Great news for users who have been using Bitcoin and are still using Bitcoin. Namecheap has just announced Bitcoin as their new method of payment. They currently already provide PayPal, Google Checkout, Credit Cards (VISA, Mastercard and American Express) and are now allowing Bitcoin payments.

Bitcoin can be used to pay for domain purchases, website hosting, SSL certificates and WhoisGuard.

What is Bitcoin
Bitcoin is actually a digital currency that was introduced in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Basically Bitcoin is a online currency that uses peer-to-peer (P2P) technology to create a digital online currency. Here's a link on how to use Bitcoins.

So you're looking to buy a .CN top-level domain. Well now you are in luck because Sibername's founder, M. Bulen Turkoglu says

"We are excited to announce that we have re-opened Registrations for 2nd Level and 3rd Level .CN Domains" says M. Bulent Turkoglu, Sibername’s founder.

Registering a .CN was impossible or at least it seemed impossible to many due to the strict regulations setup by CNNIC. Previously, China's domain name authority or known as CNNIC required Sibername to collect information such as name, addresses and emails of the .CN customers and requested even more additional personal information from domain owners. After that, many registrars who once offered a .CN stopped because of these rules implemented by CNNIC.

As of now, the rules have been softened leading many registrars to be able to now provide .CN registrations. Sibername is one of them who have started. But it's still not that easy. Here are a list of the requirements needed to register for a .CN domain.

.CN Domain Requirements General Rules

1. The domain name can only contain alphabets A to Z, numbers 1 to 9 and hyphens. It can't however have 2 hyphens in the third place.

2. Minimum legth of the domain name is 3 characters and the maximum is 63 characters.

.CN Domain Document Requirements

These are the following supporting documents are needed to complete registrations.

Individual: 

1.Registrant ID: ID Card
2. Residence Booklet
3. Driving License
4. Passport
(any will do) 

Organizations:

1. Registrant ID
2. National ID
3. Residence Booklet
4. Driving License
5. Passport
(any will do) 

Business Certificate:

1. Organization Code Certificate
2. Enterprice Business Certificate
3. Certificate of Public Institution or organization with Legal person status

If registrant plans on hosting a domain name in China, you will need to have a valid MIIT ICP Number.

Documents will need to be sent to cn-documents@publicdomainregistry.com (JPEG format) within 7 days of the .CN order. If you fail to submit it within the required 7 days, it could lead to the suspension of the .CN domain name you registered.

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Nintendo is now suing the owner of the domain WiiU.com name for cybersquatting even though the domain was purchased way back in 2004. At that point in time, Nintendo had not even released the WiiU yet. The release date for the WiiU was actually in 2012 according to their wiki page. WiiU is the successor to the Wii gaming console.

So now after luanching their WiiU product, they finally have everything except the domain name (a key marketing channel). Speculation has it that the WiiU.com domain was bought back then was because it was simply a 4 letter domain. Anyone with foresight back then bought any domain with 4 letters, probably hoping to return a huge profit in the future.

Nintendo have now filed a cybersquatting complaint with World Intellectual Property Forum attempting to get their domain they think they deserve back. From their WHOIS records make it quite hard to actually find the owner of the domain name but it shows that the domain actually expire in January. But currently the WHOIS records are still the same as before the domain expired, never really knwoing if the owner renewed it or not.

Anyhow, no one is actually very sure why Nintendo, such a large corporation is suing the owner for when the domain is up for grabs at the small price of $8,499 at BuyDomains.com.

What's your take on this issue?

Are you one of those selling fake Oakley goods? Well you're in the deep now as Oakley is officially going after you.

If you're not familiar with the brand, Oakley is famous for their sunglasses but also provide a wide array of other products. Check out their site here. Oakley has officially filed UDRP cases in the past primarily to take down website that are selling fake Oakely sunglasses and are not going for more. They even have a section on their homepage to 'Report Fakes'.

They are going for damages caused to them with a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in Illinois the past Friday. Here is the lawsuit provided by domainnamewire.com (pdf). The actual domain names were filed under seal.

What they are asking for is that domain registrars like VeriSign, Affilias Limited, Neustar, and the Public Interest Registry to

“unlock and change the registrar of record for the Defendant Domain Names to a registrar of Oakley’s selection until further ordered by this Court, and that the domain name registrars take any steps necessary to transfer the Defendant Domain Names to a registrar of Oakley’s selection until further ordered by this Court.”

They also request that online marketplaces, social media websites, search engines, and domain name registrars/registries to "cease facilitating access" to these counterfeit-Oakley sites selling fake goods.

In 2008, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Name and Numbers) announced new top level domain expansions leading to predictions that alot of top brands and companies would spend more to prevent "cybersquatters" or competitors from owning TLDs associated with their brands/names. But nowadays, companies like Google and Amazon are taking TLDs purchasese to a whole new level other than trademark or brand protection

Mike Masnick at techdirt has even pointed out that "a bunch of these new gTLDs (generic top level domains) were not being applied for to set up a registry where anyone could obtain those kinds of domains, but rather to lock them up for one company's use." He also say that "while Amazon and Google are the most prominent players here, lots of other companies have jumped in as well. Hasbro wants .transformers. Johnson and Johnson wants baby."

The current debate is still going on, on the issue of generic TLDs where ICANN is evaluating thousands of applications for generic terms. 

“Clearly, companies want to own and control generic words as domains so that they can offer their services. But with that comes the possibility of blocking competitors who want to attach their brand to a term. For example, Ford might want to buy ford.truck but be blocked from doing so by the owner of .truck,” notes Michelle Quinn at Politico.

ICANN has been critized by many in the industry as they believe ICANN is creating new TLDs for the purpose of generating more money. Some say the new TLDs are not even necessary or is not based on the actual needs of the users. Worse than this, there are also various allegations where many of the ICANN board members had conflicting interests as many of them are connected to the registrars, thus benefiting from any new TLD expansions.

Now take a look at the chart below wallstcheatsheet.com where it shows the stock movement of Google and Amazon's TLD purchases over the past year.

(Image credits: http://wallstcheatsheet.com)

ICANN's latest proposal on registry agreements for new TLD operators has come to a stand still as the new agreement specifcally indicates that new TLD operators can only use domain registrars that have officially signed the NEW Registrar Accreditation Agreemtn with ICANN. The huge problem that TLD operators are facing is that the RAA does not exist yet.

So let's see what Michele Neylon of Blacknight (registrar) submitted to ICANN.

"What is ICANN’s rationale for this criterion?

While it would be expected that ICANN accredited registrars party to an RAA would be used, this document specifies a version of the RAA that currently does not exist.

Does this mean that ICANN wants to drive a “wedge” between registrars and new TLD applicants?

Or does this mean that ICANN does not trust those of us who are on the 2009 RAA?

The RAA negotiations are currently ongoing and while they may be concluded shortly any agreement that comes out of the negotiations should be agreed to on its own merits ie. without this form of external pressure.

Or is it ICANN’s intention to use any delay with the RAA as an excuse for delaying the launch of new TLDs?

A rational explanation for this specific clause would be appreciated."

What's your take on this stand-still?

Here's the latest on GoDaddy's domain discounts for .com's

If you're looking to get a new domain, GoDaddy currently provides on of the cheapest .com domains for only $3.99

Most if not all huge brands and co-orporations do this. They cybersquat - meaning they buy all their branded names under all the TLDs available. Accrording to Melbourne IT, approximately 80,000 trademarks were registered under the .xxx tld to protect their own brands before the tld actually launched. With brand protection being key, most companies have a policy of registering their names in all the available TLDs (.com, .net, .org, etc..).

Some say, companies shouldn't even be allowed to register these kind of 'defensive' registrations and should be cancelled if the domain is not use at all.

In the beginning, when news broke that .xxx tld was going to be live, the ICM Registry said it would only sell the tld to official adult entertainment companies, but the report has also stated that ICM CEO Stuart Lawley could also make over $200 Million US Dollars from defensive registration by companies proecting their brand.

What's your take on this issue?

It's been awhile since my last post. Things have been a bit hectic but were back with fresh new posts!

Turf wars have been going on for quite sometime between Baidu and Qihoo 360. If you're not familar with the company Qihoo 360, they are a security company which launched a search engine, thus becoming direct competitors with Baidu. It was just a matter of time before Baidu returned the favor. Baidu recently launched a security software called Baidu PC Faster, not launching it in China but aiming it directly at Thailand.

Baidu PC Faster
Available in two languanges both English and Thai, the software displays 4 main features:
- a boot-time manager
- a Windows Update manager
- a storage cleanr
- a Health Care (supposed to solve computer problems and increase security)

How we know that it's aimed at Thailand? Simply type in the .co.th domain. (security.baidu.co.th)

Annoying as it may be for CEO Zhou Hongyi of Qihoo, targeting the Souteast Asian market is a very interesting and bold move. A move many Chinese companies are heading towards as Southeast Asia is now one of the fastest-growing market.

Demand Media, mostly known for sites like eHow, has acquired domain registrar Name.com. Official reason cited was the strong retail footprint of Name.com and Demand Media's upcoming move into releasing their own top-level domains.

Personally I'm a little unsure of what to make of Demand's recent move into TLDs. It certainly is a departure from its past focus of leveraging its SEO-based expertise for search rankings and page views.

Maybe it's this specifically non-Google oriented angel that made them make that move. Their past reliance on Google has certainly hit them hard when Google's Panda update trashed their content empire and wiped out a good part of their share value.

Whatever the reasons may be, Name.com is certainly one of the trendiest and fastest growing brands in the domain space and thus makes for a great acquisition if you're looking to make headway into that market.