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The
good news for 2007 is that things are about
to change. Recognizing that the time has
come to put up a fight or lose the
millions of dollars and man hours they have
invested in the Internet, some of the best-known
domain owners and companies have banded together
to start a new non-profit organization
called the Internet
Commerce Association. |
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| With
initial funding from companies like iREIT,
Name Administration, Oversee.net
(the owners of DomainSponsor.com), Sedo
and Straat Investments among others
and your support in 2007, the ICA will have the
wherewithal to finally give domain registrants
and Internet entrepreneurs a voice in their own
futures.
The ICA
has already hired a veteran legal counsel and
lobbyist, Phil Corwin, who is based in Washington,
D.C. where he is in a position to make
things happen. The entities that want to take
away what you have earned over the past decade
or more already have their own lobbyists and top
notch attorneys. Now domain owners will have a
chance to defend themselves with similar
firepower. |
ICA
Legal Counsel Phil Corwin
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Jude
Augusta
Executive Director
Internet Commerce Association
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The
ICA took another major step forward
this week when they hired a full-time Executive
Director, well-respected domain industry
veteran Jude Augusta. Augusta has been
serving as the Director of Partner Development
at Sedo.com and will be transitioning
between that role and his new position over the
next month.
Augusta
also serves as an adjunct professor at Merrimack,
Nichols and Endicott Colleges in New
England where he teaches Business Law, E-Commerce,
Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Sales,
Economics and general business classes. The former
Senior Manager of Corporate Development at Lycos.com
has a BA from Salem State College, an MBA
from Nichols College and a Juris Doctorate
degree from the Seton Hall University School of
Law. Augusta has also been a member of the Massachusetts
Bar Association since 1997. |
Now
that the Executive Director's position has been filled,
the ICA will begin formulating plans to roll out general
membership opportunities for all interested domain owners.
We'll let you know the details about this as soon as they
are released in the weeks ahead.
As
you can see, in recruiting people of this caliber, the
ICA's Board of Directors is serious about bringing
together the best and brightest people in the industry to
give domain registrants an organization that will protect
their interests against a triple threat that Name
Administration's Frank Schilling described as
"unscrupulous
registrars, registries intent on pricing registrants out
of the renewals on their hard won intellectual property
and other covetous latecomers who unfairly try to unseat
registrants from their generic names."
(Disclosure:
DN Journal Editor/Publisher Ron Jackson serves on
the Internet Commerce Association's Board of Directors.
This is an unpaid position with a non-profit organization accepted solely because DN
Journal supports the mission
being undertaken by this industry trade association.
Editorial material written about the ICA in DN Journal
will continue to be independent and unsanctioned by that
organization and does not necessarily reflect the views of
other ICA members or the organization's official position
on policy matters.)
DOMAINfest
Global Update: Michael Arrington and Mike Zapolin Set to
Deliver Keynote Speeches
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In
last month's newsletter we brought you a preview
of the DOMAINfest
Global conference coming up January 31
- Feb. 3 at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood,
California. Quite a lot has happened since
then as conference organizers have filled out the
show agenda and roster of speakers. Just today
(Jan. 18) it was announced that Michael
Arrington, editor and founder of the
definitive web 2.0 blog, TechCrunch,
will be one of the headliners from an elite list
of industry experts who will speak at this first
DOMAINfest Global event.
Prior
to founding TechCrunch, Arrington's helped found Pool.com
and later consulted for domain industry giants
like VeriSign and SnapNames.
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Michael
Arrington
Editor/Founder
TechCrunch.com |
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Mike
Zapolin
Chief Visionary Officer
InternetRealEstate.com |
Mike “Zappy” Zapolin of the Internet
Real Estate Group will lead off the
first day of the conference with a morning keynote
targeted at visionary brand development. His
experience as a leader in development of internet
brands like Beer.com, Diamond.com, Computer.com
and Debt.com allows him to provide a unique
understanding of the domain industry’s
potential. As Chief Visionary Officer of
InternetRealEstate.com, Zappy has helped to
acquire and develop even more brands, including Software.com
and Chocolate.com.
After
Zappy’s keynote and the morning session, show
organizers said "you can expect to learn
about the latest innovations in web technology
today, in the context of the domain industry past,
present, and future at Michael Arrington’s
lunchtime keynote. He will remind us how to think
creatively, with a session starting with his
history in the domain aftermarket. Arrington’s
domain experience is bolstered by his daily
interactions with current internet hits and
up-and-comers in the technology world." |
As a bonus to DOMAINfest attendees,
Arrington we be participating in the DOMAINfest
Fastpitch, a series of six 15-minute meetings, where
you get to pitch your idea to this maker of
internet magic. If you think you have an idea worthy of
pitching to a man who knows what succeeds, email [email protected].
The DOMAINfest team will select the finalists and notify
them by email.
DN
Journal will be at DOMAINfest Global to bring you full
coverage of this exciting new event.
Moniker.com
Takes Their Live Auction Format to INTERNEXT and Sells $2
Million Worth of Domain Names in One Day
After
pioneering live domain auctions at the last three T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conferences, Moniker.com
took their show to Las Vegas this week and
conducted the first live adult domain auction at the INTERNEXT
Expo on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
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Several
hundred webmasters and domain investors crowded
into the ballroom at the Mandalay Bay Resort
and when the smoke cleared 88 domains had been
sold for a total of $2 million! SheMale.com
was the top seller at $520,000 and three
other domains cracked the six-figure barrier
including BDSM.com at $295,000 and a
nice mainstream generic, Opportunity.com at
$150,000. Meanwhile a silent auction that
launched at the event will continue through January
24.
Moniker
will be staging another major live auction at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
West conference coming up at the Venetian
Hotel in Las Vegas March 5-8. At the
last T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in Hollywood,
Florida in October, Moniker piled up a record $5.3
million in domain sales. |
Auctioneer
Joel Langbaum
conducted the Moniker Live Auction
at
INTERNEXT in Las Vegas this week |
We'll
be in Las Vegas too so that we can bring you full coverage
of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West and what could well turn out to be
the biggest live auction of all time.
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