Bill Clinton Addresses ICANN March 2011

Remember back in the day when the Internet was in full swing and no TLD seemed out of bounds? This year’s March ICANN meeting in Silicon Valley/San Francisco gives domainers a sprinkling of that same flavor when Former United States President William Jefferson Clinton gives the keynote address for the domain namers gathered there.  Clinton formed ICANN back in 1998, when the World Wide Web needed strong controls, formal structure, and organized oversight. Domaining partners sponsoring the upcoming  event will shoulder the fee, which will not be insubstantial. Predictions of  the opening line of the address go something like, “Ask not what your domain can do for you, but what can you do for your domain”. The deep pockets of the players and the global reach of the talent has raised eyebrows, making one domainer comment, “Bob Parsons could probably get the Queen”.

Internet ID Bill Looms In USA

The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace is currently underway, paving further inroads against privacy and online security. The age old question is rearing its ugly head online. Who will watch the watchers? The bill, now being  being drafted by the cyber-division of the Obama administration and will be released by President  Obama in a few months. Obama’s falling domestic approval has been motivating his administration toward bold action wherever possible, and the “1984″ themed ideas about RFID tags to open our email may be coming true.

How does this touch on domainers? Users will have to think twice before visiting a site they may not want to be tracked and recognized by. And what about the huge population of immigrant Americans with no citizenship, will their web use be the hidden tumbleweed sweeping across the information superhighway? How this will affect online end user traffic is unclear. But if the U. S. government can’t control the type of secure documentation that Wikileaks now publishes online, should they be running any bureau of identity and security for Web use?

An Internet ID means that possibly bandwidth will be stalled unless you punch in the right number?  Domainers may want to call their local ICANN representative concerning their feelings about the online privacy, which at the current time is not governable by law or security, as Wikileaks and Namepros-type  privacy history-broaching activity. The methodology behind this kind of government effort is far from proven, and it should be before the law is enacted.

Twitter, Wikileaks Data named in U. S. Court Orders

Talk about the cat that ate the canary. Remember when Twitter  was just a funny sound birds made? Wikileaks, the Australian website now synonymous with expose information on the scale of the infamous Pentagon papers, is in the news again. Wikileaks, Wix, for short, is surely the domain hybrid of the decade, marrying the Wikipedia lexicon of data integrity to a brand of Internet age journalism. Wikileaks is now the target of a privacy demolishing attempt by the United States Government to acquire Twitter data in the form of messages form and to its principal news sources.

But if Wikileaks is Australian and America is another nation, how can Uncle Sam breach privacy with such a long sword? The Wix (Wikileaks) site now says the U.S. wants private messages, contact information and personal details of founder Julian Assange, Pfc. Bradley Manning and others. Wix also claims that Uncle Sam ordered Twitter not to disclose its court order action to Assange or any of the others under investigation. Remember when Twitter was just a funny sound birds made? Now it’s the faith and hope of new media freedom, like Iceland.

Twitter, one of many social network and media messaging sites that utilize wireless high speed technology for communications between individuals with private accounts, affirmed its practice of disclosing investigation and interest of government into their account . Webmasters and domainers everywhere are watching the Internet privacy of history sniffing, data trading, and marketing programming for abuses against individuals without their knowledge.  While such actions are draped in the mantle of august justice, they actually wear the mantle of an embarrassed administration as well.

The Twix scandal (Twitter plus Wikileaks) and legal machinations trying to oust Wikileaks sources will be closely watched by all citizens interested in preserving and protecting their rights to privacy. Birjitta Jonsdottir, an Icelandic citizen, got news of her subpoena Friday. The Virginia court that landed its order in San Francisco based Twitter has no known link to the newly dead Pentagon official John Wheeler, killed by a homicide this week. Found in a Delaware landfill, the former Pentagon official (and West Point alumni) is still a mystery.

Wheeler, 66, had been working on promoting discussions about cyber-defense among governments, industry and academia, according to a company statement. A veteran of the Reagan, Bush and Dubya administrations. Wheeler is characterized by media statements as outspoken and a true patriot”.He even started a discussion forum online which had a host of curiously posthumous entries, as late as December 28th (2010).  Wheeler’s 225 pound body was found December 21st, 2010. Wheeler’s phone, which he was known to post on his site from, has been found. (Authorities may want to check his Twitter account).

Travel Domains May Spike on AA Flight from Expedia

American Airlines may fly the friendly skies, but their e-commerce department is throwing the strangest PR campaign ever known to man. Evidently the ongoing feud between American Airline, a premier carrier of international routes that dominates many region of domestic travel within the United States, and Expedia, the flashy Internet era travel website,  have gone to war. Furthermore, Expedia rival travel website Orbitz also got the boot from American Airlines two weeks ago. Both splits involved contract negotiation failure for timely re-ups.

Where does that place club and bonus members with loyalty participation expectations? Consumers may get caught in the crossfire. In an era when airline representatives refer phone call-in traffic to the website to make programmed flight changes or purchases, consumers need access to usable online airline portals. The good news for domainers is that newbie travel or airfare domains might get a spike of search engine traffic from frustrated consumers looking for that American Airlines fare and schedule data.

Domain webmasters and programmers who can utilize host data from American and dispense their schedules and fares could enjoy a dramatic pike as consumers flail wildly online using Google and other search engines t mine flight information.  Travel pricing is also a main online search factor for travel departments and travel bureaus. Orbitz and Expedia losing this search traffic mean that its anybody’s to grab in the online travel site domain market.

Content Not In “Demand”?

For those domainers and webmasters out there trying to compile web sites out of standard and premium content, the bar has been lowered (ahem) by certain members of the online industry who mimic the very worst journalism standards while trying to ram news “junk” and near-spam content down the throats of innocent online surfers looking for answers. Demand Media is one of those huge corporations that independent writers look at and wonder what they did wrong working so hard to write decent material. A recent mainstream journalism article examined how this looks form the Wall Street view looking at an IPO offer.

Bragging about page views is the measurement and bragging rights currency of any domainer, but many a webmaster has scratched their head trying to figure out how to make money out of dirge content. The Fortune article unpacks just how irritating cr*p content can be and why legitimate webmasters throw in the towel chasing an insane business model. The convergence between what traffic stats show and what people actually want to read and make use of online in the end may actually prove the winner in the end. Demand lost a stunning $22 million in 2009 and $6 million in part of 2010. They may be making money, but that feeling of a bubble about to burst as the bean counters pore over the spreadsheets is the gist of this piece.

Skimming the Pool for December 31st

Usher in the new year with the latest in Pool list skims. The Pool auctions for the first day in 2011 features some intriguing and mouth watering domain investment opportunities. How about a bridge or gaming name like QueenClub.com?  Buywebcam.com could be both a wares and a directory site.  The domain name sexdirectory.info certainly speaks for itself. Easybuydirect.com is a great link master site or Amazon superportal, or even a parked page with spectacular traffic potential.  For those domainers out there shopping for web hosting, (and what domainer isn’t always shopping for web hosting?) there is a awesome link name like the keyword-rich RegisterHostingcom.

Domain Niche Markets in 2011

Big Domain Opportunities in 2011: The domain markets have shifted and slanted but reformed into the same structure they started 2010 with. But domain growth and site development will happen apace, especially in markets where organic domains can be exploited for end user traffic in organic wares, organic consumer product ideas, organic and environmentally friendly lifestyle coaching and tutorials. Niches like insurance (child insurance) financial products( reverse mortgages), and technology devices (Androids, Ivos, Windows 7, etc. continue to offer domain revenue potential.

The pivotal monster domain and website market for 2011 is gaming. Recreational gaming has become bigger better broader and better implemented worldwide. Universals of multigame, multiplayer, multiuser, online destinations attract more users every day. Veteran users exit one game and look for the next game title. Traffic from these end users come from a player looking for a strategic screenshot or playthrough. Any site with a bot, (skill advancing program), hints for gaming playthrough, game reviews, physics tips, scoring cheats, leveling tips & codes, and storyline summaries will find search engine results.

Registrars Not Spammer Responsible

Ah, those Californians.  Plaintiff Daniel L Balsam had won a $1.125 million default judgment against a spammer after receiving over 1,000 pieces of pornographic spam. But now a California appeals court has ruled against that verdict. Balsam, unable to recover the money,  found that the spammer had hidden his identity behind Tucows’ Whois privacy. Balsam then sued the registrar for the cash instead.

Balsam did his homework and argued that he was a 3rd party beneficiary according to the ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement. Tucows and all  registrars must operate according to these terms. has the door been opened for spammers everywhere providing they purchase domains with Privacy options and conduct business until found out?

Judge Margaret McKeown of the ninth circuit Court of Appeals opined that while Tucows the “registrar” is bound by the RAA, Tucows the “registrant” is not. In English: Even under the Privacy service, Balsam (and others) cannot expect registrars to be liable for their clients’ spamming. Tucows (naturally) was not pleased and suggested that ICANN become involved, since their  interpretation of the RAA could lead to “frivolous and vexatious lawsuits”.

Zuckerberg Very Timely

Time Magazine that once-august publication looked up to by so many has now branded Mark Zuckerberg, the entrepreneur behind Facebook, as the King of the Internet hill. Time usually picks people who settle peace treaties or get Nobel prizes. But this time around the global universality of Facebook could not be defriended. The Time Magazine Person of the Year cements Zuckerberg’s omnipresence with Martha Stewart level media saturation.

The movie bearing the name of the Facebook claim to fame (The Social Network) came out this year and made headlines with box office sales. With Zynga’s Facebook game Cityville scoring 45 million active users in its first week, the add-in and Facebook functionality value to any domain or website cannot be overestimated. The more mobile Facebook gets, the more mobile end users will get. Domain development should follow suit.

The Social Network : Is it a good movie, or do audiences like it because it chronicles an era and media phenomenon somewhat more accessible in daily life than the SALT II treaty?The movie crossover can’t help but be hyped by the clicks to billions that Zuckerberg helped make happen.

The Social Network has garnered extremely distinguished acting and producing honors from the film industry’s top awards nominations, and it could be the “Like” of the Oscar ceremonies as well. Six Golden Globe nominations and SAG nominations mean serous cred for a “movie about a website”. For a site that rebuilt the way people communicate and relate daily online, Zuckerberg isn’t doing too shabby.

Decide.com, other 6 figure sales

The domain market is not fading away through the end of 2010, and Nostradamus would have been stunned at some of these prices.Decide.com fetched $175K, and Afternic was the middleman. But Sedo sold a two character domain name, KF.com, for for over $123K. These are some big prices and flowing dollars for an industry that seemed sore and broken a few years ago.

Also in domain sales news was Bubbleshooter.com, a surefire happy sale at $30K.  The medical name cureautism.com brought $10K. The domain name peddle.com also fetched $30K, not bad for pedlars. And human resources names seem to be rallying, with sales for names such as pronetwork.com for $15,800.00 and staffsource.com for $13,000.00.

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