eWeek has the updated goods on the developments involving the battle by the registrar coalition in blocking the wait listing service brainchild of Verisign. It appears the TLD partners bent on stopping the controversial domain backorder system, have given up legal proceedings against the .com and .net registry. Like many a domainer...they don't think it'll ever see the light of day.
"Beginning Tuesday, February 8th, you must bid at least $30 on your Club Drop list to enter into a private auction" eNom
The under $20 reseller grabs are over, but it's still half the price for non bidders in comparison to SnapNames or Pool. C'est la vie.
According to reps from Google, it's recent domain registrar accredidation stems from the search giants interest in learning more about the domain name system to enhance the quality of it's search results.....and it could directly effect the expired domain market.
You can find all the details here.
Looks like the folks down under are getting into the drop market.......finally. Net24, a registry for the .nz extention has just launched an expired domain auction format service aptly named expireddomains.co.nz.
"The launch of Net24's new service follows the .nz Registry's recent decision to make available to authorised .nz Registrars a daily list of .nz domain names that will expire within 24 hours.
The service was developed in partnership with Net24's Registrar division, 1st Domains (www.1stdomains.co.nz). 1st Domain's back-end automated registration process is used to secure domain names on behalf of a customer moments after the Registry releases them.
As well as providing the ability to bid on expiring domain names, the Expired Domains site will publish recently released domain names available for registration on a first in, first served basis."
source: Scoop.co.nz
The starting bid price for an auctioned domain is $25.00. The top bid price bearer recieves a years registration with their newly acquired domain.
On a side note, an average of over 2000 .nz domains expire every month.
Could be a sign that the (domain trojan) and very controversial WLS ( wait listing service ) brainchild by Verisign may truly be kaput......The Network Solutions branded WLS service "Next Registration Rights" has suspended operations indefinitely
"......... Due to our concerns about the continued delay in the launching of the underlying service by the designated registry, we are suspending the pre-order sign-up process for the Next Registration Rights service until a firm launch date is confirmed.
We will maintain the current information we have on file for your pre-orders and will contact you in the future if a launch date is announced. At that time, we will ask you to confirm your decision to continue with any pre-orders previously submitted by you. Your pre-orders will not be processed and you will not be charged, at any such future time, without your prior confirmation."
source: NextRegistrationRights.com
Equal access expiring domain service it's not.....more on that later...and oh what a read.....
One of the largest expired domain search services on the web, DeletedDomains.com has relaunched with some changes. Most notably, with an added price tag.
The grandfather of all url finders, has just replaced it's free access services (which it held since the websites inception back in June of 1998) with a weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly membership structure. Prices for using the site now range from a monthly $14.99 membership charge, to a $99.99 (12 month) plan.
iNET Interactive which took over ownership of the notorious domain name tool in September 2002, has indicated that new features have been added since the virtual overhaul, with more add ons to come in the near future.
