3 last days for trademark owners

Today's May 17 on my part of the world and this means the deadline for trademark registering of .me domains are only 3 days away.

To protect companies intellectual property rights the handlers of the dot me domain registry has put in place this sunrise period to give companies a chance to submit an application of a domain for a trademark duly recognized in their originating countries. The process involves careful evaluation and just in case a particular .me domain get more that 1 application, the dot me domain will be auctioned to the applicants.

Many big companies have already gone ahead by submitting their own. The Montenegro domain registry reportedly has received trademark applications from Apple (apple.me) ( itunes.me) and (ipod.me), software giant Microsoft, TV media company MTV and German car-maker BMW.

This is like last call for boarding passengers for big companies. They run the risk of losing a domain name related to them which could probably result in some unexpected legal stuff in the end.

$49.99 Only For A .ME domain! Woohoo!

Yes you read it right! www.GoDaddy.com will only sell Dot me domains for a decent $50/year in the landrush period plus extras of course...
I often wondered how much would a .me domain cost because I'm planning to snatch a couple or so domains. You'll never know... I did a little reading on some domaining magazine websites about how other domainers feel about this .me domain thing. Sadly, most of them are disinterested. BUT not me!

At a time when people are dismissing stuff, that's when other people need to take advantage. That's what separates the diligent from the lucky. If you know what I mean.

In any case, check out this cool countdown on the www.GoDaddy.com website to find out how much time is left before all hell breaks lose for the .ME domain landrush! may the fastest fingers get the juiciest hack domains!

Anybody can also pre-register dot me domains at www.GoDaddy.com right now!

HELLO.ITS.ME First .ME application

According to the domain.me website, two minutes after the sunrise period was opened for the .ME (dot me) domains, an application for the the domain HELLO.ITS.ME was submitted. This aptly hacked domain application didn't have any further details but this should set the trend for more hack domain registrations in the future. Currently, the calendar is still in the sunrise period where only trademark holder can apply for a domain.

It made me wonder who owns a trademark for HELLO.ITS.ME so I made a short Google search but found nada! Trademark holders for generic domain names shall be battling it out in auction if multiple application for a single domain is received at the end of the sunrise period.
The rest who wish to register a .me domain for themselves need to wait till June 6 for the open season... I mean the landrush period.

Question to self... I wonder if anybody has a hold on do.me

Thanks to icanhascheezburger.com for the cute picture!

I got a $1.99 Dot Com domain from Yahoo Small Business!

I came across a Google ad in my mailbox today that said $1.99 for a dot com domain at Yahoo. I only had $2.21 in my Paypal account so I thought it would be a perfect thing to buy if it was indeed only $1.99. I was my usual skeptical self but I clicked on the ad anyway.

It was in fact a promotional piece by Yahoo Small Business for a one-time deal of $1.99 dot com domain for new customers only. I had an existing yahoo account so I moved on to finding out more and then eventually buying a domain using my Paypal account as well. Sign-up was a breeze and so is configuring everything especially the Adnvanced DNS settings which I had trouble with at Godaddy.com.

What was surprisingly delightful using Yahoo Small Business was the simplicity of the Domain Control Panel. I didn't have a hard time configuring the Records for a new blog and everything. The thing that really put a smile on my face was the speed of transfer of information on the internet about my new domain. After I configured the DNS settings for the servers and the new domain, it only took a couple of hours and my domain and blog was up and running already. With Godaddy.com, the process usually takes at least a couple of days for me.
I was happy with this whole experience of registering a domain with Yahoo Small Business. The only sad part with it is that they will charge me 12 bucks for renewing my registration for this domain next year. Something I could probably get cheaper with Godaddy.com. Oh well, I have no worries. Long before my domain's regitration expires, I will be transferring the domain to Godaddy.com for $6.95 with one year free registration to boot!

Sweet!

Reserved & Premium .ME domains takes out the fun!

I've recently come across a whole list of reserved and premium dot me domains that will not be available in the landrush period next month. It just dampens me and takes away all the fun at registering these .me domains! It's a long list of generic, sensible and sometimes trivial .me domains that are reserved for auction.

Check out the list here released by Encirca. True to my previous post about dot me domains, most of the .me domains I listed are reserved. While out of my top 10 .me domains I listed in my previous post here, only one is not included. I think I'm going to keep that one for myself and register it. Ha!
I think domainers can definitely put this list into good use! May 6 is the first day of the General Sunrise period and June 6 is the first day of the landrush where it's every domainer for himself or herself for that matter! :)