Here's the The Lowdown
from DN Journal,
updated daily
to
fill you in on the latest buzz going around the domain name industry.
The Lowdown is
compiled by DN Journal Editor & Publisher Ron
Jackson.
Weekend
News Round Up: T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Vancouver Update - Photos from T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Milan -
Registration for DOMAINfest Europe Opens - Nelson Brady
Responds to $33 Million Lawsuit - E.co is Going Up for Bid
What
is shaping up to bethe biggest T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference of the year to date gets
underway a week from Tuesday (June 8)
at the Renaissance Vancouver
Harbourside Hotel in Vancouver,
British Columbia. Canada's
first ever T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference
will run through Thursday, June 10.
Conference organizers (led by Rick
Latona) have updated the show's
website with new details on the daily
conference agenda.
I
will be one of the panelists (along with
Neustar's Ken Hansen and WebNames'
Steve Smith) for T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Vancouver's first seminar on June 8th
starting at 11:15am. The session is
titled ccTLDs Are Taking Over the
World - Is North America Immune?and much of the discussion will
center on the prospects for America's
.US extension and Canada's .CA
TLD.
One
of the day two highlights in
Wednesday, June 9 will be
a 1pm Fireside Chat with John
Demco, the man who conceived
the .CA country code domain in
1987 and served as the
.CA
pioneer John Demco with T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference moderator Rick
Silver (right).
extension's
initial Registrar. Demco chaired
the .CA Domain Committee
until 2000, participated on the Canadian
Domain Name Consultative
Committee (which made
recommendations concerning the
structure and organization of
.CA) and helped establish the Canadian
Internet Registration Authority
(CIRA) where he continues to
serve on the Board of
Directors.
John
is often referred to as the
"Godfather" of .CA and
in 1997 he was recognized by
Canada's Prime Minister as a
founder and builder of the
Canadian Internet.
Day
two will conclude with a .CA only live domain
auction from 4:00-6:00pm. The big
all-extension main auction will provide
the show's grand finale the next day (June 10)
with that live auction slated to run from
3:45-6:45pm local time.
Speaking
of T.R.A.F.F.I.C., I had a previous commitment
to speak at and cover the 2010
GeoDomain Expo in New Orleans
at the same time the last T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference
was running in Milan, Italy in late April. Conference moderator Rick
Silver's lovely wife Debbie took
plenty of photos though and those have now been posted
online here. Rick also sent me the
shot below from the Latonas.com auction
in Milan that generated over half a million
dollars in sales.
Scene
from the Latonas.com live domain auction at
T.RA.F.F.I.C. Milan in April 2010.
In
another conference note, Oversee.net'sDomainSponsor
unit has announced
the agenda and opened registration
for their DOMAINfest Europe
conference coming up in Prague, Czech
Republic October 6-7, 2010. You can
save a lot of money if you register
before July 1. A $395
early bird rate is available until then.
If you wait until October it will cost
you $695.
The
opening day will include a series of educational
seminars, power networking sessions and
a live domain auction while day two will
be dedicated to the
registrant's
choice of several unique excursions
around Prague.
Those are designed to help attendees
build meaningful personal relationships
by sharing one-of-a-kind experiences in
the historic host city.
Oversee.net
Senior Vice President Peter
Celeste said, "From start to
finish, our goal is to create an
atmosphere and experience that fits with
our DOMAINfest Europe theme: Building
Bridges. Building Success. And
for the first time ever, we will offer free
on-site interpreters in select
languages to help the largest groups of
non-English speaking guests get the most
out of their DOMAINfest
experience."
Nelson
Brady AKA "Hank
Alvarez"
In
another piece of important
Oversee related news this week, Nelson
Brady, a former VP of
Oversee's SnapNames.com
auction unit, admitted to shill
bidding activity while he
worked for the company. When
Brady was caught he lost his job
and is now facing a $33
million lawsuit
filed against him by
Oversee.
As Domain
Name Wire reported
Wednesday, Brady's response to
the Oversee lawsuit cited a
desire to raise money for future
health care needs as the primary
motivation for opening an
account under a pseudonym
("Hank Alvarez"), an
account he used to acquire names
for himself as well as to
increase the amount other
bidders paid for his company's
names.
Excerpts
from his response said, "Brady
mistakenly and wrongly believed
that increasing other bidders’
bids would help a small number
of SnapNames and Oversee
employees other
than
Brady retain their jobs by
creating better financial health
for the companies....Brady’s
mother suffered from a genetic
neuromuscular disorder and died
at age 56 wheelchair
bound...Brady has the same
symptoms as his mother....All
these symptoms have gradually
worsened as Brady ages (he is
currently 54).... Brady’s use
of the Hank Alvarez account to
purchase domain names and
accumulate savings for long term
health care was driven by his
intense fear that at some future
undetermined time he will become
incapacitated like his
mother." You can read
Brady's complete
response here.
Wrapping
up our weekend news
roundup, Sedoannounced
they will support the
introduction of the .CO
TLD by powering acharity
auction for
an extremely attractive
domain name - E.CO.
The auction will run
from June 7 at 12
pm EDT to June 10
at 4 pm EDT and will be
hosted by the .CO
registry, .CO
Internet S.A.S.,
at Internet
Week, a
festival in New York
City celebrating all
things Internet.
The
last hour of bidding –
June 10 from 3-4
pm EDT - will be
conducted live
from Internet Week’s
broadcast stage and
simulcast at both the Internet
Retailer
conference in Chicago
and the
T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conference in
Vancouver, allowing
show attendees at all
three events and online
participants from around
the world to be a part
of the action. In an
especially nice twist, all
proceeds will go to the
charity of the buyer’s
choice.
Juan
Diego Calle, CEO of .CO
Internet S.A.S.,
said “Since the dawn
of the Internet, the
letter “e”
has come to signify all
things electronic –
from email and
e-commerce to online
exploration, education
and entertainment –
and everything in
between. When paired
with the .CO domain, the
letter “e” takes on
an even greater
significance –
offering buyers
“perhaps the shortest,
most memorable digital
brand in the world – a
domain name with endless
possibilities.”
We need your help to keep giving
domainers The
Lowdown, so please email [email protected]with any interesting information you might have. If possible,
include the source of your information so we can check it out (for
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