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Unstoppable Domains launching 8 new alt-root blockchain domains

by — Services 1 Comment

Company will also airdrop $100 million + for people to buy the domains with.

Image with the word "Blockchain"

Unstoppable Domains, a company that offers an alternative, blockchain-based domain name system, is releasing 8 new top level domain names.

The new domain extensions are .blockchain, .888, .wallet, .x, .bitcoin, .coin, .nft, and .dao. Unstoppable Domains recently applied for trademarks or some of these domains.

Pre-orders are now available for the domains that will be added to the Ethereum blockchain in July.

The company is giving away over $100 million of promo credits for people to buy the domains with. The credits are equal to 3x what people have spent on Unstoppable Domains’ domains, including .crypto and .zil, to date. Customers also get credits on purchases made until 9 am on June 17.

Sites using Unstoppable Domains’ domains are not on the main root that names like .com are on. Users must use a browser plugin or the Brave browser to access them.

Some of the domains will experience name collisions whenever ICANN allows new top level domains to be added unless Unstoppable beats out other applicants for the strings.

Buying an expiring domain? Might want to check this

by — Expired Domains 1 Comment

The domain could already be subject to a UDRP.

logo for Solverde Casinos with a green background and image of a sun

A domain investor bought an expired domain that Solverde had already filed a UDRP against. The casino company won, and the domain buyer is suing to retain the domain.

Domain investors review a lot of data before buying expiring domain names. The more expensive the domain, the more data they check.

Sometimes I’ll Google the domain name to see how it’s used. I might even check a trademark database if the name seems like it might be a trademark. What I’ve never thought to do is see if the domain is subject to a current UDRP case.

After all, if a company decided to file a UDRP against a domain that was about to expire, wouldn’t they at least work with the registrar to make sure the renewal fee was paid?

Apparently not.

Turn Invest Group Ltd. bought SolVerde.com for $665 on NameJet in January after it expired. But the domain was already subject to a UDRP filed in November 2020. Despite being notified by the registrar of the pending expiration, neither World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the Complainant, casino company Solverde, S.A., apparently did anything about it.

So the domain expired and Turn Invest Group won a competitive auction.

According to the WIPO panel, the domain buyer should have searched to see if there was an active UDRP:

…The Respondent is a sophisticated domain name investor, and has been in this business since 2009.

Despite providing a detailed declaration, the Respondent did not provide any details of searches or due diligence the Respondent undertook prior to acquiring the disputed domain name at auction. A Google search of “SOLVERDE” conducted by the Panel resulted in many search results for the Complainant on the first page of the search results. Moreover, if the Respondent had searched the UDRP SEARCH database at “www.udrpsearch.com”, the Respondent would have seen that the disputed domain name was subject to an “active case”…

OK, I can buy searching Google to see if these two Spanish dictionary words are a well-known trademark used exclusively by one company. But checking for a UDRP?

The panel found in favor of Solverde, S.A.. Now, Turn Invest Group is suing to block the transfer.

The company filed a lawsuit (pdf) in U.S. District Court in Florida yesterday. It’s asking the court for declaratory relief that ownership of the domain is not infringing on Solverde S.A.’s trademarks and a finding of reverse domain name hijacking.

Howard Neu is local counsel for the plaintiff.

Google introduces Search Console Insights

by — Services 0 Comments

New data view makes it easy to see how recent content is performing.

An image of Google's Search Console Insights showing how long people are viewing new content

Google’s new Search Console Insights dashboard. Image courtesy Google.

Website owners might want to take a look at a new feature from Google called Search Console Insights.

The dashboard combines data from Google Analytics and Google Search Console to updated website owners about how their content is performing. Google explains some of the insights site owners can gain from the dashboard:

  • What are your best performing pieces of content, and which ones are trending?
  • How do people discover your content across the web?
  • What do people search for on Google before they visit your content?
  • Which article refers users to your website and content?

I tested it this morning and it provides a nice overview, particularly to help you understand how new content is performing.

In order to use the dashboard, you need to associate your Analytics account with your Search Console account.

Survey says: ICANN community wants to meet in person in October

by — Policy & Law 0 Comments

Most people who responded to a recent survey would like this year’s Annual General Meeting to be held in person.

Chart showing survey results about having an in-person ICANN meeting in Seattle in October 2021. Chart depicts types of requirement people are willing to put up with to attend, such as mandatory vaccines.

People are willing to put up with restrictions to meet in person in October.

A majority of the 665 people who responded to a recent survey said they want ICANN to hold this year’s Annual General Meeting in person this October. The meeting is slated for Seattle October 23-28.

It would be the first meeting held in person since ICANN 66 in Montreal in November 2019.

More than half of respondents want to meet in person, even if it means reduced global diversity, a reduced program, advanced registration for sessions, and limited attendance due to vaccine requirements. Fewer than 25% were opposed to meeting under these circumstances.

People are overwhelmingly willing to put up with restrictions, too. For example, only 11% are opposed to a vaccine requirement and 10% to a face mask requirement.

75% said that if they had to answer today, they would attend the meeting assuming they can travel to the U.S. Many of those who replied no said it was due to quarantine or travel restrictions.

Borders are still closed around the world and quarantine requirements are in place. Vaccine availability is still uneven even in North America, with demand outstripping supply just north of Seattle in Canada.

Seattle, for its part, was the first major U.S. city to hit a 70% fully vaccinated rate among people 12 and older. 97% of new cases in the city are among people who are not fully vaccinated.

Afternic launches new upgrades in beta

by — Uncategorized 2 Comments

Some users get access to improved seller management tools today.

Screenshot of Afternic's new seller dashboard showing domains for sale and prices

Afternic launched a new seller dashboard in beta today.

GoDaddy’s domain name aftermarket Afternic has launched upgrades to its seller systems in beta.

This afternoon, the company rolled out the beta to a randomly selected group of 10% of users who have fewer than 1,000 domains in their portfolios. The company will expand the beta over time as it collects feedback and monitors the platform.

The improved seller system includes many features and fixes that sellers have asked for. For example, sellers can now view and manage 500 domains at a time, rather than the old pagination of just 50 domains per page. They can also change prices “inline” rather than making all of the changes on a page and clicking a save button.

Other improvements include a filtering system based on domain status, export to .csv, and a better single domain view that incorporates comparable sales data from GoValue and offer history on the domain. (Offer history is currently limited to the seller’s negotiations on Afternic and does not include data from leads GoDaddy’s brokers handle.)

While some of the changes are rudimentary, they solve many of the headaches Afternic sellers experience. And more is on the way. Rather than launch everything in beta at once, GoDaddy is deliberately launching upgrades in an incremental fashion.

The new beta comes on the heels of Afternic launching two-factor authentication.

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