Bell Canada Acquires BCE.com

The domain name BCE.com has been purchased by Bell Canada. The company owns and uses for now the domain name BCE.ca .

 

According to whois records, the domain name was first registered in 1993.The seller seems to have acquired the domain name six years ago, in 2008 for $28,001.

The price was not yet disclosed, but it is most likely a six figure sale.

Congratulations to both the seller and the buyer.

CentralNic Purchases DomiNIC

[news release] CentralNic PLC, the global provider of registry and registrar services, announced today that it acquired the assets of DomiNIC GmbH, including the DomiNIC domain management software, the product of twenty years of development with a blue chip customer base in the German-speaking countries.

The DomiNIC products include:

1. DomiNIC for Brands – a domain name and user management tool, delivered as Software as a Service, ideal for .brand gTLD registries, large domain portfolio holders, and their advisors.
2. DomiNIC for Registrars – tools for registries and resellers, and to enable hosting companies, ISPs and other organizations to sell domains.

Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNic, said: “The DomiNIC software products are the best we found anywhere in the world and already hugely successful in Germany, so we jumped at the opportunity to acquire the business and introduce it to a global client base.

CentralNic has also entered into a strategic alliance with German company DNSXperts as an outsource supplier of software development and support services for the DomiNIC software, allowing CentralNic to focus its own resources on rapidly growing the user base of DomiNIC via its global relationships and sales channels.

CentralNic has made two appointments to manage the acquired business. Marc McCutcheon has joined CentralNic as Manager overseeing the operations of the DomiNIC business. Marc previously spent seven years with leading corporate registrar and domain consultant NetNames. CentralNic has also appointed Luigi Turano as Business Development Manager of DomiNIC. Luigi spent the last six years as an analyst and consultant with Accenture and Wipro.

Crawford added, “When we listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market in September, we announced our intention to build our own customer-facing business as an important use of funds, and since listing we have moved rapidly and efficiently to achieve this serious competitive advantage for this CentralNic business.”

FEATURES OF DOMINIC FOR BRANDS

• Most advanced user administration system on the market with thousands of different levels of user access easily administered
• Connection to the registrars of your choice
• Connection of the user administration system to your preferred Name Servers for zone file management
• Point of entry zone file validation as well as scheduled zone file changes
• The ability to schedule creation, modification or removal of domains/zone files
• The ability to create a list of “Bad Words” (offensive terms, competitor names, unannounced ventures, etc.) which can either be blocked or set to require approval by an administrator
• The ability to fix the domain data or name servers used for domain registration by certain users
• The ability to specify the language that the console is displayed in
• The ability to create internal validation requirements (such as a Trademark license upload for a licensee account) as well as internal approval or notification system for domain requests

FEATURES OF DOMINIC FOR REGISTRARS

• Fully automated workflow for domain and zone management
• Integration of web hosting packages or terms of contract
• Easy integration with new registries
• Seamless integration of your CRM and billing processes
• Fine-grained concept of authorizations and roles
• Approval workflow to protect against unauthorized changes
• Support of New gTLDs
• Customizable white-label retail site

With the onset of the new GTLD program, registrars face the challenge of connecting their customers to a multitude of new registries and new domains. DomiNIC takes the complexity out of domain management by standardizing registry processes, and automating workflows.  It integrates seamlessly with existing systems, and provides registrars with the most advanced domain administration console on the market. It is a world leading registrar administration system, reducing cost, and increasing efficiency when managing large scale domain portfolios.

Details of the DomiNIC products may be found here: dominic.de

ICANN: Qualified Launch Program for New gTLD Registries Now Available

The Qualified Launch Program (QLP) Addendum is available for new gTLD registry operators as of today. The QLP Addendum allows a registry operator to register up to 100 domain names to third parties prior to the Sunrise Period for purposes of promoting the TLD, under certain conditions.

 

Domain Name Association Appoints Adrian Kinderis As Chair

The Domain Name Association, the only trade association to represent the interests of the domain name industry, has appointed ARI Registry Services’ CEO Adrian Kinderis as its Chair of the Board.

Other newly elected officers are Richard Merdinger, Vice President, Domains, GoDaddy who was elected Vice Chair and Statton Hammock, Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, Rightside, was elected Secretary/Treasurer.

“With a complete board of directors and leadership roster to call upon, the DNA is now fully empowered to tackle our industry’s challenges and deliver on our educational initiatives,” said Kinderis. “I appreciate the confidence the Board demonstrates in formally selecting me as its Chair, after serving in that role on an interim basis. I look forward to working with the officers and directors to realize our mission to serve both consumers and our sector.”

The appoints come about as the expansion of domain names with new gTLDs will soon revolutionise the way people search for information and navigate the internet and will be the catalyst for tremendous innovation in the way brands – commercial and personal – are communicated. To fulfil its commitment to raise awareness about these new opportunities, the DNA will sponsor awareness campaigns that will involve advertising, informative webinars and events, as well as its education website: www.whatdomain.org.

In addition to promoting the use of domain names, the DNA also provides its members with opportunities to collaborate with peers, share best practices and ensure mutual success. DNA membership is organized as a multi-tiered structure to accommodate various levels of interest and desire for participation in the work of the DNA. More information is available on the website.

For more information, see the ARI Registry Services news release on Kinderis’ appointment below:

Adrian Kinderis appointed as Chair of Domain Name Association
ARI Registry Services is pleased to announce that CEO Adrian Kinderis has this week been appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Domain Name Association (DNA), the domain name industry’s global trade body.

ARI Registry Services is a founding member of the DNA, alongside other highly reputable companies including Donuts, GoDaddy, Google, Rightside and What Box?.

The appointment of Mr Kinderis as Chair of the DNA comes in recognition of his active role within the industry along with his passion and commitment to ensuring the domain name industry flourishes and is better understood by all Internet users.

This appointment also complements the company’s position as a leading provider of registry services and consulting.

“We have been leading the charge over many years to establish a truly global industry association separate of ICANN,” Mr Kinderis said.

“Not only is this a step forward for me, it’s also an achievement that recognises the impressive capabilities of the many staff in my team who work tirelessly in pursuit of continually evolving and advancing our industry.”

Mr Kinderis made note of the many achievements ARI Registry Services has attained in service of the wider Internet community.

“Over the past decade, our team has made influential contributions to the development of policies and the direction of the industry.

“For instance, we were there at the very beginning of the New TLD Program in 2007 and helped usher it into existence through our involvement in ICANN’s GNSO council.

“In 2008, we contributed to the creation of the technical protocols to enable non-Latin scripts like شبكة. (.web in Arabic and pronounced “dot shabaka”) to work on the Internet. Through this work, we were part of the very first non-Latin country domain name suffix to be added to the Internet.”

“Fast forward six years and there we are again trailblazing the path forward for everyone as the first applicant to sign a new TLD contract, the first technology provider to pass the program’s stringent testing regime, and one of the first new TLDs to be added live on the Internet.

“Continuing with this theme, we recently implemented a strategic consulting project with Monash University to help them become the first .brand new TLD to be delegated.

“ARI has been at the forefront of the new TLD program from the start, and my team will continue to serve the best interests of the industry via our involvement with the DNA.”

Mr Kinderis said his role as Chair of the Board of Directors of the DNA complements his commitment to grow ARI Registry Services into the leading provider of back-end registry services.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of channeling the leadership that has taken ARI Registry Services to the forefront of the domain name industry and applying this to my stewardship of the Domain Name Association.

“Over the past decade, we’ve built this company from the ground up with a team of experts and a growing client list the envy of our competitors. It’s my responsibility now to take this experience and apply it within the DNA to tackle some of the industry’s biggest challenges.”

The DNA’s mission is to promote the best interests of the domain name industry by advocating the use, adoption, and expansion of domain names as the primary tool for users to navigate the Internet.

More information is available at www.thedna.org.

The ARI Registry Services news release was sourced from:
ariservices.com/news-Adrian-Kinderis-appointed-as-Chair-of-Domain-Name-Association.php

SnapNames Spring Premium Auction is Underway

SnapNames is hosting these days the Spring Premium Auction. The auction  features hand selected domain names across many popular online verticals including Finance,Sports, Travel and Technology.

 

The auction ends May 8,2014 at 3:15 pm ET.

So far, nine of the domain names included in the auction received bids .XTS.com received the highest bid – $18,000 . BQL.com also managed to attract a lot of interest and has a $5,000 bid.

Other interesting domain names included in the auction are :

Sneakers.com
TravelSite.com
Poster.com
Airline.com
Boards.com
Text.com
Trophy.com
Bop.com
Crosses.com
GasPrices.com
Tie.com
Jail.com
Won.com
XFactor.com
ComputerParts.com

You can see the entire inventory and place your bids here .