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…]

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…]

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 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…]