Back in April, Chinese mobile device maker Xiaomi purchased Mi.com for $3.6 million, some reporters noted that the MI made perfect sense for the company as Mi can work as an acronym for Mobile Internet. Since that acquisition it seems that brand protection specialist Mark Monitor has been out scooping up Mi domains in other country codes. Mi.co.uk was reported sold on DN Journal for $14,000. … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2014
Bitcoin as a Legal Currency in Currency Bill is Off to Governor Brown for Signing
The bill looking to make Bitcoin a legal currency in California is now going to the Governor Mike Shedlock and investment adviser with Sitka Pacific Capital Management, covered the bill on his blog. From the article: California Bill AB-129 Lawful Money passed the California Senate on June 19, and the Assembly on June 23. The bill now awaits signing by Governor Jerry Brown. Existing … [Read more...]
Verisign Downgraded By Wells Fargo: Growth Is Slowing Due To New gTLD’s & Could Get Worse
TheStreet.com is reporting that Wells Fargo analyst Gray Powell downgraded Verisign (VRSN) today writing: VeriSign's domain name growth appears to be falling a bit lower than the midpoint of second quarter expectations and competition from new gTLDs could be influencing overall growth to some degree. "The company is tracking toward about 400K domain name additions in the upcoming quarter, … [Read more...]
Say Hello To The 1st 158 .NYC Domains: HappyBirthday.NYC, Honeymoon.NYC Startrek.NYC
The Sunrise period for trademark/brand holders closed on June 20 for the .NYC new gTLD, the extension for the city of New York. The latest zone files indicate that brands and trademark holders participated very lightly in the Sunrise period, where I count less than 160 domain name registrations (of course all of the Sunrise maybe in). However since New York is largely regarded to be the … [Read more...]
As ICANN Meeting Ends “China Launches Campaign To Control The Internet”
Talk about a disturbing headline Chinatopix.com just published a post entitled "China Launches Campaign To Control The Internet" According to the story, China's communist government intends to impose on the Internet the same "guiding principles" it currently uses to stifle online dissent within China." The decision of the U.S. to relinquish its oversight of ICANN, is seen by China as an … [Read more...]
IPOFinancial: “No Way Godaddy’s IPO Can Move Forward As Is With Google Entering The Market”
I chatted with David Menlow, who is the founder IPOfinancial.com yesterday about Godaddy's planned IPO and Google's announcement this week that they were entering the domain name registrar business "I don't see how GoDaddy's IPO could "move forward." "If it does, the valuations of this deal has to be radically" "Whatever valuation models were being thrown around had to be completely … [Read more...]
MyRedbook.com Seized By Feds & Owners Arrested
According to Sfgate.com, two San Fransisco based websites MyRedbook.com and sfredbook.com were seized by the federal government yesterday. The alleged operators of the sites, Eric Omuro, and Annmarie Lanoce, were arrested Wednesday. "Omuro was charged with 24 counts of money laundering in connection with alleged transfers of the website's revenue into bank accounts. "Federal authorities … [Read more...]