IMPORTANT!

There is currently a phishing scam going around where people are trying to steal your domain names from you by sending you the email below.

Dear Network Solutions Customer,

We recently notified you that the registration period for your Network Solutions domain name had expired. As a benefit of having previously registered a domain name(s) with Network Solutions, you are eligible to receive a percentage of the net proceeds that were generated from the renewal and transfer of the domain name you chose not to renew. Since you have chosen not to renew the domain name listed below during the applicable grace period, we were successful in securing a backorder for this domain name on your behalf and it has been transferred to another party in accordance with the Service Agreement.

Renew your domain now – http://www.networksolutions.com

You must click on the following link, enter your domain name, and confirm your contact information in order to claim these funds. If your contact information is not correct, you must enter Account Manager and make the appropriate changes prior to clicking “submit” from the confirmation screen. If you do not do this, you will be confirming inaccurate information and will not receive any payment. Checks will only be made payable and mailed to the Account Holder of record.

Sincerely,

Network Solutions® Customer Support

Be careful and always be skeptical of this type of information. You can tell it is fake by looking at the true domain name on the link (http://www.networksolutions.com.sys42.mobi/). Remember the true domain is the last word before the final extension. In this case the domain is sys42.mobi and not networksolutions.com.

Careful everyone!

Yahoo, in its efforts to find ways to make less and less money has notified Parked.com that it will be enforcing its rules on traffic arbitrage. Here is Yahoo’s statement.

“All other types of traffic including bought traffic, traffic driven by PPC campaigns, traffic directed from hyperlinks are not permitted. If your traffic originates from any sources other than type-in and search engine traffic, you will not be entitled to payment as per this Agreement. Regular checks are carried out and we reserve the right to suspend any domain from our Service at any time, on our sole discretion, if we reasonably believe that you have violated this Agreement; for example, if we suspect that the traffic on your domain is bought, generated or redirected in any way that contravenes these terms and conditions.”

And so the shoe drops!

I am not sure how many of you were watching the auction of BrainTumors.com yesterday on NameJet, but I was one of them.  The last time I saw it there was three minutes left to go and the name was at $13,100.  I thought I would mention it on this site so the sale would not go unnoticed.

Congrats to the new owner!

By the way, BrainTumors.com was mentioned in the Premium Domains post on 1/6/2008.

Network Solutions and their unfortunate act of front running has become major news.  It is not a story that is only running around the domaining community.  It has now been picked up by the AP and the story has become a top story on Yahoo News.

If you haven’t heard this story yet, then you owe it to yourself to check it out.  You may also want to check Jay’s article for a little more insight.

Here is an email I got this morning from Pool regarding the sunrise period for the new .asia registrations.  Most of you have probably gotten similar letters, but I thought I would share it just in case.

Dear Jason Barrett,

Based on community feedback, DotAsia has extended the Sunrise period for Sunrise 2b (General Marks), Sunrise 2c (Extended Protection) and Sunrise 3 (Registered Entity Names) to January 31, 2008.

This gives you extra time to protect your brand names in .ASIA before the Landrush begins on February 20, 2008. Reach out to millions of online users in the Asia-Pacific with an internet address designed for this unique and growing region. Now is the time to submit your .ASIA domain application while you can still claim your prior right.

Apply for a domain name at a .ASIA accredited registrar today!

As the exclusive auction partner for DotAsia, Pool.com will provide our trusted technical and customer support along with a full-featured auction platform for the efficient operation of a transparent mass domain online bidding process.

More information:
Visit www.dotasia.pool.com to keep up-to-date on Pool.com and .ASIA’s exciting developments. Visit http://www.registry.asia/pressreleases/DotAsia-PR-pressrelease2007-12-21_EN.pdf to view the latest press release from DotAsia.org.

.ASIA is where all the action is – get your foot in the door to the Asian-Pacific marketplace today.

Best regards,

The DotAsia.Pool.com Team
www.DotAsia.Pool.com

I received an email today from Pool.com concerning the release schedule for .asia domain names.  I share it with you below.

.ASIA Schedule

November 13, 2007 to January 15, 2008
Registered marks (general)
Registered marks (extended protection)
Registered entity names February 20, 2008 to March 12, 2008
Landrush

I am sure most of you are aware of this already, but some of you may have missed it.  GoDaddy has raised the price of their domain names to $9.99 for a one-year registration.  This is still a lot less that what I paid for my first domain, so I’m not complaining.  For those of you who like discounts, do a search for “GoDaddy promo code” and you will find several options for getting those domains from GoDaddy for a lower price.  Happy domaining!

As of today (10/21/2007), cowboys.com is still not inhabited by the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.  The Cowboys purchased the domain during October’s Moniker TRAFFIC auction, but they have yet to move in.  We’re waiting Cowboys.

VeriSign’s price increase is being passed on to domain registration clients as of today (October 15, 2007).  Check with your registrar to get an updated list of prices because those new costs are yours now pal.

Frank Schilling has reported that he picked up crosswordpuzzles.com at Moniker’s TRAFFIC auction this past week for $210,000.  Congrats Frank!  I like that name.  So are you going to change the existing site or is this a buy and hold?  Of course this last question actually assumes you read this blog.  I won’t be upset if you don’t.  It’s brand new, so it may take a while to be found.