Facebook announced Facebook Home, which turns any Android smartphone into a Facebook phone. According to Mashable, Mark Zuckerberg said that “You’re going to be able to turn your Android phone into a great social device”. [Read more…]
Cherokee Letter Domain Names for Sale – Owner Recommends Their Use in AdWords Campaigns
This has to be what I would personally call the most bizarre domain name sales pitch I have ever seen. The owner of a bunch of Cherokee Letter domain names is recommending that you buy his domain names–and use them in a Google AdWords campaign to commit what I would call outright fraud and deception. [Read more…]
Name.com Caught Hijacking Non-Existent Subdomains
Name.com has been caught hijacking non-existent subdomains in an effort to send the traffic to domain parking pages–where they make money from the clicks. [Read more…]
Domain Name Uniform Rapid Suspension System URS: National Arbitration Forum First ICANN Provider
If you haven’t heard, there is a new domain name system in place to quickly takedown or suspend domain names that clearly infringe trademark rights. This new domain name suspension system, called the “Uniform Rapid Suspension System“, or simply URS, is very similar to the Uniform Domain Dispute Policy, commonly referred to as the UDRP. The National Arbitration Forum is the first officially ICANN-approved provider of the URS. [Read more…]
Premium Domain Name in Pending Delete Status Gets Renewed Due to Court Order
UPDATED Jan 14, 2013
Someone made a mistake recently and did not renew a high-end, premium domain name, Publication.com. But instead of Publication.com going through the normal domain name drop process, at the 11th hour, the domain name did not become available as it should have–and was suddenly renewed. This should not have happened, according to the domain name drop process. Domain names that are in Pending Delete status cannot be renewed by their former owner–it must become available to the public. [Read more…]
Blake Irving Appointed CEO of Godaddy
Godaddy has appointed Blake Irving as the new Chief Executive Officer of the company. Blake Irving is a long time Microsoft executive and Chief Product Officer of Yahoo!, and will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective January 7, 2013. [Read more…]
Intellectual Property Domain Name Scam Changes to Brand Registration Scam
A well-known intellectual property protection domain name scam that has been going on for at least 10 years has taken a new twist–the scammers are now calling this a “brand registration” rather than “intellectual property”. In any case, though, the scam is the same, really: [Read more…]
Does Twitter and Facebook Endorse and Encourage Reverse Social Media Hijacking?
Photo courtesy Todd Anythony Direct.
Twitter and Facebook, as well as many other social media networks such as Pinterest, both encourage and endorse reverse social media hijacking. The current trademark policies of these social media networks allow (and encourage) trademark holders to take over social media IDs, whether that ID was originally register in bad faith or not. What is disturbing to me is that the current policies of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media networks are the complete reverse of the established domain name policies of ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) that address Reverse Domain Name Hijacking. [Read more…]
DarthVader.com Given by Tucows to Rightful Owner, LucasFilm
LucasFilm brought us Darth Vader in 1977. Now, Darth Vader (as in the domain name DarthVader.com) is now owned by its rightful owner, LucasFilm. Tucows Domain Portfolio Vice President Bill Sweetman commandeered the domain name when it was not renewed by its current owner–and promptly arranged for the domain name to be given to LucasFilm. [Read more…]
Reverse Domain Name Hijacking: Why UDRP Reform is Needed
Reverse Domain Name Hijacking is “a disgusting practice…”, according to Rick Schwartz (aka the Domain King), and co-founder of T.R.A.F.F.I.C.. “I always think about the mom and pop with one domain and their entire lives wrapped up in it. Along comes a bully and they are out of business. Robbing these folks of their dreams and livelihoods. It’s sickening when you look at it like that. That’s what really lights my fuse. I can handle a loss, they can’t. That’s why laws need to be written. Not to protect domainers, but to protect the masses.” Mr. Schwartz is not alone. According to my research, many in the domain name industry, as well as those outside the industry, feel the same way about Reverse Domain Name Hijacking. [Read more…]