Google Files Complaint for AndroidConnection.net Domain Name

Google,has recently filed a complaint against the owner of AndroidConnection.net domain name,seeking control of it.

Google filed the complaint with the National Arbitration Forum on December 18,2014.

According to whois records, the domain name was first registered in May,2014.

The National Arbitration Forum will examine over the next days if the domain name is confusingly similar to Google’s trademark,if the current owner has rights over it and if the domain is being used in bad faith .AndroidConnection.net will be passed over to Google if it falls under all three of these stipulations.

At the time of writing this article, the case is still pending compliance checks with the National Arbitration Forum.

Three-Letter Premium Domain Names Now Available for Sale via Igloo

Igloo.com, one of the leading brokers of ultra premium domains, announced recently that some of the world’s best three-letter domains are now available for sale with their firm.

You can read the press release after the jump :

“Igloo.com, a leading broker of ultra premium domain names and websites announced today that some of the world’s best three-letter domain names are now listed exclusively for sale with their firm. Highly marketable and easy to remember, three-letter domain names, often referred to as LLLs, can be used as an acronym or simply as a short brandable name. LLL domains are already in use by market leaders like PricewaterhouseCoopers with PWC.com, GlaxoSmithKline with GSK.com, and by Apple with MAC.com.

Three-letter domains have been in the spotlight recently as earlier this year it was revealed that Jet.com was chosen as the brand name for Marc Lore’s new e-commerce startup, and just this month it was announced that Qatar National Bank acquired QNB.com for $1Million as their new domain. Just last month, Elliot Silver of DomainInvesting.com wrote, “Three-letter .com domain names have always been considered “liquid” investments for domain investors. Most three-letter combinations have a variety of meanings, making them desirable to own by multiple parties. This is a big reason why three-letter .com domain names seem to continue to increase in value year over year.”

Tessa Holcomb, CEO of Igloo.com shares that, “Igloo is excited to offer an impressive list of three-letter domain names including, but not limited to, DSS.com, ABG.com, BXB.com, WXS.com, ADD.com, ATA.com, DAU.com and SIX.com. Short, memorable domain names like these can instantly bring credibility to your company’s online presence and command a certain authority in the eyes of the consumer”. Amanda Waltz, Director of Sales and Acquisition at Igloo.com states that, “LLL.coms not only provide instant credibility to an existing company looking to shorten their URL, or to a new company leveraging the dynamic nature of a three-letter combination, but also provide built-in asset protection on the buyer’s upfront investment as three-letter domain names will only appreciate in value over time.”

If a domain you are interested in is not available to register, Igloo has the relationships, experience, and understanding necessary to help you acquire domain names, and even websites, currently owned and operated by another individual or company. For complete access to our domain inventory, or for assistance in a domain acquisition, please contact us at +1 508 689 9569, ext. 201 or contact(at)igloo(dot)com.”

ICANN: IANA Systems Not Compromised

As ICANN reported on 16 December 2014, it was recently the target of a so-called “spear phishing” attack. During this attack the email credentials of some ICANN staff were compromised.

As mentioned in our original announcement, we have confirmed that the attack has not impacted any IANA -related systems. The ICANN staff members whose passwords were compromised did not have access to the IANA functions systems.

The IANA functions are a separate system with additional security measures that have not been breached.

During and after the attack, all critical functions hosted by ICANN , including the IANA functions, remained fully operational and unaffected by the attacker’s activities.

ICANN employs multiple levels of protection for its most critical services. While the attackers were able to breach the outermost layer of defenses, our on-going investigation indicates our most critical systems were not affected.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-12-19-en

ICANN: New gTLD Auction Proceeds December 2014

Auctions are the mechanism of last resort to resolve string contention within the New gTLD Program. ICANN expects that most string contention will be resolved through other means before reaching an Auction conducted by ICANN’s authorized Auction service provider, Power Auctions LLC.

However, there is a possibility that significant funding will accrue as a result of several Auctions. Auction proceeds will be reserved and earmarked until the Board determines a plan for the appropriate use of the funds through consultation with the community. Auction proceeds are net of any Auction costs. Auction costs may include initial set-up costs, auction management fees, and escrow fees.

Information about the Auction process or Auction Results can be found on the Auctions page or Auction Results page, respectively.

Below is a breakdown of Auction proceeds as of 17 December 2014.

Description	Proceeds	Costs	Net Proceeds
Auction Development Costs
Direct Contention		$ 230,000
Indirect Contention		$ 120,000
Wilmington Trust Annual Fee		$ 1,750
Subtotal: Auction Development Costs	$ –	$ 351,750	$ (351,750)
4 June 2014 Auction
Completed Auctions	$ 600,000	$ 24,000
Escrow Fees		$ 500
Subtotal: 4 June 2014 Auction	$ 600,000	$ 24,500	$ 575,500
9 July 2014 Auction
Scheduled and Cancelled		$ 10,000
Escrow Fees		$ 500
Subtotal: 9 July 2014 Auction	$ –	$ 10,500	$ (10,500)
6 August 2014 Auction
Scheduled and Cancelled		$ 20,000
Escrow Fees		$ 500
Subtotal: 6 August 2014 Auction	$ –	$ 20,500	$ (20,500)
17 September 2014 Auction
Completed Auctions	$ 14,349,776	$ 573,991
Scheduled and Cancelled		$ 60,000
Escrow Fees		$ 3,750
Subtotal: 17 September 2014 Auction	$ 14,349,776	$ 637,741	$ 13,712,035
22 October 2014 Auction
Completed Auctions	$ 12,889,463	$ 515,579
Scheduled and Cancelled		$100,000
Escrow Fees		$5,750
Subtotal: 22 October 2014 Auction	$ 12,889,463	$ 621,329	$ 12,268,134
19 November 2014 Auction
Completed Auctions	$ 700,000	$ 28,000
Scheduled and Cancelled		$150,000
Escrow Fees		$4,250
Subtotal: 19 November 2014 Auction	$ 700,000	$ 182,250	$ 517,750
17 December 2014 Auction
Completed Auctions	$ 6,447,888	$ 257,916
Scheduled and Cancelled		$ 90,000
Escrow Fees		$ 3,500
Subtotal: 17 December 2014 Auction	$6,447,888	$351,416	$6,096,472
Current Total	$ 34,987,127	$ 2,199,985	$ 32,787,142

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/auctions/proceeds

Pre-Bidding for RightOfTheDot Premium Live and Online Auction Now Open

Pre-bidding for the RightOfTheDot premium live and online auction at NamesCon 2015 is now open. The auction features 255 domain names.

Out of the 255 domain names included in the auction, 84 of them have no reserve,121 domain names are .com,23 of them are .org, .info and .net, 3 of them are ccTLDs,107 domain names are new gTLDs, 19 are .Global, 18 are .Xyz, 10 are .Club and 20 are .Vegas.Moreover, three of the domain names included in the auction have a reserve range of $1MM-$5MM .

Five of the domain names included in the auction already have bids :

KQT.com    $7,000
Pathologist.com    $525
Paperback.com   $325
Adaptable.com   $250
Mimes.com   $250

Other interesting domain names included in the auction are :

Auctions.com
Land.com
Investment.com
SportsCars.com
Street.com
380.com
Homecare.com

You can see the entire inventory here.