Is it wise to run a web service using a questionable country code domain?
I’ve warned about the dangers of country code top level domains. Rogers Cadenhead made some interesting observations about Bit.ly, a URL shortening service that just scored $2M in funding.
You see, .ly is the country code for Libya, which has a not-so-great history with the United States. He also points out some of the rules attached to country code domains. I’ve written before about .AE for United Arab Emirates that restricts uses within Muslim law. There’s no poker.ae, for example. The same thing goes for .ly. This presents a problem since the Bit.ly service let’s you forward to just about any web site with any topic. Technically the content isn’t hosted on a .ly domain, but the danger is there that Libya would lay the hammer on this.
A look behind the scenes at the Domain Madness auction.
It’s Domain Madness time! Domain Consultant’s Domain Madness auction kicks off today at 2:15 CDT (12:15 PDT) with 48 domain names going under the hammer. To make things more interesting, someone will walk home with $1,000 for correctly picking the domain names that sell. Follow me on twitter @domainnamewire
Although most bidding action will come online, a number of domainers are gathering at the live auction at The Palms in Las Vegas. The event is being held in the Kingpin Suite, a massive pad on the 25th floor of The Palms’ Fantasy tower. Check out the video below:
A classic abuse of UDRP.
Every once in a while you come across a classic example of abuse of UDRP domain name arbitration. That’s the case with a recent decision for Scalar.com.
The perpetrator was Scalar Decisions Inc, a fast growing technology company in Canada, represented by Peter M. Dillon of Siskinds LLP. The victim was Scalar Consulting Group.
Here’s what happened in a nutshell:
Strategy aims to take on mainland search leader Baidu.com
One of the biggest hard drive makers in the world has decided to jump into the SSD market with a strategic purchase.
