed on other registrar and partner sites but without the registration path/instant fulfillment capabilities.

How it Works

All of your interaction for listing the domain names occurs in your Afternic account. After logging in you simply add your domain names and select the “Premium” promotion level. You will also need to add a “Buy It Now” price for the domain names.

Afternic then runs some checks including ownership and content (Afternic doesn’t sell adult, gambling, and trademark domain names), after which you “opt in” the domains.

Once opted in, you won’t be able to make changes to your whois information or push the domain name to another account without first opting the domain name out. You can still list your domains for sale on other web sites, but if you sell it elsewhere you should remove the listing from Afternic.

What to Expect

A select group of large domainers have been able to use the Premium Listing level at Afternic for the past year. They’ve told me the results were remarkable. Your success will depend on a couple factors:

-How good your domain names are. They don’t need to be “premium”; they just need to be domain names that someone might want to register for their own business.

-How you price your domains. This sales channel works great with small and medium size businesses. Keep in mind the typical Afternic sale is around $1,200. I suggest pricing your domains in the $600-$2,500 range for best results. The commission is 20% (net 15% if you park the domains with Afternic) with a $120 minimum.

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Demand Media Demands Three-Strikes Rethink

Andrew Allemann — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 02:10:29 +0000

By Kevin Murphy

Demand Media has asked ICANN to reconsider an anti-cybersquatting provision in the new top-level domain Applicant Guidebook that may ban the company from running a TLD.

ICANN will do background checks on the companies applying for TLDs and their officers. If they are found to have lost three UDRP decisions in the last four years, their applications will be rejected.

Demand Media, which owns eNom, calls this “draconian”, saying that three UDRP losses can hardly be considered a “pattern” of cybersquatting when a company owns thousands of domains.

As DNW reported last month, a Demand Media subsidiary has six UDRP losses to its name just this year, although the ICANN guidebook may contain enough loopholes to let the company bid anyway.

Demand said the three-strikes rule is “an extremely broad standard that we believe will unintentionally disqualify otherwise qualified applicants”.

It went on to say that such a rule was never envisioned by the UDRP, and that some respondents may have chosen to fight complaints more fiercely had they known the full consequences.

Using UDRP decisions as an additional ex post facto punishment to disqualify an otherwise qualified applicant is an inappropriate and draconian penalty. The result is a retroactive change in the legal consequences of all UDRP decisions.

Demand Media’s position is backed up by the Internet Commerce Association, which represents big-volume domain investors.

But the rules are supported by ICANN’s intellectual property stakeholders, which have been fighting for stronger IP protections in the new TLD program for years and seem to be getting their way.

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Zuccarini Case Against NameJet, NetSol, et al Moved to Virginia

Andrew Allemann — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 13:36:26 +0000

Court transfers lawsuit to Virginia.

In a move that may have been expected by some observers, John Zuccarini’s lawsuit against NameJet, Network Solutions, eNom, and VeriSign has been transferred to the Eastern District of Virginia.

The case stems from some of John Zuccarini’s domain names that were transferred to a receiver after a cybersquatting judgment against him. The receiver let some of the domain names expire and they were subsequently auctioned off on NameJet.

eNom and Network Solutions asked the court to dismiss the case based on improper jurisdiction. Zuccarini had agreed to contracts with “forum selection clauses” when he registered the domain names. The court determined that the case should not be dismissed outright as the defendants wished, but instead should be transferred to the Eastern District of Virginia (pdf).

This move was not entirely unexpected. When the case was filed, domain name attorney John Berryhill (who is not involved in the case) commented on Domain Name Wire: “Venue Fail. He is in the District of Southern Florida alleging breach of contract, when the contract specifies that disputes are to be brought in Virginia.”

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Tomorrow is a Big Day for New Top Level Domain Names

Andrew Allemann — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:08:45 +0000

Big issue on the table at ICANN retreat.

In about 24 hours the ICANN Board of Directors will kick off a retreat. It’s not an official board meeting, but it’s anticipated that the two day retreat will finalize an important issue: registry/registrar separation.

A lot is at stake in this decision. Millions of dollars for the stakeholders.

Until now a registry hasn’t been able to own a registrar and (technically) vice-versa. Afilias is owned by a number of registrars, though.

The question is if this separation should be relaxed.

In one corner are the registrars that would like to introduce new top level domain names. Ideally they would like to be unencumbered. But some of them, including eNom, are willing to go the middle road. The middle ground proposal is dubbed JN2. It basically says a registrar can be a registry but with heavy restrictions until 18 months after the TLD is released.

In the other corner are those that want no integration. They want to limit cross ownership to 2%. In Afilias’ case, it wants to increase cross ownership to 15% because of its existing registrar investors.

You can read about the various proposals and how no consensus has been reached here.

Another issue is private registrars. Should someone who owns a registrar solely to manage their own domains be restricted from releasing a new TLD? That would defeat the purpose of this restriction.

The pressure is on ICANN’s board. Like any good bureaucratic and political organization, odds are they’ll pick the middle of the road. Or punt to someone else.

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