Friday, May 16, 2008

No IPv4 left in 2011

Today, 85% of these IPv4 addresses are in use.
There should be no left by 2011. It is time to move to IPv6.

Read full OECD report here (PDF)

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Landrush Period ?

A "Landrush period” is not a Landrush anymore

Previously, participating in a Landrush period offered the possibility to acquire a domain name with no prior right. Landrush was a “Go Live”; the right period to claim a domain name and be the only one to acquire it following the “first come fist served” rule. It is still the case but…

The launching of .ASIA seems to have changed this simple rule. Today, there is a huge difference between a Landrush period and a “Go Live” (also called “open registration”).

These confusing terms for the Registrant with no knowledge increase the risk to just…lose a domain name. Here is a brief description of these different periods:

A “Sunrise period”: Need of a prior right to claim the domain name (registered company, brand, etc…)

A “Landrush period”: Open to anyone with no prior right but your domain goes to auctions if at least 2 persons ask for the same domain name.

“Go live”: Open registration following the “first come fist served” rule.

So: should I participate to a Landrush period?

When acting to register your domain name during a Landrush, you also inform your competitors there is an interest in a specific domain name: if one tries to register this domain name, your domain goes to auction and the richest bidder gets the domain.

When not acting during the Landrush, you take the risk to lose your domain name to anyone faster than you during “Go Live”.

My suggestion would be to participate in Sunrise if you have a prior right. If you have a budget but no prior right, register during Landrush. If you have no budget: there are 2 options:
Search for a good Registrar with few clients who will send his list of requests as soon as Go Live period starts ( a large registrar will have a longer list).

Search for several Registrars and register with more than one to increase your chances to get the domain.

Friday, May 2, 2008

You have been outbid for guillon.asia

Guillon.asia is on Pool.com for auction.

Today I received the mail below:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Domain Name: guillon.asiaCurrent Price: $20.00 USDClose Date: 15 May 2008 18:05 GMT
Don't miss out on this domain name! You have been outbid for the domain guillon.asia.

If you want to obtain this domain, please update your Max Bid by logging into your account at:
https://dotasia.pool.com/MyAccount/auctions.aspx
------------------------------------------------------------------
What a pleasant surprise to read my family name has value.

Now If price is $20, I guess I could afford to pay $30 to acquire it. Bidding and bidding again the price is now $160 ! I quit. I wonder who can afford to pay $150 for guillon.asia when I am the owner of guillon.com. Let's...wait and see.

The interesting thing about auctions is that it does increase the value of the existing .COM

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Melbourne IT acquires Verisign

When the giant comes out.

I like to comment news about he domain name industry and here is an interesting one: I worked for one of Verisign and Melbourne IT's direct competitor.

Large Corporate registrars tend to open their knowledge to the brand itself (with monitoring for instance and other complementary products): isn't the domain name the first entry point to introduce your brand online? Large Coporations have understood such a need to link domain name to brand management: it is easier, it faster, it reduces the number of contacts to deal with at the service provider.

Verisign was one of the first Corporate Registrar to come with a complete offer. Today is "rare" to find serious Coporate Registrars who are able to manage domain name portfolios. With the knowledge I have of the Corporate market: Melbourne IT was a competitor at the time I worked for a Corporate registrar and so was Verisign DBMS. Today, it is a serious one.

.BRAND new gTLD Reports are updated once a month: CLICK HERE !