.CO enjoyed a wildly successful re-launch this past summer - now the .SO Registry hopes a little of that ccTLD magic will rub off on their extension too. Unfortunately, .SO has some 

big hurdles in its path. For starters, it is the country code for Somalia, one of the most unstable nations on the planet, so many will be leery of a regime change possibly resetting the rules in the middle of the game. A similar risk could be attributed to a lot of third world ccTLDs of course, but few have a political atmosphere as dicey as that of Somalia.

.SO also does not have the large promotional budget the .CO Registry was able to deploy to spread the word about their extension, nor the powerful business connotation that .CO benefits from (.CO is a common abbreviation for company). 

Still, some will go for for major keywords in any extension and that will be the case for .SO too. Administration of the ccTLD was re-delegated to Somalia's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MoPT) in April of 2009 and they are in charge of the re-launch that gets underway Monday (Nov. 1) when the sunrise period for trademark holders begins. The opening of Land Rush follows Dec. 16 with the start of Open Registration slated for March 1, 2011. 

The registry is holding a list of Reserved, Premium and Restricted domains (available on their website) with many of those to be auctioned off in a special sale to be conducted some time after the start of open registration.  

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On Wednesday (Oct. 27) Los Angeles bankruptcy court judge Geraldine Mund approved the sale of Sex.com for $13 million. Once the funds have been received and the domain transferred to its new owner - Clover Holdings of St. Vincent - it will officially become the highest all cash domain sale ever reported publicly. 

A completed sale will bring to a close another chapter in the wild history of Sex.com.  However another chapter will begin right away as the judge has to settle a dispute among the current Sex.com creditors over who will get how much from the sale proceeds. Kieren McCarthy published an informative piece detailing that situation at The Register today. 

Several other notes today. Amid reports that Google has de-indexed a number of Epik developed websites, we hear that company founder Rob Monster plans to update Epik publishers on the situation tomorrow afternoon at 5pm (Friday, Oct. 29) and tell them how the company intends to address the issue and maximize earnings both now and going forward.

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Former SnapNames VP Nelson Brady created a world of trouble for his company and himself when he was caught shill bidding (under the pseudonym Halvarez) in company auctions one year ago. SnapNames fired Brady and parent company Oversee.net filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against him. Meanwhile a group of affected customers joined a class action lawsuit that was filed against SnapNames and Oversee.net. 

Today Oversee announced settlements in both of those lawsuits that it hopes will put the episode behind them once and for all. In the class action suit  the company said the settlement terms and amounts to be paid our are identical to the amounts affected bidders were offered in a rebate offer Oversee extended in November 2009, so those hoping to get more from the class action will be disappointed. More on that settlement can be found here. 

Terms of the settlement in the $33 million suit

Former SnapNames VP Nelson Brady 
("Halvarez") was sued after shill bidding
activity was uncovered at SnapNames. 

filed against Brady were not disclosed but the company released a statement saying, "Oversee believes the financial penalty is appropriate considering the seriousness of the improper activity." Some hoped to see Brady face criminal charges as well as the civil suit to send a strong message on this kind of fraudulent activity but the settlements and compensation to customers will close the door on that possibility.

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Are your ready for another Florida conference?! Yes, DNCruise and T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami just ended, but another event, featuring some familiar names in the domain industry, is coming up next week in Hollywood, Florida. It is the BlueGlass FL 2010 Conference, an event focused on online marketing that will feature industry experts in Domaining, SEO, search marketing, social media and entrepreneurship. The show will run November 2-3 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The conference will have a series of educational seminars including an in-depth discussion about the “Evolving World of Domains” that will be moderated by new T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Domain Hall of Fame member Monte Cahn of Moniker.com. The session will also feature several high profile panelists such as Chad Folkening and John Ferber of DomainHoldings, Andrew Beckman of Location3 Media and John Andrews of UpperLeftPlacemet.

If you would like to go, the conference, being staged by Tampa-based internet marketing company BlueGlass, is offering our readers a 15% discount off registration. Use the code Dnj15 at registration to get the discount.

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A triumphant 2010 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami  conference came to an end Wednesday morning (Oct. 20) with an Epik.com Swapfest at the show venue - the fabulous Loews Hotel on world famous South Beach. Swapfest is a domain sale, involving thousands of domains, conducted under a Dutch auction format (prices start high and fall until they hit a price a bidder likes - or reach the minimum bid level without selling).  

Above: Epik.com CEO Rob Monster (at far right) conducts Swapfest on the closing day 
of the 2010 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami conference Wednesday (Oct. 20). 

Below: Part of the crowd on hand for Epik's Swapfest event. 

Several things make Swapfest a unique sale. For one, all domains include a website developed on the Epik platform and for another, you can pay for winning bids with either cash of Epik bucks, a new form of currency invented by the company to bring added liquidity to the market. We had to begin the trek back home before the sale ended and the results have not yet been posted but I would expect to see a recap soon on the Epik blog. 

In this last of the daily reports from the show, I wanted to leave you with a personal note about what to me has been by far the biggest dividend I've received from attending so many T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conferences over the years. The show has a slogan - T.R.A.F.F.I.C Means Business - and it does - a remarkable number of major deals are cut at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. shows - but the bigger reward has been meeting a very special group of people and forming many personal friendships that I think will last a lifetime. I've done no business at all with many of these people, but they have enriched my life immeasurably. After a few days, the lights at the latest show go off, but the friendships go on.

Above: the historic Anna Maria City Pier we visited with Rob Grant (Wed. Oct. 20, 2010)

Below: The Old Florida style restaurant at the end of the pier where Rob took Diana 
and I to dinner (the fresh seafood was some of the best we have ever had). 

Below: After dinner Rob showed us around the island and he snapped the 
picture of Diana and I below that was taken at a second pier, a short distance  
up the coast from the first one (a record-breaking 17-foot shark that people still 
talk about was caught off this pier several decades ago).

It was a very special day with Rob. Talking domains with him with him along the way made the four-hour drive from Miami feel like it went by in four minutes. The evening with him on the island was even better - a reminder that it is not the business, it is the people who make this field the best on earth to be a part of.  T.R.A.F.F.I.C. brought us, and many other special people like Rob, together and, at least as far as I'm concerned, that is the greatest conference value of all. 

Above: After leaving Rob, on the way home we stopped at Coquina Beach to watch the 
sun go down. The perfect end to a perfect day and our latest T.R.A.F.F.I.C. adventure.

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The third day of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami 2010 conference at the Loews Hotel on South Beach Tuesday (Oct. 19) kicked off with the annual T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Awards brunch. Awards were presented in seven categories and two new members were also inducted into the T.R.A.F.F.I.C Hall of Fame - Monte Cahn and Rick Latona. 

The award winners included the .CO Registry that was voted Sponsor of the Year after a very successful re-launch of their TLD. 

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founders Rick Schwartz (far left) and Howard Neu (far right) presented 
.CO Registry executives (left to right) Lori Anne Wardi (Director of Marketing), CEO Juan 
Calle & Crystal Peterson (Senior Manager) with their 2010 Sponsor of the Year Award.

Also taking home trophies were:

I'll have photos of all of the winners accepting their awards in a comprehensive show review article that will be coming out next week.

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After getting underway Sunday evening with a welcoming cocktail party at the Loews Hotel on South Beach, attendees at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami got down to business Monday (Oct. 18). The day began bright and early at 8:30am with a speed networking session conducted under an entirely new format. 

Scene from Monday's one-on-one speed networking session at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami 2010

Participants had to register in advance so they could be matched up with people who worked in the areas that they were most interested in. That allowed show organizers to set up six extended one-on-one meetings (each lasting just under 10 minutes) for each participant. As you entered the room you were given a personal schedule that directed you to numbered pre-assigned seats for each of your sessions. 

I found the new format to be an improvement over previous ones that limited each contact to two minutes. The old format let you meet more people but many were from fields unrelated to your interests. The new one lets you target the categories you want to explore while giving you considerably more time to get to know each person you meet. 

In another conference highlight, attendees had an opportunity to hear from the highest ranking government official ever to speak at a domain conference - U.S. Congressman Cliff Stearns (R-Florida), who was accompanied by former Congressman Mike Ferguson.

U.S. Congressman Cliff Stearns (left) and former Congressman 
Mike Ferguson speaking at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami Monday.

Depending on how the mid-term elections go next month, Stearns may become Chairman of a powerful House committee that oversees Internet issues. He expressed support for domain owner's rights and urged attendees to get involved in the political process to make sure those rights are not taken away by those who want to grab assets they did not have the foresight to acquire years ago when they were available to anyone who wanted to put their capital at risk.

Ferguson emphasized that it was crucial for domainers to join forces because they are battling giants in this fight. Unfortunately, as an industry we have a poor track record of working together, so whether or not Stearns and Ferguson's sage advice will be heeded remains to be seen.

The day continued with an afternoon schedule that three seminars, starting with one titled Where Do We Go From Here? devoted to next steps domain owners can take to develop domains or improve monetization prospects for the assets.

Above: A large crowd turned out for a Monday afternoon 
session called Where Do We Go From Here? 

This session featured a panel of seven experts who all have extensive development experience, including John Ferber (Domain Holdings), Craig Rowe (WhyPark.com), Rob Monster (Epik.com), Dan Warner (DomainAdvertising.com), Ted Olson (NameMedia), David Castello and Michael Castello (Castello Cities Internet Network). There isn't enought time while the show is underway to provide details on each seminar. However, we will be publishing a more comprehensive show review a few days after the conference ends.

The next session - Stop Whining and Start Doing Something Constructive - expanded on the theme of what to think about doing next.

Stop Whining and Start Doing Something Constructive panelists (left to right) were Adam Matuzich, Owen Frager, Ira Zoot, Zappy Zapolin, Lonnie Borck and Michael Berkens.

There was a new format for all of the business seminars at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami. No Powerpoint presentations were allowed. In every case, the time was spent in a free flowing discussion moderated by Howard Neu with the audience invited to ask their own questions as well.

In the last session, I joined five colleagues to discuss Is The Gold Rush Over, or Are There More Nuggets to Mine? The opinion I and several others expressed was that the gold rush is far from over but that some of the best opportunities are being found in places people haven't mined so heavily in the past - everything from ccTLDs to using CPA monetization methods.

The Is The Gold Rush Over, or Are There More Nuggets to Mine? panel featured Gregg 
McNair (PPX International), Keith Levenson (Rio.com), Chad Folkening (Domain Holdings), 
Ron Jackson (DN Journal), Michael Gilmour (ParkLogic.com) & Rick Schwartz (T.R.A.F.F.I.C.).

The final event of the business day was the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Test Track that allows those who have businesses seeking investments to make their pitch to a panel of judges who are also potential investors. 

Lori Anne Wardi (at the podium) of the .CO Registry, the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Test Track's 
sponsor, introduced Monday's program. The judges/investors were (seated L to R): 
Dr. Chris Hartnett, Rick Latona, Gregg McNair and Rick Schwartz.

With business out of the way it was time for evening's big social event, a spectacular party, hosted again by the .CO Registry, at the fabulous Versace Mansion on South Beach.

Above: Scene from Monday night's party at the fabulous Versace Mansion on South Beach.

Below: Three of the many guests who turned out for the Versace Mansion party; 
(L to R) Diana Jackson, Dr. Chris Hartnett & Gregg McNair.

As I write this day three of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami is underway. This morning featured the annual T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Awards Brunch. The award winners included Domainer of the Year Gregg McNair, Sponsor of the Year - the .CO Registry and two new members voted into the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Hall of Fame; Monte Cahn and Rick Latona. Tomorrow I'll post photos and highlights from all of today's activity, including more on the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Awards, a talk delivered by legendary boxing promoter Don King and an afternoon security session thatI am sitting in on now in which a panelist just said that a domain thief is lurking among the attendees at the show.

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The T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami conference  opened Sunday evening with a crowd of several hundred on hand at the Loews Hotel on South Beach. Many attendees arrived in town early and while waiting for the registration desk to open, spent time doing some early networking at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. cabanas by the hotel pool.

Early arrivers Sunday (Oct. 17) spent time chatting in T.R.A.F.F.I.C.'s poolside cabanas

At noon, attendees began receiving the warm welcome they always get at the registration desk from Barbara Neu and Alina Schwartz (the wives of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founders Howard Neu and Rick Schwartz.

Barbara Neu (left) and Alina Schwartz welcome T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami 
attendee Steve Cheatham at the registration desk Sunday (Oct. 17).

Registration continued throughout the day, then the conference officially got underway when doors opened at 5:30pm for the show's welcoming cocktail party.

Part of the crowd at Sunday night's welcoming cocktail party at the Loews Hotel.

The cocktail party continued until 7:30pm with many guests then dispersing to various private company sponsored functions around town. In two of the larger ones, DomainHoldings.com held a launch party at the Yuca Restaurant on Lincoln Road and Aftermarket.com previewed their upcoming relaunch with a dinner party at Devito (a restaurant owned by actor Danny Devito) on Ocean Drive.

Guests at the Aftermarket.com dinner party at Devito on Miami Beach Sunday night.

After the conference I'll have more on the new company launches and other information I haven't had time to pass along while covering shows over what will be a 10-day stretch before I return home.

The first full day of business at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami got underway this morning and is still underway as I write this. I'll have photos and highlights from all of the Monday activity in a post here tomorrow. Today's schedule features a keynote speech from author Simon T. Bailey, an address from U.S. Congressman Cliff Stearns, several interesting panel discussions, T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Test Track and a party that is coming up tonight at the Versace Mansion on Miami Beach.

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After a full year of preparation T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founders Rick Schwartz and Howard Neu will get back in the saddle this evening when the highly anticipated T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami conference opens with a 5:30pm welcoming cocktail party at the Loews Hotel on fabulous South Beach (you can see our in-depth show preview article here). It will be the first show staged by the industry pioneers since T.R.A.F.F.I.C. New York in October 2009 and all indications point to this one being among their best ever.

Four other T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conferences have been held in 2010 (in Las Vegas, Milan, Italy, Vancouver, Canada and Dublin, Ireland), but those were all produced by Rick Latona under a licensing agreement with Schwartz and Neu. 

After tonight's cocktail party

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Co-Founders Rick Schwartz & Howard Neu
ready for the opening of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami this evening
at the Loews Hotel on world famous South Beach.  

ends, many attendees will move on to other domain related functions tonight including an 8pm launch party for Domain Holdings, the company behind Rapid Domain Builder. Co-Founders Chad Folkening, John Ferber and CEO Jason Boshoff will be on hand to welcome guests, including U.S. Congressman Cliff Stearns (R-Florida) who has taken an interest in the domain industry (Rep. Stearns will also be speaking at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Monday afternoon). 

Another rising political figure, Indiana State Rep. Todd Rokita also plans to attend. Space is limited so you are asked to RSVP right away to [email protected] if you would like to attend the DomainHoldings event.  

Though T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami doesn't officially open until this evening, a number of early arrivals have been in town all weekend and have been enjoying the opportunity to network at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. cabanas adjacent to the Loews Hotel swimming pool.

(L to R): Larry Fischer, Michael Berkens, Bandit, Judi Berkens and Jeffrey Fischer were
among those who arrived at the Loews Hotel early for T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami on South Beach.

The cabanas, which will be open daily until dusk throughout the conference, are also just steps away from the pristine Atlantic Ocean beach behind the hotel. The weather forecast for Miami looks great for the conference days, so it should be a perfect time to enjoy the surf and sand.

View of the beach at the Loews Hotel on Miami's South Beach 

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It's hard to stand out in the crowded domain conference field so Patrick Ruddell (ChefPatrick.com) knew he would have to do something different when he decided he wanted to put together an event of his own. His solution was to stage the first domain conference ever held on a cruise ship - DNCruise - an event that ran Oct. 11-15 aboard the Carnival Imagination.

The boat left the port of Miami on Monday (Oct. 11) with 55 domainers on board with another 25 or so spouses, friends or

The Carnival Imagination (docked in Nassau, 
Bahamas Thursday, Oct. 14) hosted DNCruise.  

guests along for the ride. The itinerary called for stops in Key West and Cozumel, Mexico, but Mother Nature had other plans, sending Hurricane Paula our way along with a new port of call. More on that in a moment. The more important thing to know is that the passing storm failed to dampen the spirits of the domainers on DNCruise. 

An hour after the ship left Miami under sunny skies, the first conference event, a welcoming cocktail party, got underway in the Illusions Lounge on the 9th deck of the Imagination. Chef Patrick was there to welcome guests with a huge DNCruise ice sculpture serving notice that his was going to be a very cool event.

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The Carnival Imagination will host DNCruise - the
 first floating domain conference - this week.

A pair of extraordinary domain conferences will be held over the next ten days with domain investors and service providers getting together on both land and sea. The first half of this tropical twin bill - DNCruise - the first domain conference ever held on a cruise ship - gets underway Monday (Oct. 11) when the Carnival Imagination leaves Florida's Port of Miami for a round trip that will include stops in Key West and Cozumel, Mexico. 

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After a welcoming cocktail party late Tuesday afternoon, the DOMAINfest Europe 2010 conference in Prague, Czech Republic got down to business Wednesday (Oct. 6) with more than 200 registrants on hand at the Intercontinental Hotel. There were lots of new faces in 

Oversee.net CEO Jeff Kupietzy addresses the crowd
at DOMAINfest Europe in Prague Wed. Oct. 6, 2010

the crowd, there to talk about the burgeoning European domain name and monetization marketplace. 

Wednesday began with a presentation by DomainSponsor General Manager Peter Celeste,  who announced the 2011 lineup of locations for DOMAINfest events (DOMAINfest Global, as previously announced, will return to Santa Monica, California Feb. 1-3, DOMAINfest Europe will be in Barcelona, Spain in June 2011 and there will be Power Networking Days in New York City (August 2011) and Las Vegas (November 2011). Specific dates for the latter three events will be announced later.)

Oversee CEO Jeff Kupietzky followed with a discussion about his now well-known five myths of the domain name marketplace, with an view toward how Europeans are affected (Jeff first tackled those myths at the DOMAINfest New York conference in August).   

DOMAINfest Europe luncheon at Prague's Intercontinental Hotel Wed. Oct. 6, 2010

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On Monday Michael Berkens reported on an especially egregious case of domain and identity theft that victimized well-known domain investor Dr. Chris Hartnett (Chris was profiled in our June 2008 Cover Story). In a second story today, Michael followed up with information about an alleged theft of Prince.com, a domain that was sold just a few weeks ago for $235,000. In response to concerns expressed in the wake of these incidents about how domain owners can 

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Another big burst of domain conference activity gets underway tomorrow when the doors open at DOMAINfest Europe in Prague, Czech Republic. That show, featuring an opening presentation from Oversee.net President and CEO Jeff Kupietzky, will run through Thursday at the InterContinental Hotel in Prague. One of the main events will be a Moniker/SnapNames live domain auction Wednesday from 4-7pm local time (10am-1pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time). Today show officials announced that Bid.com has been added to the auction catalog. Several other top tier domains will be on the block including Digital.com, Tools.com, Plan.com and Zip.com, to name just a few. 

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