TLD, And More, Updates: .GAY Donates $148K; 2021 .EU Web Awards Gala, 17 Years of .PL IDNs; .LT Scammers; RightOfTheDot and NamesCon Live Auction; FTC Transition to IPv6 and Tobias Sattler on New gTLDs Second Round

Over $148,000 has been donated to LGBTQ Community Beneficiaries GLAAD and CenterLink from .gay domain name registration revenue, according to the .gay Impact Report released this week. The registry, Top Level Design, donates 20% of all .gay registration revenue to the LGBTQ organisations.

Continue reading “TLD, And More, Updates: .GAY Donates $148K; 2021 .EU Web Awards Gala, 17 Years of .PL IDNs; .LT Scammers; RightOfTheDot and NamesCon Live Auction; FTC Transition to IPv6 and Tobias Sattler on New gTLDs Second Round”

TLD Updates: .ZUERICH Sunrise, Singapore Launches Search For New Businesses plus Singapore National Day Promotion, TLDCON 2021 Registration Opens, LACTLD Turns 23 and NamesCon Delayed To September

The Sunrise period for the new gTLD for Switzerland’s largest city and canton by population, Zürich, commences on 30 August, and will run until 29 October.

Continue reading “TLD Updates: .ZUERICH Sunrise, Singapore Launches Search For New Businesses plus Singapore National Day Promotion, TLDCON 2021 Registration Opens, LACTLD Turns 23 and NamesCon Delayed To September”

NamesCon’s First Ever Digital Conference Becomes NamesCon Online

With NamesCon 360° now a virtual conference due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the organisers have renamed their first-ever all-digital conference NamesCon Online, and moving it onto namescon.online.

Continue reading “NamesCon’s First Ever Digital Conference Becomes NamesCon Online”

NamesCon 360° Goes Virtual Taking Event To The Domaining World

With the shutdown of conferences around the world, NamesCon has succumbed as well and is another that is going virtual. So now NamesCon is planning to host what they’re touting as what will be the largest-ever domain-industry conference, with content relevant to global and local markets: NamesCon 360°.

Continue reading “NamesCon 360° Goes Virtual Taking Event To The Domaining World”

NamesCon Crowdsourcing Session Submissions

NamesCon Global has grown over the years to become the largest annual domain-industry conference. It’s gone from being a domain investor-centric gathering to an event for everything domain-related, from channel providers and software vendors to domain investors and end-customers. And now as part of that growth they’ve moved to crowdsourcing for submissions for some of their sessions for this year’s theme: 360 Degrees Around the Dot.

The move from Las Vegas is also a reinvention of sorts: they’re going to Austin to establish the Domain Economic Forum, taking a broader and deeper look at the ecosystem in which we work and strive to innovate.

NamesCon is not looking for pitches of specific products or solutions but rather they want to see an industry overview, surfacing potential large-scale opportunities over the next decade. Successful submissions will round out the current programme.

NamesCon explain they’re looking for submissions in the following three clusters:

Quantifying the Domain Ecosystem

What is the true size of the domain industry? They explain that several parts of the ecosystem are not quantified—at least not yet. In particular we’re thinking of the secondary domain market: the opacity here is due to the fact that, for several reasons, most secondary-market transactions are not reported.

They’re seeking session ideas that will help a broader audience to understand the size and scope of the domain industry as a whole, and specifically in the secondary market—and the opportunities that lie within.

Big-Picture Market Opportunities

They want to dig more deeply into liquid domains as digital assets or a store of value, such as long-tail registrations for brand protection. They also want to explore the future of identity management, as well as next-generation DNS services as a driver for the domain industry: Right now, email and websites are based on domains, but what comes next?

The Buyer’s Perspective

NamesCon want as many buyers as possible at the Domain Economic Forum, and this means a diversity of needs and use cases. They’re looking for buyers from various backgrounds and industries to talk about the experience buying domains from investors; as well as how they approach brand protection. They want to learn more about real-life buying behaviour, budgeting, and other factors that make or break a deal.

To submit session ideas click here.

NamesCon 2020 Dates (Slightly) Change For A Day At The Beach

NamesCon Global logo

NamesCon Global have announced a slight change in the dates for their 2020 event to be held in Austin, Texas, for the first time, from 29 January to 1 February, a 3 day delay on the previously announced dates. And the reason for the change, in part, is partly because of a day at the beach.

“Our NamesCon Europe 2019 Beach Day was such a huge success that we knew we had to do a dedicated fun day in Austin,” said NamesCon CEO Soeren von Varchmin. “Since our program for that day can only be done on a weekend, we’ve had to shift the event dates to 29-February 1. So it starts a few days later than before.” (Also, they say they can’t mess with Super Bowl Sunday)

NamesCon will kick off on Wednesday the 29th with Beginner and Expert tracks as well as the opening reception. Then NamesConGlobal moves into two action-packed days of programming. These will include the exhibition hall and the famous live domain auction. It will wrap up with a day of fun and networking “out of the office”, so to speak.

“I can’t tell you yet what the fun day will be,” said Head of NamesCon Helga Neumer. “It’s still a surprise!”

“The date change also allows us to better realise our vision for NamesCon Global 2020, which we’re calling ‘The Domain Economic Forum’,” says von Varchmin. “NamesCon has evolved from an investor-focused event into the central event for everything domain-related. We’re happy to bring in domain name investors, registries, registrars, internet service providers, attorneys, brand managers, affiliate marketing companies, domain marketplaces, parking companies, financial service providers, and individual end-users. We’re looking beyond the right or left of the dot: now we’re taking you 360 degrees around the dot!”

“Our team has been going back and forth between Cologne and Austin to get things ready, even though the event is six months away,” said Neumer. “It’s a lot of flying, but it’s worth it!” The team has scored a new partnership with the Omni Hotel Austin Downtown: it’s described as a cool, chic spot with a rooftop pool. The special NamesCon rate is $200 less than the OMNI’s average price per night.

Since its founding in 2013, NamesCon’s flagship event has been held in Las Vegas.

Early-bird registrations are open until 31 July to save a few hundred bucks.

ICANN To Hold Domain Name Industry Stakeholder Training Before NamesCon in Portugal

On 19 June 2019, ICANN will hold a day-long training for Domain Name Industry Stakeholders at the SALÃO NOBRE D. MARIA II in Lisbon, Portugal. The training will take place the day before NamesCon Europe in Cascais, 20- 22 June.

This initiative is part of ICANN’s efforts to encourage effective engagement from its stakeholders, and invite newcomers to participate in ICANN. Speakers will include ICANN org members, as well as ICANN community experts.

The announcement includes the following:

Who should attend:
-DNS Industry professionals
-IP right holders
-Registrars, newly accredited by ICANN or interested in ICANN accreditation
-Staff at ICANN contracted parties, particularly those involved in ICANN’s compliance processes and policy work

How to register:
To register, please go to https://go.icann.org/DNI-Training-Lisbon
Attendance is free of charge.

Space is limited and attributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information or any queries, please email Gabriella Schittek at gabriella.schittek@icann.org.

AGENDA:

09.00– 09.30
Introduction to ICANN:
• Mission
• Role in the Internet Ecosystem Presentation:

Jean-Jacques Sahel, ICANN

09.30 – 10.30
ICANN’s Structure and Policy Making Processes

• The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)
• ICANN’s Policy Development Process (PDP)
• Relevant PDPs in Progress

Presentation:
Emily Barabas, ICANN
Jean-Jacques Sahel, ICANN

10.30 – 10.45 Coffee Break

10.45 – 11.15
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Temporary Specifications

Presentation:
Jean-Jacques Sahel, ICANN

11.15 – 12.30

The New Generic Top-Level Domain (new gTLD) Program:

• Subsequent Procedures’ Progress
• Rights Protection Mechanisms
• Dispute Resolution Procedures

Presentation:
Aysegul Tekce, ICANN

Panel:
Michaela Cruden, Afilias, Amadeu Abril i Abril, CORE
Hugo Barata, amen.pt

Moderator:
Gabriella Schittek, ICANN

12.30 – 13.15 Lunch Break

13.15 – 14.00 So, you were a Reseller – What now?

• How to become an ICANN accredited Registrar
• How to survive in the ICANN world as a newly accredited registrar

Presentation:
Aysegul Tekce, ICANN

Panel:
Michaela Cruden, Afilias
Kristian Ormen, Larsen Data

Moderator: Amadeu Abril i Abril COREhub

14.00 – 14.45
ICANN’s Contractual Compliance Approach and Processes

• Overall approach and processes
• Registrar-related compliance issues: What does it mean? How does it impact you?
• Abuse, domain renewal, transfer, data escrow and the Uniform Domain Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP)

Presentation: Zuhra Salijanova

14.45 – 15.00 Coffee Break

15.00 – 15.45
Operational Issues:
Best Practices: UDRP, Transfers, Domain Renewals, Abuse – What works and what doesn’t?

Panel:
Hugo Barrata, amen.pt
Amadeu Abril i Abril, COREhub

Moderator: Kristian Ormen, Larsen Data

15.45 – 16.00
Staying in Touch

Presentation:
Gabriella Schittek, ICANN
Kristian Ormen, Larsen Data Region: EuropeEvent Type: Domain Name IndustryRegional EventTrip Report: 

PDF icon

Revised- Agenda Domain Name Industry Stakeholder Training – new 11.06.v2.pdf

5 Six-Figure Domain Sales Top Weekly Chart Following NameJet/ROTD/NamesCon Auction

Domain Name Journal logo

For 2 weeks in a row the top domain name sale on the Domain Name Journal chart only reached $50,000. And then this week there were 5 six-figure sales! The sales were all part of the NameJet and partner RightOfTheDot.com (ROTD) who had a live event staged at the 2019 NamesCon Global conference in Las Vegas in late January.

The top seller was ol.com which sold for $900,000 followed by leads.com ($435,000), domainnames.com ($370,000), djs.com ($130,000) and stop.com ($110,000). There were even 3 more that beat the biggest sales for each of the past 2 weeks – boot.com and mywebsite.com (both selling for $70,000 through Sedo and the NameJet/ROTD/NamesCon Auction respectively while investingmoney.com sold for $55,000 through Sedo.

There were 11 sales through the NameJet/ROTD/NamesCon Auction in the top 20 reported sales for the week ending 10 March, another 2 through NameJet themselves and 6 through Sedo. In the top 20 there were 18 .com sales and one each for .net and .de.

To check out the Domain Name Journal chart of top reported sales for the week ending 10 March, see:
http://dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2019/20190320.htm

NamesCon Publishes Trend Report With Keynote Highlights

NamesCon took place and for those who couldn’t make it, or for those who were busy socialising, the organisers have compiled a Trend Report that captures “every actionable takeaway, tweetable phrase, and inspiring quote from the NamesCon keynote stage speakers.”

The report has about 20 pages of “valuable insights gleaned from the many leading voices” from keynote presentations by Pinky Brand, Haseeb Tariq (Fox), Bhavin Turakhia (Radix), Paul Nicks (GoDaddy), Kate Buckley (Buckley Media), Paul Mockapetris, Elliot Noss and Toby Hall, Rolf Larsen, Bhavin Turakhia, Richard Merdinger and Akram Atallah, Rolf Larsen (.GLOBAL) and Erin Mckean (Wordnik.com).

To download the report, see:

https://namescon.global/trendreport/

RightOfTheDot and NameJet Reveal Ultra-Premium Domain Names Up for Grabs at NamesCon Global 2019

RightOfTheDot and NameJet on Wednesday announced the release of the initial list of ultra-premium domain names up for pre-bidding before the live, in-person and online domain name auction at NamesCon Global 2019, the largest annual domain-industry conference.

The live domain auction takes place on January 28, 2019, from 4 pm – 7 pm PST at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pre-bidding and the extended auction will take place on the NameJet.com auction platform found at namejet.com/featuredauctions/liveauction.

The auction will feature some of the best domain names available, including “leads.com,” “give.com,” “drone.com,” “texasholdem.com,” “cellularphones.com,” “qo.com,” “prize.com,” bride.com,” “sucks.com,” “broker.com,” “domainnames.com,” “tablets.com” and many more, including several super-premium non-.com domains such as “mortgage.pro,” “chinese.restaurant,” ”boater.club” and “newyork.pizza.” There will be an estimated 400 names in the overall auction with an estimated 120 domains offered at the live auction.Last year’s auction resulted in the highest sale in NameJet’s history with “super.com” selling for a record-breaking $1.2 million, which has since been used to create a $50 million venture-capital fund for the video-game industry. Other notable sales from that auction include “great.com” for $900,000, “runner.com,” “fakenews.com” and “tees.com.”

“RightOfTheDot and NameJet have generated millions in revenue for our clients and sold domain names never before available to a wide array of established companies, start-ups and individuals,” said Monte Cahn, RightOfTheDot’s president and director. “Continuing to raise the overall value for the domain industry is our joint mission, and we look to further that effort with this year’s list of fantastic domain names.”

“We are thrilled to once again partner with RightOfTheDot to support the live domain auction at NamesCon,” said Jonathan Tenenbaum, general manager of NameJet.

Many of the premium domains will be priced at no and low reserves to promote competitive bidding and true market prices. Additional domain names will be considered for inclusion by submitting names at rotd.com/auction-submission/. Only ultra-premium names will be considered.  

A NameJet account is required to participate in the online and live auctions. Bids for domains may be placed now on the NameJet website. Accepted names will be added continually to pre-bidding before the start of NamesCon so participants should check the auction page often for new additions and bidding activity. Following the live auction, the online auction will continue on the NameJet website for an additional 16 days, closing on February 13.