The first period would allow owners of porn-related trademarks to claim their .xxx domain names and use them as normal, ICM representatives said here at ICANN’s public meeting in Cartagena, Colombia.

But the second would enable non-porn companies that don’t want their brands associated with adult material to basically “turn off” their trademarks in .xxx domains, paying a one-time fee.

Disney, for example, would be able to make sure that disney.xxx is permanently blocked from registration. The domain would not resolve, not even to forward to disney.com, and the company wouldn’t have to pay recurring annual registration fees.

It does not appear that ICM’s plans would prevent cybersquatters registering domains such as disneyporn.xxx, but high registration fees for .xxx domains will likely make this less of a problem for trademark holders.

The third proposed sunrise would allow owners of non-trademarked porn domains in other TLDs, such as .com, to get their equivalent .xxx using an automated Whois check.

The company has launched a new initiative called Be A Leader With .Com in India and has several case studies to show how a .com web site has helped businesses thrive on the internet.

Verisign is aiming to showcase to its audience the following benefits of a .com website:

• Competitiveness: A .com domain name is one of the most popular across many geographies and industries.
• Reputation: Many of the biggest and best corporations around the world use and promote their Web sites with a .com extension.
• Customer traffic: A .com domain name is by far the most likely extension to be tried out by visitors from type-in traffic.
• Creates a positive perception: A .com domain name suggests that you are serious about doing business and lends credibility.
• Establishes longevity: .com is one of the oldest extensions and suggests a well-established presence on the Internet.
• Improved visibility: A .com domain name gives you the right advantage in a populated online landscape. Today’s search engines are geared to recognise .com. For example if you type mydomain into a search bar without worrying about the ‘www’ or the .com, you will end up at http://www.mydomain.com.

Tim Berners-Lee wrote a paper explaining the dangers of the introduction of new top level domain names.

I particularly agree with his following observation:

The root of the domain name system is a single public resource, by design. Its control must be for and, indirectly, by the people as a whole. To give away a large chunk of this to a private group would be simply a betrayal of the public trust put in ICANN.

I don’t like any of this myself at all.

In fact, I hate this new plan of ICANN so much that I’d have tried going to courts over the “betrayal of the public trust” had I been in the US. Is there no way people outside USA can contribute to pursue ICANN and make this clear to them that this is not a wise move and must not be pursued at all?

.mp is an interesting domain extension and could produce a number of domain hacks. I, myself tried the names of a few cities in Madhya Pradesh (MP), one of the largest states in India and wasn’t able to find a single one unregistered! Found out that all of these redirect to the Chi.mp home page! So, the guys had already thought of that and want to keep it personalized and not commercialized! Well, in that case at least these should be available as paid domains.

Would have been great to get some of those if I could but looks like it ain’t gonna be. Never mind!

Anyway, Chi.mp not only allows users to select a personalized .mp domain name, but also link it  to their online social networking profiles and RSS feeds etc. Would create some interesting kinda’ sites.

Hope this wouldn’t turn out to be a fibber as the .tel domain extension seems to be. So much for storing your contact details IN a domain name! Bah!

Obama’s historic win also has given rise to hundreds of hopeful domainers and cybersquatters rushed to register domain names with Obama as a keyword. Many of these domain names are being pitched as premium domains and are being offered for sale on eBay, Sedo and many other domain name forums across in internet.

Even Obama’s popular speech termed ‘Yes We Can‘ has inspired people to write songs, record them and upload to Youtube and garner thousands of daily hits. It also seems to have inspired a pornographer who has put his domain www.sexwecan.com for sale for $10,000.

Then there are Obama playing cards, Obama pin badges, Obama plaques, Obama posters and Obama paper dolls and many other Obama items on sale on eBay and elsewhere.

Hope this euphoria augurs well for the new President of the USA and all that we would like to say is that -

Mr. President, We Wish You A Merry Christmas and hope that you will be able to play Santa Claus to the economy of the United States, which would mean some smaller gifts to other fledgling economies worldwide! May you have a terrific time at the White House and be able to pull off a coup of sorts by sorting out the economic mess all around! Amen!

A .TEL domain name can be used to store, update and publish all your contact information, web links and keywords directly on the internet under your own unique .tel domain. Simple, fast and accessible from any device, .tel aims to provides a new internet standard for users to take full control over how and where people reach you.

The .tel enables:

• integration of any and all means of communication (i.e. Phone numbers, IM, VOIP, email, social media)
• real-time publishing of your contact information on the internet
• full ownership of your published data
• protection of your private data, only viewable by people you authorize
• simple structured navigation to easily reach the most relevant information
• high speed global access optimized for mobile devices
• multi-language, search engine-friendly structured information and keywords

.Tel Sunrise Period
Duration: December 3, 2008 at 15:00 GMT through February 2, 2009 23:59 GMT
Terms: Registrations open only to trademark holders and owners. Sunrise rules will follow a first-come first-served basis. There will be no premium list placed on reserve for later auction.
Price: $359 for a mandatory three-term registration term. Fully refundable only if another application was submitted before yours and passed Validation.

.Tel Landrush Period
Duration: February 3, 2009 at 15:00 GMT through March 23, 2009 23:59 GMT
Terms: You can register any name, even if it’s not your own or your own company’s name. the golden time for cybersquatters to register premium domain names, which would later result in domain disputes and hefty settlements running into millions!
Price: $299 for a mandatory three-term registration term. Fully refundable if application is not successful.

.Tel Open Registrations
Date: March 24, 2009 15:00 GMT
Terms: Register any name you may want.
Price: $18/year with one year minimum term. Fully refundable if application is not successful.

Sunrise orders being accepted since October 15

IRAQ.COM is available for sale and has that many impressive searches per month. The domain name without content is available for sale by its owner through Sedo’s Domain Marketplace.

Domain Statistics
Visitors to the Sedo offer page for the domain: 2,227 (previous 31 days)
Visitors to the domain’s website: 8,087 (previous 31 days)

Domain Popularity
PageRank: 3/10
Alexa Rank:1,666,385

Link Popularity
Incoming Google Links: 4
Incoming Yahoo! Links: 234

Going by the popularity of Iraq due to the atrocities of its infamous dictator, Saddam Hussein, and the ongoing reconstruction of the country, there are immense opportunities attached with the domain and anyone who has a vision and is able to capitalize upon the inherent potential of the domain will be a rich… rich man!

My guess is that the domain name will fetch anything between $5 million to $8million! Any takers for a bet?

Earlier this year, premium domain names have been sold for top dollars. These domain names include like Israel.com ($5.88 Million) and America.com (unverified amount). Other generic domain names related to Date Recovery, Fund and Pizza sold for $17 million, $10 million and $2.6 million respectively.

In my humble opinion, out of these domain names, Pizza.com deserved a better price than it got.

What do you say, people?

Despite a very competitive market and assertions that the .com domain is the most desirable for small-business owners and professionals, the interest in the .pro domain signals that businesses and professionals are still investing in protecting their brands in niche markets. Customers that have registered their preferred .pro domain since relaunch include numerous trademark owners and professional service firms.

Dot-pro domain names work just like dot-com domains, with the ability to create fully featured websites and email addresses. The extension is already universally recognized on the Internet as the premium space for licensed professionals.

The .Pro domain is a restricted domain name, available to professionals who self-certify that they meet the eligibility requirements of their profession. There are no restrictions on the types of names a business or professional may register: including trademarks, industry keywords, search engine terms, company names, or marketing slogans. There is no limit to how many dot-pro domain names an individual or company can register.

Licensed professionals from anywhere in the world are eligible to register dot-pro domain names on a first-come, first-served basis for just $24.99 for the first year. Subsequent years will be priced at $49/year. Renewals are priced at $59.99/year.

Types of businesses and professions now eligible for dot-pro include: Lawyers, Accountants, Engineers, Doctors, Architects, Dentists, Educators, Chiropractors, Veterinarians, Surveyors, Plumbers, Inspectors, Investment Advisors, Real Estate Brokers, Insurance Brokers, Nurses, Opticians, Optometrists, Podiatrists, Psychologists, Therapists, Social Workers, Building Contractors, Electricians, Patent and Trademark Examiners, Court Reporters, Police and Fire Safety Officers and any other profession where an official credential is required for a business or individual to offer services.

“Trademark owners and professionals that are serious about protecting and building their brands have made themselves clear. They see .pro as a valuable tool in reaching their target market,” says Thomas Barrett, President of EnCirca. “We urge licensed professionals everywhere that have not secured their .pro domains to move quickly to ensure they safeguard their brands.”

EnCirca is offering a special promotional price for .pro domain names of just $24.99 for the first year. All applicants will be required to submit license credentials to demonstrate eligibility. All international businesses and individuals holding professional licenses can take advantage of this domain.

Sedo’s top-selling names for its regularly held GreatDomains auction include villas.com for $478,000; invest.com for $1,015,000 and tees.com for $252,500.

Am sure that Fly.com will sell for at least a cool million dollars and it sure will be one hell of an investment! Any airline might pick this one up! What do you say, guys?

Dan Kaminsky, who is assisting major companies to patch the hole has admitted that the flaw was the most severe one discovered in the last decade and could provide a freeway for criminal identity-theft gangs to exploit.

Security holes, more typically found in Internet browsers, e-mail programs and other applications, enable thieves to operate from overseas and coordinate stolen information through underground online businesses.

Only this week, 11 members of one such gang were charged in the heist of information covering more than 40 million credit cards and debit cards that had been used for purchases at TJ Maxx, Barnes & Noble and other major retailers.