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The
Lowdown
April
2020 Archive |
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Welcome to the The
Lowdown from
DN Journal - your source for notable news
and information from all corners of the global domain name
industry!
The Lowdown
is compiled by DN Journal
Editor & Publisher Ron Jackson. |
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Coronavirus
Pandemic Claims Another Conference - No NamesCon
Europe This Year But Show to Return in
2021
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The
ongoing coronavirus pandemic
has claimed another conference. The 2020
edition of NamesCon
Europe was to have been
held August 6th-8th in Budapest,
Hungary but, like so many other
meetings across all industries, this
one has now officially been canceled.
With so many people confined mostly
to home around the world and no way
to know what conditions will
be like this summer, NamesCon
clearly had no choice.
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On the
plus side, after doing what has to
be done, NamesCon organizers immediately
set their sites on staging the show next
year in Budapest and have
already penned the dates in - July
15-17, 2021. They are also
continuing to plan for NamesCon
Global 2021 earlier in the new
year.
While
the 2020 live meeting is out, a different
version of NamesCon may take
place online this year
instead. A statement from show
organizers said, "We’re
evaluating a virtual replacement
event for this summer! Staying connected is important for individual business outcomes as well as boosting the profile of the industry as a whole. That's why we're planning NamesCon's first-ever virtual conference.
We want to deliver a summer event to bring everyone together, but the dates have not been
finalized. Don’t worry, though: travel and hotel won’t be an issue... This is where your experience and insight can shine—the
survey and call for submissions are now
open."
If
you are interested in an online
conference the NamesCon survey gives
you an opportunity to share your
opinions on the idea as well as any
suggestions you might have for
sessions, panels or presentations.
It
is remarkable how much the world has
changed since so many of us were
meeting in person at the 2020
NamesCon Global conference
in Austin, Texas in January.
We were back home for barely a month
before the coronavirus reared its
ugly head in our part of the world
and now, just two months later, we
have over 60,000 dead in the U.S.
alone from it. Wishing you all
safety and good health as we all
continue to navigate this new world.
Sooner or later, the coast will
clear and we will be so happy
to see you again in person when that
times comes!
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Internet
Commerce Association Introduces a More
Affordable Membership Option That Cuts Cost in
Half
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The
Internet
Commerce Assocation (ICA),
the non-profit
organization that protects the
rights of domain registrants, has
just taken a big step to make
membership in the rapidly growing
group more affordable. The
ICA did it by adding a new basic Membership
level that costs $25 a month.
Previously, the most affordable
level was the $50 a month
Individual Membership
level (that remains in place with
some additional perks that
distinguish it from the new basic
membership option).
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Kamila
Sekiewicz
Executive Director
Internet Commerce
Association |
In
addition to helping more
people join the ICA effort
to protect domain owner
rights, the new level could
provide some relief to
current Individual level
members who are suffering
from financial issues
created by the current
Covid-19 pandemic. ICA
Executive Director Kamila
Sekiewicz said, "We
are glad to make membership
in the ICA more affordable
to the thousands of domain investors
who are still establishing
themselves in the industry
and we're hopeful that this
will encourage continued
growth of the ICA's
membership. This membership
level is also available to
existing members who wish to
remain as ICA members but
whose businesses have been
disrupted by the pandemic."
The
new level gives the ICA a
total of six membership
tiers that have attracted
everyone from beginning
domain investors to industry
veterans, SMBs and large
corporations. You can get
details on all membership
levels, costs and benefits here. |
(Posted
April 25, 2020) To
refer others to the
post above only (and
not the full Lowdown
column) you
can use this URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2020/dailyposts/20200425.htm
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Rare
Interview with Domain Investment Star Yoni
Belousov is Added to New Series at GGRG.com
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A
couple of weeks ago I told
you about Giuseppe
Graziano launching a new
series of interviews with
domain industry pros that he is
publishing on the GGRG.com
website (also the home of his domain
brokerage and consulting firm).
Giuseppe hopes the series will give
industry newcomers and veterans
alike more insight into the business
and how others have made their
living in it.
I was
honored to be the subject of
Giuseppe's first
interview published
March 26, 2020, and he is already
back with another in-depth
discussion featuring one of the most
successful investors in the
business, Yoni Belousov. This
is something of a coup for Giuseppe
because Yoni, who is based in Vancouver,
Canada, has always preferred to
keep a low public profile. A lot of
people would have loved to have the
opportunity to pick Belousov's brain
- now Giuseppe has done it
and shared all of the insight Yoni
gave him in the new
interview that came out
today.
Yoni
talks about what first attracted him
to domain investing 18 years ago
(when he was still a teenager!) and
goes on to lay out the key things
he has learned over the past two
decades. He also shares what he
believes are the
most common mistakes domain
investors make, so you can avoid
those pitfalls yourself.
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Yoni
Belousov
(photo from GGRG.com)
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Yoni
has seen a lot of changes over the
years, so you will also want to see
what he says he would do with
$10,000 if he was going to invest it
now. It is an excellent
interview across the board, so make
sure you check
it out at GGRG.com.
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GoDaddy's
Acquisition of Neustar Registry Operations Gives
Them .Biz, .CO, a Role in Running Over 200 TLDs
and a Chance to Jump Start .US
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Less
than two months after acquiring
Uniregistry's registrar &
market and Founder Frank
Schilling's massive domain
portfolio, industry giant GoDaddy
has made another monster
acquisition. Late Monday (April 6,
2020), the company announced
it has Neustar
Inc's Registry business,
including the Neustar owned .biz
registry, the rights to administer
several major ccTLDs,
including .CO
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and .US and
the contract
to provide backend
operations for over 200
hundred others, including
new TLDs like .club.
In all The Neustar registry
business includes
approximately 12 million
domains across some 215
TLDs. |
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Nicolai
Bezsonoff |
Financial
details of the transaction
were not disclosed and it will
still have to pass regulatory
muster, however the the deal
is expected to close in this
quarter (2Q-2020).
Under
GoDaddy, the previous Neustar
assets will be called GoDaddy
Registry and will be led
by Nicolai Bezsonoff,
currently Senior Vice
President and General Manager
of Neustar's Registry
business. Mr. Bezsonoff said,
"Our team is thrilled to
join the GoDaddy family. We
share a strong history of
partnership and collaboration
with GoDaddy that spans two
decades. Additionally, we have
the same values, a common
culture of innovation, and a
mutual vision for empowering
individuals, businesses and
brands to succeed
online." |
GoDaddy
Chief Operating Officer Andrew
Low Ah Kee added,
"GoDaddy is committed to
helping everyday entrepreneurs bring
their ideas online with the best
possible domain name choices.
Neustar's registry platform enables
us to accelerate that commitment and
provides enhanced scalability for
future growth. For more than two
decades, GoDaddy has used its
consumer insight to drive innovation
in the domain industry and we'll
continue to do so by creating more
choice and value for
consumers."
As
part of the transaction, GoDaddy,
the world's biggest domain
registrar, said it will strictly
adhere to a governance model that
maintains independence
between the GoDaddy registry and
registrar businesses.
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Personally,
I will be especially
interested in seeing how the
.US registry fares
when GoDaddy takes
control. Many in the .US
camp have felt America's
country code never got the
promotion it deserved from
Neustar who has administered
the TLD since 2001 under a
contract with the National
Telecommunications and
Information Administration
(NTIA) of the United
States Department of
Commerce. Back in 2007,
when the contract came up
for renewal, GoDaddy tried
to get it but the NTIA chose
to leave .US with
Neustar (and did so again in
2014). That
disappointed those .US fans
who felt GoDaddy's marketing
prowess could give the
TLD a new lease on life. |
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Now, if this deal is
approved, we will get to see
first hand whether or not
.US can blossom under new
management and flourish in the
way many other ccTLDs have
in recent years, including
repurposed extensions like .co,
.io and .ai and
long established favorites
like Germany's .de
and Great Britain's .uk. |
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Restructuring
of CentralNic Leadership Team Puts 5
Executives in New Roles as COO Exits
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CentralNic
Group PLC (AIM:
CNIC) has announced a restructuring
of their leadership team that
resulted in five executives
moving into new positions. They
will help oversee a workforce of
some 400 employees in one of
the industry's fastest growing
companies.
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Over
45 million domains are currently
using CentralNic platforms that are
customized for every domain customer
type (registry, reseller, corporate,
SMB and domain investor).
CentralNic
CEO Ben Crawford said, ”I
take great pleasure in welcoming our
new hires and appointees into their
new roles, and I am confident we
have the best team in place to
maintain our track record of growth.
In these difficult times, these new
hires and changes reflect our
confidence in the robustness of our
business."
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Two
of those appointees are Robbie
Birkner (top left) and
Tony Kim (top right) who
co-founded the popular
Vancouver, Canada based Hexonet.com
domain registrar that
CentralNic acquired last
year. Birkner, a 20-year
industry veteran, becomes
the Head of Reseller
Division, the largest of
the company's business
divisions in terms of
revenue. He will have
oversight of the strategic
direction, expansion and
operation of all CentralNic
wholesale channels and
platforms for domain names,
which encompasses the
leading reseller brands of RRPproxy
by Key-Systems, Hexonet,
PartnerGate, TPP
Wholesale and more.
Kim's new post is Head of
Product, responsible for
managing new product
development and onboarding
across Group companies. Tony
has over 18 years of
experience in the industry.
Before co-founding Hexonet
he was General Manager at Hostway
Canada and Director of
Product Development for Hostway
Corp USA. |
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Stuart
Fuller (top left) has been
appointed as the Head of
Brand Services Division,
overseeing BrandShelter
and CentralNic’s interest in
Thomsen Trampedach,
which delivers domain
portfolio management and brand
protection services to
Corporate clients. Stuart brings
over 14 years of experience in
the industry and joined
CentralNic three years ago as Group
Commercial Director, after
eleven years at corporate
domain name management and
brand protection firm NetNames
(now CSC).
Gavin
Brown (top right) has been
appointed Head of Registry
Solutions, providing
registry software and managed
services to country code
Top-Level Domain names globally.
CentralNic is also the
world’s leading distributor
of new Top-Level Domains,
with a global market share of
over 47% and those will
be under Brown's purview as
well. Brown, who has 20 years
of industry experience and is
CentralNic's longest-serving
employee, will also retain his
role as Chief Innovation
Officer for the Group.
Before taking that role in
2019, Gavin was CTO of
CentralNic for fourteen years. |
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The
talented quintet of
appointees also includes Oliver
Fries (at left), who has
been appointed Head of
Shared Services, and
will oversee technology and
other shared services for
the Reseller, Retail,
Registry Solutions and Brand
Services business divisions.
Oliver brings over 17 years
of experience in technical
and managerial roles and
will be focusing on key
activities around
infrastructure, systems,
development, support and
domain procurement.
Oliver
previously held the position
of CTO at CentralNic’s
subsidiary Key-Systems
where he played a key role
in shaping its core
technology as well as
helping the company grow and
evolve. He previously worked
in the Telecommunication
sector as a software
developer and project
manager. |
While
those five executives are taking on
new roles, another will be leaving.
CEO Crawford said, “I regret to
inform you that Alex Siffrin,
our COO for Centralnic Group,
and Founder/CEO of KeyDrive, has
decided it is time for a new
challenge and therefore is stepping
down from his role with CentralNic.
Alex’s legacy will live on in
CentralNic as we continue to develop
the great businesses he built, which
will now pass into the very capable
hands of the team of hugely talented
people that Alex hired and nurtured
over the past two decades. Alex
remains a valued stakeholder, and
his family remains one of the
largest shareholders of
CentralNic."
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