Timing is of the essence when purchasing domain names. Domain names are a very unique product in the fact that the product doesn’t exist until someone creates it with a domain registration. Many people purchase domain names with the intent of reselling them for a profit to those who were too late to the game. The domain industry can be extremely lucrative for experienced trend forecasters and others who find themselves in the right place at the right time when buying and selling domains. 
Domain investing is a niche market. The domainers who have been in the industry since the Internet began, have profited from selling premium one-word domain names for six figures and higher. Take, for example, Insurance.com, one of the highest recorded domain name sales of all time.

If you’re looking to become a successful domain investor, you need to understand how the domain market works. From understanding how to not infringe on a trademark to keeping a “paper trail” of all your interactions and conversations that have to do with buying and selling, make sure you’re following the proper steps to ensure your domain purchases and sales are legal and safe.

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Domain privacy or WHOIS protection (different registrars sometimes refer to it by different names) hides the domain registrant’s personal information from the public WHOIS database.
WHOIS is an organization that manages all data regarding domain registration. All registrant details are considered public information, in addition to the nameservers and other simple details regarding domain registrations (e.g. registration, renewal, and expiry dates).
If someone knows a registered domain name, they can enter it into any WHOIS search tool on the web to retrieve this public information. With privacy protection in place, all of this information becomes masked.
This includes hiding your personal name, address, phone, email, and business name. Instead, a generic registrar-generated information set is displayed.

If you don’t want all your personal data exposed to the world you need domain privacy protection. WhoIs privacy protection is a service that will keep your personal data hidden and therefore safe.

Without WhoIs privacy protection your information is out there for the world to have access to and to manipulate. This becomes an issue when you start getting unwanted emails from scammers, sales people and even those who want to hijack your domain.

Do yourself a favor and always get domain privacy protection. It’s a small step to ensure that your personal information is safe and not in the hands of hackers and scammers.

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People often don’t know this but domain names cannot be transferred within 60 days of registration. You won’t be able to transfer a new domain to another registrar until day 61 after the domain registration. In addition, you also cannot transfer a domain name that has been transferred within the past 60 days. These 60-day domain name transfer rules are brought to you by ICANN (the governing body of the global generic domain name system). So if you tried to be cheeky and register your domain name at a cheap registrar you’ll have to stay put until your 60 days is up. 

You might be looking to transfer your domain names and not sure how to start the process. First thing you want to do is make sure you fall within the guidelines of ICANN. Are you even eligible to transfer? If your domains are past 60 days of your current registration, then you’re good to continue to the next rule.

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When it comes to starting a small business today, establishing an online presence is essentially on the same level as planning and budgeting. A brand in today’s market can’t grow to its full potential without having an online presence. Before the days of social media, you would register a domain name, build a website on it and then use traditional methods of advertising to bring people to your website. With the adaption of social media, brands soon realized they could utilize social networks to promote their brand where their customers are and where their friends are, but social media can’t replace domain names as a standalone online presence.

Social media is great and has definitely opened up opportunities to promote our brands. It’s a wonderful tool. A tool to use in addition to our websites. It shouldn’t be used by itself, instead of a domain.

Social media controls what content gets viewed and will charge you to promote your posts. With a website you have total control over your content and can promote your brand on your own terms.

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Domain names have to point to a web host, where the actual files of your web site live. If you don’t have a hosting account, your domain name won’t be able to load your web site and your visitors will never be able to purchase your product – because they’ll never see it.

While there are limitless hosting options available, it’s usually not necessary to purchase anything too fancy. You can get a good hosting account with all the features you need for a very affordable price. Don’t get tricked into buying more than you need. If your web site is super successful, you can always upgrade your hosting plan down the road.

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With all of the new domain endings available today, you can buy a premium domain name that is tailored to your industry or your “thing”. There’s only a certain amount of permutations available for key terms and phrases which makes premium domain names so valuable. When you buy a premium domain name specific to your market, you own that space in a way that none of your competitors can. This year has been a record year for new domain names being sold for 6 figures.

Some don’t think the purchase is worth the cost but the benefits of buying your premium domain name for your brand are huge. Having a premium domain name will help consumers find you more easily, will be a trusted entity due to the premium name, and will save you the money you’d be spending on advertising to promote your brand.

Having a premium domain name will also increase your ranking on search engines. The more consumers choose your site because of its name, the higher up in search results you’ll appear and in turn make you more money.

So it may seem excessive to spend six figures on a premium domain name but your brand will grow and the benefits will be worth it in the end.

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When it comes to the domain name industry there is a big list of technical terms and jargon that have been constantly evolving since the early days of the Internet.

I’ve composed this article as a reference for those who might not have had the opportunity to research the complete ins-and-outs of domaining. If you’re not quite sure what domaining is, I’ve got you covered

This is in fact an A to Z list of terms that would be a great resource for anyone just getting started in the domain industry.  Those new to domaining know it can be overwhelming but this list is a great place to start.

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WASHINGTON – More than 1 million copyright-infringing website domain names selling counterfeit automotive parts, electrical components, personal care items and other fake goods were criminally and civilly seized in the past year through the combined efforts of law-enforcement agencies across the world, high-profile industry representatives and anti-counterfeiting associations.

The ongoing intellectual property enforcement initiative targeting fake websites, dubbed Operation In Our Sites, was facilitated by the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center), a joint-task force agency led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The IPR Center, which stands at the forefront of the U.S. government’s response to IP theft, worked directly with key international law-enforcement authorities and industry organizations representing the electronics sector, luxury brand-name designers,  film and entertainment and several entities specializing in apparel and accessories through the major enforcement effort.

Some of the counterfeit items being sold from the seized websites included airbags, integrated sensors, and other automotive parts which present a huge hazard risk.

Each year scammers are finding new and better ways to dupe consumers. We need to be smart and do research to confirm legitimacy before purchasing products not being sold on trusted shopping services.

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The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has extended the Cooperative Agreement between it and Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN). This agreement governs how Verisign is able to operate .com, which has a contract with ICANN to run.

The biggest element of the agreement is pricing. Previously, the agreement froze the wholesale price that Verisign could charge for .com domains. The new agreement still has pricing restrictions but allows for 7% price hikes in four out of every six years. Actual pricing must be negotiated with ICANN.

Verisign charging an additional 7% means registrars could be paying up to 31% more on .coms every 6 years. So in turn, registrars will then charge customers more to cover their costs.

Think about the people who have large numbers of .com domains they want to sell. With the increased prices will buyers still be interested? How about those looking to purchase several .coms? That could get very pricey and might have them looking for other TLD options. The Trump admin decision is great for Verisign and ICANN but unfortunately not so much for consumers and domain registrars.

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A Florida company that trains developers on agile development and scrum has been found to have engaged in reverse domain name hijacking.

Clearly Agile, Inc., which uses the domain name ClearlyAgileInc.com, filed a cybersquatting complaint against ClearlyAgile.com with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

ClearlyAgile.com is used by another company that offers somewhat similar services.

Reverse domain name hijacking (aka reverse cybersquatting) is when an owner of a trademark tries to gain control of a domain name that is already owned by another person or “cybersquatter.” Often they will try to purchase it.  If that doesn’t work, tactics usually turn to intimidation and then legal action stating that they have a right to domain name. Usually this is because it’s the name of their business and they can claim the original owner stole it from them.

This case is particularly ridiculous though because the owner of ClearlyAgile.com purchased the domain name before the complainant’s business even existed. So after a failed attempt at purchasing the domain name, they tried to intimidate and then sue the rightful owner. A classic example of reverse domain name hijacking. Needless to say this case didn’t get far and the original owners of ClearlyAgile.com remain in control of the domain.

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