First .NYC Landrush Auction Results
SnapNames hosted the first .NYC Landrush auction,which closed yesterday, October 27,2014.The highest reported domain name sale was CarService.NYC , at $11,500.
The second highest domain name sale was Bitcoin.nyc, changing hands for $11,000, while the third highest domain name sale was ForRent.NYC, at $9,000.
Other notable domain name sales include :
HomeInsurance.NYC $7,250
FaceLift.NYC $6,750
ApartmentsForRent.NYC $5,500
Cannabis.NYC $4,000
BTC.NYC $1,500
There were also about 20 domain names that sold for $1,000 or more.
Alibaba Announces New “Alitrip” Brand and Acquires Domain Name
Alibaba Group,announced that its online travel business ,Taobao Travel will become an independent business ,called Alitrip.The new business will have an independent domain name, Alitrip.com.
You can read the press release after the jump :
“Alibaba Group BABA, +2.12% today announced that its online travel business, Taobao Travel (trip.taobao.com) will become an independent business and brand named “Alitrip” (å”å-S). Like Taobao Marketplace, Tmall.com and Juhuasuan, “Alitrip” will be another marketplace platform under Alibaba Group with a new independent web domain www.alitrip.com.
“This initiative is part of our Group’s ‘Live @ Alibaba’ vision to diversify the company’s products and services and become central to the everyday lives of consumers. This independent online travel platform is a logical extension of Alibaba Group’s strategy and we are excited for the opportunity to build Alitrip into a leading platform for China’s online travel sector. Alitrip will enrich our ecosystem and create value for users by providing them with high-quality service and an array of new functions,” said Li Shaohua, general manager of Alitrip.
Alitrip currently has over 10,000 merchants on its platform providing airplane tickets, vacation packages, hotel booking services, visa application services and tour guide services. This, in combination with Alitrip’s online payment infrastructure and customer protection scheme, differentiates Alitrip from other online travel sites.
Mr. Li also commented, “Traditionally, online travel businesses have always focused on the sales of travel products, while a large unmet demand for travel services remains. We aim to elevate the online travel sector to a higher level through Alitrip’s service offerings.”
Going forward, Alitrip will focus on four strategic areas, among which mobile and service offerings are its top priorities.
Mobile services – The Alitrip mobile app will combine all service functionalities that can be useful while traveling. Apart from easy cancellation of previous bookings, Alitrip customers can also book taxis, as well as set up flight seat preferences, which will automatically choose their preferred seats once tickets are purchased. Additionally, in order to attract and capture more mobile traffic, Alitrip will offer mobile promotions after this year’s Singles Day (November 11), including certain flight tickets for just one RMB.
Product and service innovation – Alitrip will continually seek opportunities to enhance its service and product offerings through technology and innovation. For example, Alitrip customers can utilize a feature to pre-order and reserve travel products through their Yu’e Bao account, a money market product. The money they use for purchases will remain in their Yu’e Bao account and continue to generate interest until the confirmation of the transactions. Alitrip customers can also check into hotels without using credit cards for payment guarantee, by providing their Alipay account information for automatic fee deduction at the end of their stay.
Platform expansion – Hong Kong’s flagship air carrier Cathay Pacific Airlines and Asia’s leading hotel-booking site Agoda.com have signed agreements to join Alitrip ahead of the popular annual Singles Day shopping festival on November 11. Alitrip will work towards bringing additional leading airlines, travel agents and third-party service providers to join the thousands of merchants already operating on the platform.
Consumer protection – In order to provide customers with security and convenience, Alitrip will offer no-questions-asked refunds to consumers for tickets or hotel reservations within one hour. In order to protect consumers’ interests, Alitrip will also operate a RMB100 million consumer protection fund through which refunds can be allocated back to its customers right away.
Alitrip will be an integral part of Alibaba Group’s ecosystem, offering a wide range of vacation travel products and services from leading travel service providers.
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. The company is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume. Founded in 1999, the company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce with hundreds of millions of consumers and other businesses. “
GAC Advice on New gTLDs Issued During ICANN 51 Los Angeles
The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) has issued further advice to the ICANN Board in the GAC Los Angeles Communiqué regarding New gTLD applications. The New gTLD advice in the Los Angeles Communiqué related to Section 3.1 of the Applicant Guidebook is further to the contents of the Beijing, Durban, Buenos Aires, Singapore, and London Communiqués.
Review the GAC Los Angeles Communiqué [PDF, 128 KB]
Per Section 3.1 of the Applicant Guidebook, applicants have 21 calendar days from this publication date to submit a response to the ICANN Board. Applicants will be notified directly by the New gTLD Customer Service Center and will receive instructions for submitting a response. To be considered by the ICANN Board, applicant responses should be submitted to the Customer Service Center no later than 23:59:59 UTC on 17 November 2014. ICANN will publish applicant responses.
This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-27oct14-en
ICANN: GNSO Review Supplementary 360 Assessment!
To provide further input on the GNSO , a Supplementary 360 Assessment has been launched! This Supplementary Assessment will provide survey takers with a mechanism to give valuable input into the GNSO ‘s Working Groups. The GNSO Working Groups are one of the cornerstones of the ICANN Policy Development process, proving input on them is vital to a successful review.
Participate in the GNSO Review Supplementary 360 Assessment!
The Generic Names Supporting Organization ( GNSO ) serves an important function – it is responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains.
The GNSO Review is part of ICANN ‘s commitment to continuous improvement, accountability and transparency. It uses mechanisms and measures to maintain public confidence in the viability, reliability and accountability of ICANN .
ICANN ‘s Bylaws1 require that its structures, including the GNSO , be reviewed on a five-year cycle. The purpose of the review is to evaluate organizational effectiveness of the GNSO , acknowledge areas that are working well, identify areas that need improvement and affect needed changes.
The quality, validity and acceptance of the GNSO Review and the resulting improvements depend on relevant and useful feedback from a diverse and representative group of people. This is the cornerstone of ICANN ‘s bottom-up multistakeholder model.
The 360 Supplementary Assessment, a new component within the organizational reviews, is designed to gather data for an independent examiner, Westlake Governance, to use in the review process and may also inform GNSO self-improvement efforts.
The 360 Supplementary Assessment is an easy-to-use online tool for the GNSO community, other ICANN structures and community members, the Board and staff to provide valuable feedback to the independent examiner regarding Working Groups.
To participate in this survey and make your voice heard, please click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GNSO_review_working_group
The 360 Assessment will be live from 27-October-2014 23:59 UTC to 10-November-2014 23:59 UTC.
Please click here to download a PDF copy of the 360 Supplementary Assessment [PDF, 200 KB].
Translated versions of the survey will be posted shortly.
To contact the Independent Examiner with any questions or comments, please email Westlake Governance at the following email address:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Additional Information – GNSO Review 2014
- GNSO Review 2014 Workspace
- GNSO Review Frequently Asked Questions and Answers (FAQs)
- GNSO Review Background Information
Participation Opportunities
| Interested SOs/ACs | Interested Individuals | |
|---|---|---|
| GNSO Review Working Party |
|
|
| 360 Assessment | Participate in the 360 Assessment https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GNSOREVIEW360SURVEY | Participate in the 360 Assessment https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GNSOREVIEW360SURVEY |
| Independent Examiner | Provide feedback to Westlake Governance This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Provide feedback to Westlake Governance This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
| Public Comment | Public comment period in November 2014-January 2015 | Public comment period in November 2014-January 2015 |
| Structural Improvements Committee | Provide feedback here | Provide feedback here |
| Staff | Provide feedback – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Provide feedback – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
For users wishing to view the survey before completing it, a copy of the English version of the survey can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here [PDF, 1.03 MB].
1Article X of ICANN Bylaws provides further detail. ICANN ‘s Bylaws require that its structures, including the GNSO , be reviewed on a five-year cycle. According to the Bylaws, the goal of the review is “to determine (i) whether that organization has a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure, and (ii) if so, whether any change in structure or operations is desirable to improve its effectiveness.”
This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-10-27-en
Nominet’s Dispute Resolution Service Passes 10,000th Case Milestone
[news release] Aston Merrygold, former member of boyband JLS, has been awarded the domain name www.astonmerrygold.co.uk following a complaint to Nominet’s Dispute Resolution Service (DRS). The decision marks the 10,000th domain dispute to pass through the DRS since it was established over 12 years ago.
The decision to award Mr. Merrygold the domain was made by independent legal expert Dr. Clive Trotman from Nominet’s DRS panel. The original registrant of the domain first registered it the day after JLS’ appearance in the X Factor final in December 2008, along with similar domain names for the other members of the group. Despite the original registrant never using the domain to host any content, it was ruled that the registration was made in order to take unfair advantage of Mr. Merrygold’s rights.
The Merrygold case marks the 10,000th case since the DRS was established over 12 years ago to offer an efficient and transparent method of resolving disputes relating to .uk domain names, which are administered by Nominet. The DRS seeks to settle disputes through mediation and, where this is not possible, through an independent expert decision. Details on other recent, notable DRS decisions can be found below.
A new Chair of the DRS Expert Panel
As the milestone 10,000th case passes, Nominet is also announcing a new Chair of the Expert Panel that decides DRS outcomes. Existing Chair Tony Willoughby, who has been in the role since the DRS was founded, will be stepping down in January. Nick Gardner, who is currently a member of the DRS Expert Review Group that hears appeal cases, will step into the role. Gardner practised as a lawyer with leading international law firm Herbert Smith LLP in London for over 25 years, with 18 years as a partner in its intellectual property and technology practice.
Gardner said: “I’m proud to take over from Tony Willoughby as the new Chair of the Expert Panel. It’s a daunting task, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. The DRS has an excellent reputation for resolving domain name disputes and I hope to maintain that in the years ahead, working with the incredibly professional experts that make up the panel.”
DRS @ 10,000 disputes: recent cases
To make a complaint through the DRS, you need to have rights (such as a trade mark) in a name which is the same as or similar to the domain name you are concerned about. The DRS can usually provide a quicker and cheaper resolution to disputes than going through the courts as this service is based on free, confidential mediation. In the event of deadlock, complainants can pay to appoint independent legal experts from a panel to make a full or summary decision.
Alongside astonmerrygold.co.uk, other notable recent cases include:
Jcrewmercantile.co.uk
US fashion company J. Crew International complained about the domain jcrewmercantile.co.uk, registered in May by an individual in China. J. Crew applied for two trademark applications for J. Crew Mercantile long before this domain was registered, both of which generated considerable media speculation about the intended use of the brand. The respondent in this case claimed that the domain was not infringing trademarks and that its intended use was for a non-profit consulting website rather than selling clothes. The DRS expert found that J. Crew owned the relevant rights and ruled that jcrewmercantile.co.uk was an abusive registration. Since this is the third adverse decision against the same registrant in the past four months, there is now a presumption that all registrations made by this individual are abusive.
Natweest-online.co.uk
National Westminster Bank Plc made a complaint about natweest-online.co.uk, which had been registered by an individual based in Wyoming in the US. There was no response to the complaint from the registrant, leading to a summary decision which ruled the registration as abusive and ordered the domain to be transferred.
Newfordpartsonline.co.uk
Car manufacturer Ford complained about the domain name newfordpartsonline.co.uk, which was registered to a business called Newford Parts Centre which sells original parts for old Ford vehicles. Ford complained that the domain was unfairly using its trademarked company name to increase trade. The website itself also featured the Ford logo and several images of Ford cars, despite the registrant not being officially connected to Ford in any way. The registrant argued that the domain name was legitimate, since it trades under the name Newford Parts Centre and is not in competition with Ford. However, a DRS expert ruled that the domain took unfair advantage of Ford’s rights and constituted an abusive registration.
These rulings, along with all others made over the last 12 years, are publicly available to view via Nominet’s website.
-ENDS-
About Nominet
Domain names are one of the key building blocks of the internet – an essential component of every email address and website. Millions of businesses and consumers now depend on Nominet’s services, which underpin a critical part of the UK Internet economy. Nominet is a private, not-for-profit business, responsible for the smooth and secure running of the .uk internet infrastructure. We have over 2,800 members and are committed to acting in the public interest.
With the proceeds of our successful registry business, we set up and support the Nominet Trust, an independent charitable foundation focussed on increasing access, safety and education on internet issues. As part of our commitment to making the internet a more trusted space, we have also developed an information and advice portal – www.knowthenet.org.uk – which helps internet users to get the most of being online by staying safe, legal, and informed.
This Nominet news release was sourced from:
www.nominet.org.uk/news/latest/nominet’s-dispute-resolution-service-passes-10000th-case-milestone
