The company plans to acquire rights .Forum rights from Jay Westerdal.
Top level domain name company MMX (AIM: MMX) has laid out plans for the upcoming launch of the .forum top level domain name.
Sunrise will run from November 16 through December 16 of this year. General availability won’t begin until March 2, 2021.
You’ll need to open up your pocketbook if you wish to start a website on .forum. Wholesale pricing has apparently been set at $1,000 per year, although there will be a first-year promotion for half of the normal price.
The pricing might make sense because this likely isn’t a high volume domain name. Internet forums aren’t as popular as they used to be, but popular forums attract a large crowd. This might be one of those domains that needs a high price to make up for lower volume.
ICANN records show that Jay Westerdal’s Fegistry, LLC is still the owner of this top level domain name. Fegistry, LLC was administratively dissolved by the State of Washington earlier this year for failing to file its annual report. (This is somewhat typical for small businesses, and the business can easily be reinstated.)
The website at nic.forum recently changed from Westerdal’s site to one created by MMX.
I’ve reached out to representatives of MMX and to Jay Westerdal for comment and will update this story when I hear back. Update: MMX said that it is providing RSP services for the Dot Forum launch and intends to become the Registry Operator later in 2021.
Alan Built says
They’ll be lucky to be able to pay the electric bill with that pricing.
Stewart says
Wonder why MMX’s share price fell by 50% in the past few weeks
Andrew Allemann says
The stock drop was tied to this announcement: https://domainnamewire.com/2020/10/09/mmx-might-have-incorrectly-recognized-revenue/
steve brady says
Since PalmBeach.vip was the only gtld I ever sold for a profit, MMX must know what they’re doing.
steve brady says
Perhaps DigitalTown can resurrect from the ashes by securing every geographical name dot Forum
John says
“$1,000”
Falls into the “what are they thinking” category as much as anything in history. Hate to have to say it, but frankly more like delusional than anything else, though no doubt there would be some takers.
Even if I had and operated some of the best corresponding .coms, that kind of pricing would be a “no, never, you must be kidding” deal breaker for me. In fact, not even a “deal breaker,” just a “never even consider.”
Mevo says
As a one time fee, it could maybe make sense. But I agree with you, having to pay this every year, NO WAY ! And that’s the wholesale price, so it will be even more expensive. 101domain is already advertising a price, and it’s $700 for registration (the half price mentioned in the article above) and $1500 for renewals.
Who in their right mind will pay this rather than using something like “…-forum.com” ?
Statton Hammock says
Honestly, at this stage, why are registries launching with such high pricing for GA or even premiums? Global company’s (the biggest spenders, maybe?) don’t want to pay a high price for new gTLDs after hundreds have already launched.
spacegazebo says
> This might be one of those domains that needs a high price to make up for lower volume.
Did they do any market research at all? The high price absolutely guarantees ZERO volume.
Guess how people typically pick their URL for forums?
People who can afford $1,000/year: forum.welloffcompany.com
People who can’t afford $1,000/year: whateveranything.com
At this price, I’d be much better off paying a squatter (minimum around $2000) for a high value .com or a registrar for a “premium” single word domain.
Independently ran webforums are in rapid decline/stagnation, losing users to Big Social Media. This price is an open attack on the free and open web. A reasonable price ($10/year) could have breathed new life into the forum ecosystem, but instead we get another nail in the coffin…