Archive: March, 2010

The internet is about to go through some radical change, and I wonder if anyone is prepared for what is about to happen?

The good old days of enforceable phishing, domain tasting and cybersquatting may be at an end.

We are entering a time where enforcement is going to have to be vigilant across a host of new extensions such as .xxx, .nike, and perhaps something more fitting such as .lawsuits for example.

New enforcement will need to be be applied across a host of legal jurisdictions, where domain names could have the effect of being appreciated and depreciated as is physical property; a situation where property law and intellectual property could collide head on and where domains could possibly be repossessed for debt?

Could we see a $9.00 domain name appreciate in value to point where it is attached to a company’s assets and when said company goes bankrupt or deep into debt, the appreciated domain name is then repossessed for payment?

Imagine what would happen in the cases of a financial misstep by Dell or Google, and they lose their .com?

In any case, the real likelihood now exists that going forward the United States will have no ability to interviene on any one’s behalf.

The .com domain is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

With much fanfare Verisign is having a celebration to honor the most popular domain extension to date and the industry that it spawned; Bill Clinton, MoRocca and Arianna Huffington are slated to speak at the Verisign event honoring the 3 letters that pay many of our salaries.

Some industries, such as the telephone, have seen a reduction not just from cell phones, but because more people now communicate via online mediums rather than picking up a land-line phone.

This has not stopped the phone industry from purchasing domain names and websites however. We could possibly even see phone company extensions in the future such as .bell or .sprint?

Along these lines, other domains that seek to get their own domains in the industry have made the news lately.

Canon for example announced its intention to register “.canon” when ICANN gives its final approval to allow virtually unlimited tlds.

The argument could be made either way about whether this change will simplify or complicate online enforcement.

Consider for example the .xxx domain and the possible ramifications of allowing that extension to exist?

Social media has been a function of college since the birth of social media.

Facebook itself started life as a college only application and many of the other now famous social media sites were dreamt of or “beta tested” during the respective developer’s college careers.

While not necessarily a social media site, Napster started life and gained popularity through college sites.

The access to sheer numbers facilitated the growth of that massive online community. More people created more choices which attracted more people and so the cycle begins and grows. This was bittersweet for Napster in the fact that as the numbers grew so did the usefulness of Napster but the new size attracted new attention of those who wanted to shut it down.

Now it appears, the same cliche’ “Double edged sword” that bit the Universities during the heyday of the the Napster vs. RIAA lawsuits is going to bite these Universities again with social media.  A sad fact of life is that where there are a collection of people, there is also a collection of complaints.

A recent study of corporate domain purchasing determined, based upon the empirical data collected, that across the board the days of massive defensive registrations are over, or at the very least in a steep decline.

To many of us in this industry, especially in the ORM field, this is not really news, but validation of what we already know; companies are focusing on making the best use of the intellectual property they already own, especially in a down economy.

The change in strategy has become one of defensively changing search engine results not defensive registrations; basically, trading a shotgun for a scalpel.

Does that mean that everything short of a .com should be forgotten?  That would be un-advisable.

What really is being said by “reading the tea leaves” is that many companies believe that now is the time to act smarter, and explore whatever that strategy entails from their perspective.  This is the time to subtly protect the client from themselves.

Most are turning away from turning corporate budgets over to a service provider and taking whatever advice it gives on blind faith in favor of Corporate legal taking a more active role than ever before.