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The
Lowdown
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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Dollars.com
Sells for $500,000 and Provides Another Example of
Why Sedo's Mark Ghoriafi is Known as Mr.
Premium |
Sedo
Outbound Premum Broker Mark
Ghoriafi has made yet
another trip to the domain sales mountain top.
Mark started the year with a $600,000 sale
of Pack.com in January, followed it up with
a $980,000 sale of Double.com and
just struck gold again by selling Dollars.com at
$500,000. As a result he now has three
of the top ten publicly recorded sales of the year
to date (Dollars.com will be added to
the YTD Top 100 when we publish our next bi-weekly
domain sales report June 25). While
Sedo can't disclose who the buyer and seller was
in the Dollars.com deal, Mark was able to share
some background on how it all came together, as
well as how he seized the opportunity to add a
sale of Dolars.com to the mix, a purchase
that will help the Dollars.com buyer catch what
could be a significant amount of traffic that
might otherwise have been lost. As
he typically does on the first day of being
chosen to represent a premium domain, Mark
immediately went to work with social media
marketing, preliminary lead generation, and the
start of an email outreach campaign. After several
weeks of constantly beating the drum, he sent follow-up
correspondence to initial leads who had not
yet replied, an initiative that generated multiple
responses, including one from the party who wound
up buying the name. If you need a testament to the
importance of persistence and following up,
there it is. Mark
said, "We then entered an all-night Saturday
negotiation from 1:00AM to 8:00AM, with 19
emails exchanged during that time. Shortly
after sunrise we closed the successful negotiation
at $500,000.
Soon after I was also able offer the buyer Dolars.com
(a spelling variation of dollars in several
languages, as well as a common English typo) for
$25,000 and he was happy to acquire it as
well." |


Mark
"Mr. Premium" Ghoriafi
Sedo Outbound Premium Broker
|
Mark
credited the successful negotiations to all parties
seeing the inherent value of prompt and polite
communication, a mindset that created a positive
flow of conversation and resulted in a smart
investment for the buyer and a wheelbarrow full of
dollars for the seller.
The fact that Mark stayed up all night to make
the deal happen also underscores why the tagline you
see in a lot of his outbound marketing - "The
internet never stops, and neither does Mr.
Premium!" - is more than just talk.
|
(Posted
June 16, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0616.htm
*****
|
Early
Birds Are Lining Up a Perch for Domain Days Dubai
2025 While the DDD Team Makes Plans to Wow the
Domain World |
After
establishing itself as one of the world's premier
domain conferences with outstanding events in 2023
and 2024,
the Domain
Days Dubai conference (DDD) is
returning for round 3 October 22-23, 2025
in the magnificent UAE metropolis. The show
will again be held at the picturesque Marriott
Resort Palm Jumeirah where industry leaders
from around the world will gather to explore the
latest developments and opportunities in the MEA
market (Middle East and Africa). The
conference was founded by Munir Badir who
is currently celebrating the 20th anniversary
of another enterprise he founded, AEserver.com,
the UAE's largest privately owned domain name
registrar & web/cloud hosting company where he
also serves as CEO. From the moment Munir
envisioned bringing a major domain conference to
this thriving market, he approached the task with
the same goal he had with AEserver - delivering a
world class product built to stand out now and
continually improve to ensure it will remain a
leader in its space for decades to
come. That's
why Badr and his team is committed to topping
themselves and doing it by a wide margin at
the 2025 conference. Munir told us, "This
year, we started much earlier due to the
many events happening and revolving around
similar subjects. There is a true competition for
attendees and we want to show everyone why DDD
should be circled on their calendar!" |


Domain
Days Dubai Founder Munir Badr
|
That
desire to get the momentum rolling right away is
also why
DDD launched a 50%
off
early bird ticket offer in May. That
offer is still available at this writing but it will
be ending at the end of June so now is the
time to take advantage of it of you want to enjoy
the full Dubai experience at a considerably lower
cost.
Regarding
the event itself, Munir noted that while it's still
early in the planning cycle, thoughtfully scaling up
the event is a central focus. "The
past two editions showed us there’s real demand
for a serious, regionally rooted event that brings
the global domain and hosting industry together in a
unique way," Munir said. "This year,
we’re aiming to go even bigger with more
curated content, deeper tech tracks, and stronger
B2B networking angles – all while keeping that
signature Dubai hospitality intact. Also, what I realized
after the first two editions is that this event is no
longer just about our region, the domain name
industry is global at its roots and our event
has turned into another important event for the
global domain name industry, presented in a luxury
environment with a who's who from the global
industry in attendance."

Munir
Badr with InterNetX CEO Elias Rendon Benger at
Domain Days Dubai 2024.
"Domain
Days Dubai has definitely helped shine a light on
the MEA region – not just in terms of market
potential, but as a serious contributor to the
global domain ecosystem," Munir continued.
"We’ve seen stronger cross-border
partnerships form, registrars expanding into the
region, and service providers looking to establish a
presence here. Several attendees from outside the
region have shared how eye-opening it was to
experience the energy and business appetite in this
part of the world."
While
it is a long way to Dubai for many to travel, Domain
Days Dubai has again picked dates that will make it
easier for attendees to take advantage of key events
back to back before heading home. "Yes,
we’ve once again managed to align with ICANN,
whose next general meeting will be held right after
us in Oman
and that’s been a huge boost," Munir said.
"It helps us bring in top-tier participants who
are already planning to travel, and it raises the
overall level of discussion and opportunity.
Last year’s back-to-back scheduling with ICANN in
Istanbul created a natural flow of attendees, and we
expect a similar effect this time with ICANN Oman.
It’s a win for everyone involved."

A
view from the audience of one the dozens of business
sessions at DDD 2024.
In
closing, Munir said,"On a personal note, I know
how busy people are and how important it is
to plan to make it convenient for everyone,
this shows respect to our attendees, we really care!
It also makes perfect sense for our corporate
partners and attendees for whom each day away is a a
huge investment. This is a testament of our true Middle
Eastern hospitality and respect to our
attendees. You also have to wonder when another
ICANN annual general meeting will be in our part of
the world, maybe in 5 or 10 years? So this
year, a perfect constellation is lined up that
will work in everyone's favor!
|
(Posted
June 13, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0613.htm
*****
|
Team
Internet and Newly Formed Partner Wins 10-Year
Contract to Administer .CO Domain Names |
For the
past 10 years the popular .co
top level domain has been administered by
GoDaddy. However that contract recently
expired and the Colombian Ministerio de Tecnologias de la
Informacion y las Comunicaciones (MINTIC) decided
to put a new contract out for competitive bidding.
Today Team
Internet (TI) announced that Consórcio Equipo PuntoCo – a
partnership between TI and Central
Comercializadora de Internet (CCI) -
has been awarded a a 10-year license from
MINTIC to operate the .co TLD. As most of our readers know, .co is officially
the ccTLD for Colombia but years ago
it was successfully re-purposed to also serve a
broader market - companies and corporations
around the world for whom the CO letters were a
natural fit. That strategy has worked very
well, making the right to administer .co a prize
that several major industry players had hoped to
land. |


|
Team Internet
Group CEO Michael Riedl said, “This
win reinforces Team Internet’s leadership
in the domain infrastructure space and adds
one of the most dynamic and globally recognized
ccTLDs to our portfolio. We are humbled by
the opportunity to serve the people of
Colombia. This privilege is testament to our
trusted role in managing critical internet
infrastructure around the world."
The .co domain, with over 3 million
active registrations, enjoys a strong
international reputation and serves as a
vital platform for individuals and
businesses in Colombia and worldwide to
establish their digital presence. Consórcio
Equipo PuntoCo will operate the registry
and retain 8% of gross revenues from .co
registrations and renewals as compensation
for its services.
Gerardo Aristizabal, CEO of Colombian
company CCI, Team Internet’s partner in
the bid, added, “We couldn’t be happier
about the news and the opportunity to work
together with Team |

Michael
Riedl
CEO, Team Internet Group |
Internet in developing the .co domain, both locally
for entrepreneurs and internationally as
one of the most adopted web addresses in the
world. The teams working on this represent the best
opportunity for the namespace and will definitely be
taking the .co domain to a new level over the coming
years.”
|
(Posted
June 12, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0612.htm
*****
|
Trustap
Adds Brandon Abbey to a Team Whose Transaction
Management Service Makes Secure Buying and Selling
a Breeze |
Brandon
Abbey has been a familiar figure to
domain industry veterans since 2004 when he
became the President at Escrow.com. Over
the next 12 years, Brandon played a central role
in helping close over two billion
dollars worth of domain sales there. We
continued to track Brandon's career when he moved
on to Payoneer, then founded his own consulting
firm. Most recently, when we heard about an
innovative, rapidly growing transaction management
firm, Trustap,
founded by Conor
Lyden, we weren't surprised to learn
they had enlisted Brandon to oversee Digital
and US Partnerships. Brandon
set up a call with Conor for me so I could learn
more about what makes Trustap different
from other services available to domain sales
platforms as well as individual buyers and
sellers. While I was thinking it would an escrow
centered offering, it turned out to be much more
that. Trustap is an end-to-end transaction
management service that covers everything from securing
payments made in a diverse range of options
(including cryptocurrency), to fulfillment to
support and even protecting sellers from chargebacks.
Today Trustap, with offices in the US, Ireland
(Cork & Dublin),the
UK and Europe (Croatia), is being used
by over 840,000 individuals and more
than 150 marketplaces.
I found
it particularly interesting that all of this
sprang from a personal problem that Conor
wanted to solve for himself. During his
college years, as an avid football fan, Lyden was
tired of wondering if he would actually get game
tickets he tried to buy on the resale market. You
had to pay up front but whether or not the
stranger on the other end of the transaction would
actually deliver them was always in question. That
led him to found Trustap in Cork, Ireland
in 2017 and the company has been growing and
expanding its services ever since (to see exactly
how Trustap solved this specific issue with
tickets check out this case
study (.pdf) of how StudentSeats.com
used Trustap to stamp out ticket scams).
Conor
told me, "I like to think about Trustap from
two perspectives. One, as a solution for an individual
wanting to complete a one-off transaction, and
two, as a service for a marketplace wanting
to offer transactional support to its users." "For
indviduals, the biggest
differentiator for Trustap (aside from our lower
fees) is our ability to offer a personalized
'White-Glove' offering for large value
transactions. Trustap appoints a dedicated
transaction manager who will liaise with
the buyer and seller to ensure that everything
runs as smoothly and securely as possible. On
top of this, we offer multiple payment methods,
including a wide range of cryptocurrencies
with a strong preference for stablecoins like USDC."
Brandon Abbey added, "We can also handle broker
transactions, including those involving
multiple brokers and, as Conor noted, multiple
currencies." |



Conor
Lyden
Trustap Founder & CEO

Brandon
Abbey
Digital & US Partnerships, Trustap
|
For marketplaces,
Lyden said, "The biggest differentiator between
Trustap and other solutions is Trustap's holistic
approach to end-to-end transactions management
as opposed to just handling payment. Trustap assumes
the role of the merchant of record for each
transaction, which insulates the marketplace from
any liability whatsoever, including chargebacks and
tax reporting. As the graphic below shows, we manage
the entire transaction from start to finish
which lets the marketplace focus on what they do
best - growing the supply and demand side of the
marketplace."
Click
image to see larger version
In
closing, Lyden noted, "Nobody starts a
marketplace to get bogged down in
transaction-related issues. Trustap can handle
all that messy stuff and let the marketplace run
the rest of their business as profitably as
possible." Trustap
is a Stripe Verified Partner, a partnership
that ensures Trustap users will get world-class
security and that all payments and data are fully
protected. You can get more information on their
partnership with Stripe as well as Lyden's personal
entrepreneurial journey with Trustap here.
|
(Posted
June 10, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0610.htm
*****
|
Radix Releases
UA Readiness Study of E-Commerce Platforms to
Gauge Universal Acceptance for New TLDs |
ICANN
is preparing to open the door to another round of new
gTLDs next year and a lot of people are
getting ready to make a run at acquiring and
administering a new top level domain of their own
(as we told you last month, there is even a new
book out explaining how to do it). Of
course, the process of launching new TLDs now has
a fairly long history after hundreds hit the
Internet over a decade ago. A good thing about
that is you can better prepare by studying how
previous new TLDs have performed since joining
legacy TLDs like .com, .net and .org on the web.
On that front, Radix,
one of the most successful operators of multiple
new TLDs from the first wave, just released a
study detailing how new gTLDs have fared by one
critical measure - Universal
Acceptance (UA). |

Image
from Bigstock
|
If you
want to sell new TLD domain registrations your
customers are going to want know that any any
enterprise they build on your new extension will
work as flawlessly as possible on the web. To find
out how the original new TLDs have done in meeting
that objective Radix evaluated how well e-commerce platforms support
domain names and email addresses that use new
top-level domains.
Driven by Radix’s commitment to improving user
experience across modern domain formats, the study
highlights the progress made, as well as the gaps
that remain. The findings support the broader
industry goal championed by the Universal
Acceptance Steering Group (UASG), which
aims to make the internet more inclusive and
accessible for all users. Radix evaluated
145 e-commerce platforms across 16
categories, including website builders, payment
providers, email services, and social media
management tools. The study tested whether email
addresses using new short TLDs (three characters
or fewer, for example, .fun and .uno), new long TLDs
(four characters or more, for example, .online and
.website), and Internationalized
Domain Names were accepted during standard
sign-up processes.
Key
Findings:
1)
14 out of 16 e-commerce platform categories
showed full acceptance of new short and new
long TLDs during user sign-ups.
2)
New short and new long TLDs achieved a combined
acceptance rate of 98.6% across all platforms
tested, indicating strong overall support for these
domain types in sign-up workflows.
3)
IDN-based
email addresses had an average acceptance rate
of 39.31% across all platforms tested,
indicating significantly lower support compared to
new short and new long TLDs.
Neha Nair, Trust & Safety Director at Radix,
noted, “This study was driven by our intent to stay ahead of issues that users may face when adopting new top-level
domains. As a registry operator, we see it as
our responsibility to share insights that can support the advancement of Universal Acceptance. The findings highlight both the progress made and the work that still remains to ensure consistent acceptance of newer domain formats. We hope this research contributes to the collective industry effort to build a more inclusive and accessible internet.”
Radix has shared the findings of this study with
platform owners and developers to encourage
improvements in email validation and
domain acceptance. By identifying these
gaps, Radix aims to help technical teams
align their platforms with Universal
Acceptance best practices. |

Neha Nair |
(Posted
June 6, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0606.htm
*****
|
NamesCon
Global Provides a Peak Into Social Activities
Planned for 2025 Conference in Miami |
As we
told you in our last post,
the NamesCon
Global conference is moving to Miami
for their 2025 show. The event, centered
around the downtown Ice Palace special
events center, will get underway with social
events on November 4, followed by two full
business days November 5 & 6. In our previous
post we told you about some of the first Main
Stage business sessions to be announced. Now,
Namescon is also spreading the news what they have
planned for the social side of the big
show. Most
people will be arriving in Miami on November 4
to get settled in at the anchor hotel, the Miami
Marriott Biscayne Bay. After you check
in, you might want to beat the crowd by picking up
your badge then joining fellow attendees who opt
in for a Wynwood
Buggies Tour of Miami's famous
grafitti-art district. At 7pm the Namescon Welcome
Party at "The
Deck" is the place to be. There
you will find a sonic DJ, beer and wine, food
trucks and the first-ever Namescon Pickleball
Tournament. The
next morning (November 5), the networking
will start early when you jump on one of the buses
that will shuttle attendees to opening day at the NamesCon festival
grounds. After the morning business sessions,
you'll find more fun outside where food trucks |


A
scene from the Wynwood Buggies Tour in Miami
|
and lawn
games will be the center attention. Others will stay inside for the
annual Women of the Web Lunch. Later in the
day, a major highlight will be the RightoftheDot Digital
Assets Auction and an All-American picnic on the Festival Grounds complete with burgers, dogs, beer, wine, DJ and dancing.
On day 2 (November 6),
early bird fitness fans can get a jump on the day by
joining the Namescon Fun Run. Then, after
another productive day of business sessions on
multiple stages, the switch flips back to some
unique entertainment - the inaugural NamesCon
Server Throwing Competition. Capping it all off
that evening will be a special appearance from
the Serial
Killerz in concert at Miami's
legendary Wynwood Walls outdoor gallery.

A
scene from a Wynwood Walls concert in Miami
In
re-imagining what NamesCon Global can be, the
conference's new U.S. based management team has come
up with a B2B tropical vacation experience
that is tailor made for their shiny new home in
Miami. Many more details to come in the weeks and
months ahead.
|
(Posted
May 30, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0530.htm
*****
|
Main
Stage Agenda Released for 2025 NamesCon Global
Conference in Miami - Early Bird Ticket Offer
Expires May 30 |
Anticipation
continues to build for the NamesCon
Global conference's move to Miami
that is now just a few months away. The
domain industry's big event will be held in
Florida for the first time November 5-6, 2025
at the Ice
Palace special events venue in
downtown Miami. You will probably want to get into
town November 4 though to catch some cool
pre-show activities including an art district
tour, a pickleball tournament and a 7pm NamesCon
Welcome Party at The
Deck. The
two-day business agenda is also taking shape with
the Main
Stage schedule just released
(additional sessions will be held on multiple side
stages with details on those coming in the weeks
ahead). |

Image
from Bigstock
|
In the first
two hours alone, opening day attendees will hear
from Andrew
Miller (Hilco Digital) and Braden
Pollock (who just completed a $2.1
million sale of Fuse.com), industry
pioneer, DomainMarket.com Founder and Florida
resident Michael
Mann and Atom.com Founder & CEO Darpan
Munjal. In the afternoon, MedaOptions
Founder and CEO Andrew
Rosener will be on stage and at 4pm
living legend Monte
Cahn will be running the traditional NamesCon
RightOfTheDot Digital Asset Auction. Opening day
will conclude with a big Party on the Festival
Grounds and the hits just keep on coming on Day
2. For
those who want to save a substantial amount of money
on tickets, the key detail to focus on now is that
Friday, May 30 will be the last day you
can get the discounted Early
Bird tickets. For
those who haven't been to a NamesCon Global event
before, you can get a good idea of what the
experience is like from our comprehensive review of last
year's conference in Austin, Texas. Some
major developments beyond the the move to South
Florida (where the
first major domain conference was held
back in 2004) have happened in the past year. Those
have included a change in ownership of the NamesCon
conference itself with Opus Origin buying
NamesCon, Cloudfest Global and Cloudfest
USA (an event that runs concurrently with
NamesCon Global conferences) from WHD Events.
A
new U.S. based team headed by CEO Rebecca
Sausner is now overseeing those
conferences and is dedicated to expanding
and improving every one of them. That
is something they are more than capable of
doing as they have proven with a long track
record of staging successful large scale
events in multiple industries. Domain
Name Wire just published an interview
with the new owners that will
give you some great insight into their plans
for NamesCon and the Miami show in
particular. A
key part of those plans is breaking free of
the usual routine of running conferences
based in a hotel. NamesCon Global 2025 will move
the action into Miami's vibrant arts
district. Of course, attendees still
need a place to sleep at night (well, it is
Miami, so maybe not all of them!) and they
have that covered too with a block of discounted
rooms at the nearby Miami
Marriott Biscayne Bay for NamesCon
attendees. |

NamesCon
CEO Rebecca Sausner |
While
these changes will give NamesCon Global a major
refresh, it was also good to learn that several
of the people responsible for the success of
previous events will still be there helping take
NamesCon to the next level. Those include Soeren
von Varchmin (now dubbed NamesCon's Chief
Evangelist) who remains responsible for assembling
the outstanding content NamesCon has built
its reputation on. Christian Jaeger, who
served as NamesCon CEO prior to the sale of WHD
Events, will stay involved too, providing valuable
input for the NamesCon Advisory Board while
continuing to serve as CEO of the giant Cloudfest
global conference in Germany. Having
been at the first major domain conference in Delray
Beach, Florida back in 2004 and every one of the
NamesCon conferences since they began in 2014, it is
very fulfilling to see NamesCon bringing leaders of
the global domain industry back to the Sunshine
State where it all started - definitely a
full circle moment of the best kind.
|
(Posted
May 23, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0523.htm
*****
|
Andrew
Miller and Braden Pollock Ignite Another Skyrocket
with $2.1 Million+ Sale of Fuse.com |
When it
comes to domain aftermarket fireworks, super
broker Andrew
Miller at Hilco
Digital Assets and veteran domain
investor Braden
Pollock are often the guys lighting
the fuse. So it was especially fitting to learn
today that it was they who lit the match on a
newly announced $2,129,509 sale of Fuse.com.
Andrew had the exclusive listing of this gem
from Braden's world class portfolio and once again
made the magic happen. Andrew
had already brokered the biggest publicly reported
sale of the year
to date in Icon.com at $12
million. With Fuse.com he has given Hilco
Digital #3 as well (we will be charting the sale
and adding it to our YTD
Top 100 Chart when our next bi-weekly domain
sales report comes out Wednesday
evening, May 28). |

Image
from Bigstock
|
Credit
also goes to QEIP.com
where the buyer first requested help in locating and
acquiring a
top tier domain for their enterprise. It turned out
that Andrew and Hilco Digital were representing a
domain that was a perfect fit in Fuse.com (the fact
that it was one of Braden's names is not surprising
given the quality of the assets he
holds).
This is
the fourth publicly reported seven-figure or higher
sale thus far in 2025. Another legendary broker, Larry
Fischer, rang the bell with #2
Commerce.com at $2.2 million in February
and Sedo
did it with GX.com at $1.2 million in
March. Everyone should keep in mind that publicly
reported sales are just the tip of the iceberg.
The vast majority of sales at the high end of the
market are made under NDAs and never disclosed. The
ones that parties to the sale allow to be publicized
do give us important insight into how highly
valued these premier digital assets are though
and for that we are always grateful.
|
(Posted
May 21, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0521.htm
*****
|
Public
Interest Registry Wants Nominations for 7th Annual
.ORG Impact Awards - $180,000 in Prize Money To Be
Distributed With $50,000 Going to .ORG of the Year |
Public Interest Registry
(PIR), the nonprofit stewards of the .ORG
domain has issued a call for nominations for their
7th annual .ORG Impact Awards.
The
awards program was created to recognize outstanding
mission-driven individuals and organizations
from the global .ORG Community for their positive
contributions to society.
The winners from seven categories
will split a prize pool totaling $180,000
with $50,000 of that going to the grand
prize winner that will be named the .ORG of the
Year.
Over
the past six years, the .ORG Impact Awards have
recognized 226 outstanding .ORGs from over 87
countries. Through the Awards, Public Interest
Registry has donated $685,000 for
transformative work taking place around the world.
|

|
As
in past years, any person or
organization with a .ORG domain is welcome to apply
for the 2025
awards free of charge. Just be sure
you get
your application/nomination in before the
deadline - June 4, 2025.
Organizations may
apply for multiple categories of awards if more than
one category is a good fit.
The entries will be evaluated by a judging panel of
leaders in the Internet, nonprofit, and marketing
sectors.
Categories
for the 2025 awards include:
-
Health
and Healing
-
Quality
Education for All
-
Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion
-
Environmental
Stewardship
-
Hunger
and Poverty
-
Community
Building
-
Rising
Star (For
the first time ever, PIR has increased the age
limit for the “Rising Star” category from 25
to under 30, offering even more young
changemakers making a difference in the world
the chance to apply).
35 finalists (five from each category) will be invited on a sponsored trip to
Washington, D.C. with opportunities to
meet with nonprofit leaders, culminating in the final
award ceremony with a surprise celebrity host
on October 7, 2025. Winners
will be announced at the award ceremony, honoring
their work to make the world a better place.
Additional event details will be released in the
coming months.
Each
category winner will receive $10,000
in donation award funds, while the ultimate
.ORG of the Year will be honored with
the $50,000 grand prize. Finalists across all
categories will receive a $2,500
donation. These |

Jon Nevett
CEO, Public Interest Registry
|
funds
offer
all recognized organizations the ability to
drive their missions forward as they see
fit. Receiving a prestigious .ORG Impact
Award not only elevates an organization's
profile but also fuels donations, funding,
talent acquisition, partnership development,
and audience reach.
In
2024, over 1,700 applicants from over 87
countries submitted applications. The
winner
of the 2024 .ORG of the Year award
was Yellow
Boat of Hope Foundation,
a Philippines-based nonprofit organization
which provides access to education for
children in remote and poverty-stricken
areas by providing boats to reach their
schools.
Jon
Nevett, CEO of Public Interest Registry,
noted, “We started the .ORG Impact Awards
to honor and spotlight those within the .ORG
Community that work tirelessly to create
positive change. When you apply to the .ORG Impact
Awards, you’re joining a global
community of changemakers united in a
shared commitment to making the world a
better place. If you’re a changemaker
committed to mission-driven work or know
someone who is, please submit
a nomination to join our growing
community.” |
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(Posted
May 16, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0516.htm
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How
to Get Your Own Top Level Domain - New Book from
Joe Alagna & Andrey Insarov Will Help You
Prepare For the Next Round of New TLDs |
Earlier
today I posted an article
about the .ART registry celebrating their
8th anniversary this week. They are one of the
more successful new top level domains to come out of
ICANN's first wave of new
gTLDs that brought hundreds of new extensions
to the Internet. Now ICANN is preparing to launch
the second wave of new gTLDs in 2026
and a lot of people will be vying to own a top
level domain of their own. As attractive as that
prospect appears on the surface, creating a
successful new TLD is a lot more difficult than
most people might imagine. In
the article about .ART we focused on what the
founders did after winning their TLD
to attract hundreds of thousands of loyal
supporters. Thanks to a new book, How
to Get Your Own Top Level Domain,
that has just been released by industry veterans
Joe
Alagna and Andrey
Insarov, you can learn what has to
be done before you can take the reins of
your own new domain registry. |

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Joe
Alagna (CSO, it.com Domains) and Andrey
Insarov (Founder & CEO, it.com Domains)
There are
few people in the industry that have more experience
in acquiring new top level domains than Joe
Alagna. He spent almost 13 years immersed in the process of helping new
domains come into existence during the first
wave of new TLDs. Almost 2,000 applications
were received during that "gold rush"
and Joe worked on about 60 of the
applications that were successful. With a massive
second round of new gTLDs on the horizon, Joe
decided it was time to share what he learned from
his experiences on the new TLD battlefield. That
war zone is a busy one because the potential payoff
is tantalizing. Joe explained, "A top-level
domain like .realty or .art isn’t
just a string. It’s a platform – a naming
ecosystem that can host millions of
second-level domains beneath it, each potentially
worth hundreds, thousands, or sometimes millions of
dollars individually. The operator controls pricing,
policy, partnerships, and access. Operators of TLDs
like .xyz, .io, and .ai have
built multi-million-dollar enterprises by
monetizing naming rights across niches. Verisign,
which operates .com and .net, has
become a $20+ billion company doing exactly
this." Joe's
co-author, Intis
Telecom Founder Andrey Insarov,
is already running his own domain registry at it.com
Domains. It is the latest
enterprise in what has been an extraordinarily
successful entrepreneurial career that we detailed
in a July 2022 Cover
Story about Andrey. He gives the new
book a first hand account of running a new domain
registry, along with world class business advice
that you can apply to any enterprise. If you are
giving any thought at all to applying for a new gTLD
next year, getting a copy of How to Get Your
Own Top Level Domain would be a great place
to start.
|
(Posted
May 15, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0515-02.htm
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The
.ART Registry is Celebrating Its 8th Anniversary
and Expanding Its Reach With a Comprehensive
Commercially Released Artist Handbook |
The .ART
Registry is celebrating its 8th
anniversary this week. Since launching May 10,
2017 .ART has become a digital home to nearly 300,000
creatives in over 170 countries. They
have gotten there by constant community
building efforts both online and off. Those
have included q popular webinar series featuring
art and tech leaders, its Open Call
offerings, and continued backing of the Healing
Power of Art Initiative, including a $1
million endowment for fellowships in Art
Therapy graduate studies at The George
Washington University. For
this year's anniversary the registry is putting
its brand into more hands offline with the
commercial release of the comprehensive new Artist
Handbook by .ART. The softcover
book ($19.95 at Amazon) was developed with input
from artists, curators, and professionals working
at the intersection of art, law, tech, and funding.
The publication was put together by .ART
Founder Ulvi Kasimov, Editors Jeff
Sass and Anastasia Sukhanov,
Illustrator Medina Kasimova and
six contributors. In
its 15 chapters, the Artist Handbook
covers everything from developing your visual
identity to licensing, contracts, grant writing,
and building your presence online and in Web3.
Contributors include Anna Fischer, a legal
advisor specializing in intellectual property and
blockchain; Lara Monro, a funding
consultant who helps artists secure grants and
navigate access support; and Arthur Steiner,
a cultural strategist focused on funding
innovation in the arts, and many others. |


|
The
artworks featured in the handbook were selected
through an Open Call at HUG.art,
making this a truly collaborative publication based
on the experiences and aesthetics of artists from
the global .ART community. Founder Ulvi Kasimov
said, “As we mark eight years of serving the
global creative community, we wanted to offer
something lasting and practical. This
handbook reflects our belief that artists need more
than inspiration—they need access, support, and
tools to thrive.”
Recent highlights from
the .ART community include teamLab’s
record-breaking immersive exhibition in Abu
Dhabi, Sharon
Stone’s upcoming solo show in Rome
and the launch of the Mediterranean-focused VIMA
Art Fair. These are just a few examples
of .ART’s efforts to empower artists,
institutions, and forward-thinking brands so they
can gain visibility and connect with audiences
worldwide. ICANN
is expected to open another of new TLDs next
year. Hundreds of new TLDs were added to the
Internet in the last wave but only a small
percentage of those have thrived - those being, in
almost every case, the ones that have heavily
invested in time, money and resources to build a
loyal following. With the next wave of new TLDs
schedule to begin rolling out next year, .ART is one
that serves as a reminder to potential operators
that making a registry successful requires a lot
more than the initial acquisition cost of a
TLD.
|
(Posted
May 15, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0515.htm
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Media.Options.com
CEO Andrew Rosener Racks Up 7th Straight #1 Finish
on Escrow.com's Annual Master of Domains Honor
Roll |
For the
past nine years, Escrow.com
has been shining a light on many of the top
domain brokers in the industry through their
annual Master of Domains Awards program.
The honors go to the top ten brokers, based
on total dollar value of transactions closed on
the Escrow.com platform. When the 2025 winners
were announced today, MediaOptions.com
CEO Andrew
Rosener broke his own record by
collecting a 7th consecutive #1 MOD Award.
Just making the list is an honor and that is
something Andrew has done in every year of
the program's existence. Here
is the complete 2025 Top Ten: 1.
Andrew Rosener - Media Options
2. Keith Richter - Lumis Group
3. Jason Miner - Name Advisor
4. Brent Oxley
5. Ryan McKegney - DomainAgents
6. Steve Miholovich - Name Arena
7. Jeffrey Gabriel - Saw.com
8. James Booth - DomainBooth.com
9. Brian Harbin - Grit Brokerage
10. Mark Daniel - Domain Holdings Group In
the past the MOD winners have been revealed at the
annual NamesCon conference (the photo of
Andrew at right is from the June
2024 NamesCon event in Austin where he
picked up his 6th #1 plaque). However, this year
NameCon shifted its usual summer dates to November
when it will be held in Miami. As a result the
2025 honor roll was released online today instead. |


MediaOptions
CEO Andrew Rosener
|
Escrow.com
CEO Matt Barrie said, “We’re thrilled to
present the ninth edition of our Master of Domains
award. Congratulations to Andrew Rosener for
his continued dominance as our 2025 Master of
Domains. We also commend Keith Richter and
our new entrant in 2025, Jason Minor, for
their remarkable achievements. All winners should be
proud of their 2024 transactions, delivering
tremendous value for your clients and continuing to
be consistent forces in the industry.”
|
(Posted
May 12, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0512.htm
*****
|
ICA
Announces New Venue, Dates and Expanded Schedule
for 2026 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas |
The Internet
Commerce Association (ICA), the
non-profit organization that fights to protect
domain registrant's rights, has announced some major
changes for their next Annual Member's
Meeting in Las Vegas. Those include a
new venue for the 2026
event
and the
addition of a third day to the rapidly
growing conference's schedule. After running at
the huge Resorts World complex for the past three
years, the meeting is moving to another popular
location on the Las Vegas Strip - the Park
MGM - for an |

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event that will run January
15-17, 2026. Those dates come immediately after Affiliate
Summit West which will make them especially
convenient for the many members who attend both. The
Park MGM location comes with several advantages
including rooms (both at the Park MGM and at an
upscale option, NoMad Hotels) that are much
closer to the conference spaces - just a short
elevator ride down (the NoMad suites occupy the top
four floors of the building and have a separate
lobby). For those who don't smoke another huge
plus is the fact the Park MGM is the only hotel
on the entire strip with a No Smoking policy,
including the casino. The Park MGM, formerly known
as the Monte Carlo, has 3,000 newly renovated
rooms and a variety of popular dining options
onsite and next door (the Park is connected to Aria
by a walkway and also has a tram connection to
the Bellagio). 
The
Park MGM sits in the middle of all of the action on
the Las Vegas Strip. Registration
will be opening soon with early bird pricing, so
keep an eye out for that. The main thing the ICA
wanted to do now was get the dates and other major
change information out there so you can save the
dates. If you haven't been to an ICA meeting you
are missing out on what has become one of the most
informative, entertaining and productive events on
the global conference calendar. You can get a good
idea of what the experience entails from our
review of this year's conference held
this past January. You do need to be
an ICA member to attend, and if you are
a professional in this industry, you definitely
should consider joining!
|
(Posted
May 6, 2025) 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/2025/dailyposts/0506.htm
*****
|
Free
May 8 Webinar Featuring InterNetX and Sedo Experts
Will Take You on a Deep Dive Into Today's Global
Domain Industry |
A few
weeks ago we
told you about the release of the 2025
Global Domain Report
from InterNetX
and Sedo
The two industry leaders have been publishing this
extraordinarily comprehensive report annually
since 2020 and it has been providing invaluable
insight into the worldwide domain business
ever since. Now,
they're taking this outstanding resource up
another level with a free webinar that
will feature two of the key experts behind the
report - InterNetX's Simone
Catania and Sedo's Semra
Koerner. The webinar, hosted by eco
- the Association of the Internet Industry,
will be presented Thursday, May 8, starting
at 11am US Eastern Daylight time (15:00 PM
UTC / 17:00 PM CEST). Anyone who wants to attend
can register
here. In
addition to giving you a first hand account of
findings from the Global Domain Report, the
webinar, presented in English, will cover these
topics: |


Simone
Catania (left) and Semra Koerner will
host the
Global Domain Report Webinar
Thursday, May 8.
|
-
A
comprehensive domain industry status quo
-
Key
insights from the primary and aftermarkets
-
Popular
TLDs, SLDs, and keyword trends
-
A
closer look at AI trends, domain security, Web3
domains, NIS2 and new gTLD program
-
Essential
sales data from the aftermarket
In order
to put this year's Global Domain Report
together, InterNetX and Sedo interviewed experts
from around the world to gather the most
up-to-date and most relevant insight, so you can
expect this hour to be some of the most informative
time you'll spend this year.
|
(Posted
May 2, 2025) To refer others to the post
above only (and not the full Lowdown
column) you can use this URL:
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*****
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