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Former ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom commenting on .Org deal

by — Policy & Law 2 Comments

Beckstrom posed arguments during forum last week.

On February 11, American University Washington College of Law held a program about the sale of .Org to private equity company Ethos Capital.

Former ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom was in attendance, and he posed some good questions about the transaction. The video below starts playing at the point Beckstrom begins commenting:

After hearing of the deal, Beckstrom says, “I felt incredibly sad… I was just shocked. Not just because this non-profit asset was being monetized, but because of how it was handled.”

Beckstrom posed several questions, including the valuation of the deal and if ISOC/PIR are really operating in the public benefit, as required of non-profits.

GoDaddy’s Uniregistry acquisition was for less than $200 million

by — Domain Registrars 2 Comments

Annual report shows that deal was for less than $200 million.

Picture of GoDaddy and Uniregistry Logos

We now have a better idea of how much GoDaddy paid to acquire Uniregistry and Frank Schilling’s domain name portfolio.

GoDaddy issued its annual report today. The report states:

In February 2020, we entered into agreements for two acquisitions with an aggregate purchase price of approximately $196.9 million, of which $149.1 million has been paid in cash. The remaining $47.8 million will be paid upon receipt of certain regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions as well as upon the expiration of the contractual holdback period.

It’s unclear if both of these acquisitions are Uniregistry or if it includes another company. GoDaddy also acquired South African social content startup Over and that is included in the total.

“Unicorn” Nubank is a reverse domain name hijacker

by — Policy & Law 0 Comments

Brazilian financial company filed dead-on-arrival cybersquatting complaint.

Reverse domain name hijacking graphic

Nubank, a Brazilian finance startup that has raised billions in funding, tried to reverse domain name hijack the domain name Nubank.com.

A World Intellectual Property Organization panelist made the ruling after Nubank (Nu Pagamentos S.A.) made a cybersquatting claim against the domain name. The owner of the domain name didn’t respond to the dispute, but it’s clear that the domain was registered well before Nubank had any trademark rights in the term.

It appears that Nubank filed the complaint after failing to get a response to its purchase overtures.

In finding reverse domain name hijacking, panelist Steven Maier wrote:

The Complainant is professionally represented in this matter and, in the opinion of the Panel, knew or ought to have known that it had no reasonable chance of prevailing in this proceeding for the reasons set out above, including in particular the fact that the disputed domain name had been registered many years before the Complainant began using the trademarks in question. Further, the Complainant’s admission that it has tried but failed to purchase the disputed domain name from the Respondent suggests to the Panel that this proceeding represents a fallback, in circumstances where the Complainant has failed to secure the disputed domain name by commercial negotiation. The Panel therefore finds that the Complaint was brought in bad faith and constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding.

K&L Gates LLP represented Nubank.

Ethos adds legally-binding provisions to try to save .Org deal

by — Policy & Law 10 Comments

8-year price cap, censorship and data controls would be baked into registry agreement amendment.

Logo for .org domain, featuring a blue circle with white letters spelling ORG

Ethos Capital, the company that is trying to acquire the .Org registry, took a big step today to try to push it over the finish line. It agreed to add a Public Interest Commitment (PIC) (pdf) to the registry agreement with ICANN that would enforce some of the promises it has made publicly.

The move comes after ICANN sent a letter to Internet Society, which current controls .org, making it clear that ICANN believes it has the power to nix the deal on grounds beyond security and stability.

Among the commitments is to cap the .org price for the first eight years. The price increase will be capped at 10% per year on average, and now “on average” has some teeth. It can’t be front-loaded, although the trigger date will be backdated to June 2019.

The current wholesale price of a .org domain is $9.93. That means that, after eight years, the price could be around $21, more than double the current price.

After eight years, PIR could change the price as much as it wants. (That might be about the time Ethos decides to exit the business.)

Before the Ethos announcement, Public Interest Registry said it had no current plans to increase the price of .org domain names.

Additionally, the .Org Stewardship Council will have veto authority on changes to .org policies around censorship and freedom of expression, as well as the use of .org registrant and user data.

PIR will also establish a Community Enablement Fund to support initiatives benefitting .org registrants. It will contribute $10 million to this fund during the remaining lift of the current registry agreement. That’s about $1 million a year.

What these recent four-letter domain sales might mean

by — Domain Sales 0 Comments

Kassey Lee breaks down how these domains might be used.

Four L's on a blue and orange background

eName just reported some four-letter domains sold recently from its marketplace. As you can see, there is a large variation in the prices, which makes domain investing very challenging. I have added my own suggestions as to what these acronym domains can mean in Chinese.

KGZJ.com was sold for 29,999 yuan (about $4,500). KGZJ may be Pinyin phrases such as Kuai Gou Zhi Jia (快购之家=home of speedy purchase), Kao Gu Zhuan Jia (考古专家=archaeology expert), and Ku Gong Zuo Jian (酷工作间=cool working space).

LYQC.com was sold for 2800 yuan ($420). LYQC may be Lu You Qi Cai (旅游七彩=colorful tour), Le Yu Qian Cai (乐于钱财=take pleasure in money and wealth), and Ling Yang Qing Chun (羚羊青春=youthful as antelope).

ZPBF.com was sold for 2,788 yuan ($420). ZPBF may be Zhen Pin Bu Fa (真品不乏=no lack of genuine products), Zhao Pin Bu Fan (招聘不凡=recruit the extraordinary), and Zhao Pian Bin Fen (照片缤纷=vast and various photos).

ORQP.com was sold for 2,080 yuan ($310). ORQP may be Ou Ran Qi Pao (偶然旗袍=incidentally wearing Qipao), Ou Rui Qi Pai (鸥锐气派=an imposing manner like a sharp gull), and Ou Ri Qi Pei (欧日汽配=auto parts from Europe and Japan).

Four-letter domains are used in corporate China, for example, MGTV.com (Mango TV) and CCTV.com (China Central Television) in the 2019 Top 100 Chinese Internet Companies Report.

The price information can be found at eName.