This is going to be an interesting show to watch during the application process of gTLDs/vTLDs. After reading a current article posted on thedomains.com, I decided to make this post here on the blog. A while back, Kevin Ham was featured in Business 2.0, titiled, “The Man Who Owns The Internet”.

In that article, Paul Sloan discussed how Kevin had negotiated a deal with Cameroon for management of the countries .CM extension to earn PPC revenue. Here is a clip from the article:

And what few people know is that he’s also the man behind the domain world’s latest scheme: profiting from traffic generated by the millions of people who mistakenly type “.cm” instead of “.com” at the end of a domain name.

Try it with almost any name you can think of — Beer.cm, Newyorktimes.cm, even Anyname.cm — and you’ll land on a page called Agoga.com, a site filled with ads served up by Yahoo (Charts, Fortune 500).

Ham makes money every time someone clicks on an ad — as does his partner in this venture, the West African country of Cameroon. Why Cameroon? It has the unforeseen good fortune of owning .cm as its country code — just as Germany runs all names that end with .de.

The difference is that hardly any .cm names are registered, and the letters are just one keyboard slip away from .com, the mother lode of all domains. Ham landed connections to the Cameroon government and flew in his people to reroute the traffic. And if he gets his way, Colombia (.co), Oman (.om), Niger (.ne), and Ethiopia (.et) will be his as well.

So now a new opportunity exists for domainers or savvy business owners to apply for the .CIM or .CPM vTLDs. These domains will generate millions of typos for internet users searching for content online using a web address with a .com at the end. As we all know, if .CM gets millions of hits of typos monthly, it can be calculated that these two extensions .CIM or CPM, will generate millions of typos as well. This means big money for PPC payouts. It is going to be interesting what domainers/parking companies make the move on these two extensions. I am more than sure that domainers are working in stealth mode for this savvy investment.

You can bet that many of the companies that do apply for these, will be made up domainer business companies. There is alot of money on the table for these two extensions. I am making a prediction that there will be a bidding war to acquire management for the extensions .CIM and .CPM and people will be confused as to why, when other extensions are available as well. Anyone up to applying for these in a factional domaining group?

This is going to be a fun one to watch and see who comes out on top of these. I can assure you, it will more than likely be one of our all star players in the domain industry. Unless we form a group!

I have decided to rethink how I am going to word my part 2 article I was going to publish today. There is a reason for this. The post I made, Industry Chaos, was the third most read article since I started blogging and only 2 people left a comment. This is an indicator that many domainers are not willing to comment on such a controversial topic.

This is definitely a sensitive subject to discuss in an open forum. I find it very strange that an industry that demands transparency refuses to discuss sensitive topics as outlined. Everyone is quick to complain about the unethical practices of companies, but are not willing to unite and do things to make a difference. This is not a shot at Michael, Andrew and others, but the industry as a whole. I believe my statement about uniting and causing disruptive change was way off target. I thought domainers would keep it going for at least 2 weeks. However, I was dead wrong. It only lasted 3 days. No more talk about it in the industry and this amazes me. This is why the industry will continue to be threatened and at risk.

The people in power who can make a difference, fail to unite and lead the small time domainers into an organized front. I just do not understand this way of thinking in the domain industry. However, we will continue to hear about the injustices that occur to them in the future and others, as they rile up everyone again.

There is a couple of ways to decipher this lack of interaction with this topic. One is that many are guilty of unethical behavior as individuals, and the other is I am plain crazy to even bring this into the limelight. I think it is a mixture of both. This is why I am going to take my time to strategically word the part 2 post. Maybe, just maybe, domainers will be willing to communicate on the core issues at hand. It all begins with the individual changing their own unethical practices and then uniting to make a difference. This honestly speaks volumes of the current state of the domain industry. My rail analogy still holds up with individuals looking out for number 1.

The good ole boy network is not going to save or improve the industry. Amazing that over 700 people have read that post in 2 days, and only 1 comment was made. Are domainers that set in their ways that they will leave things to be solved by others?

It took only person to start a movement in 1955 that changed a nation. The movement was called the Civil Rights Movement. The person Rosa Parks. Change can only occur when you unite into a powerful force. A united front speaking with one voice is the only thing that is going to improve and protect the domain industry for the domain entrepreneur.

Before I begin this controversial 2 part post, I would like to ask readers to keep an open mind.  As many of you already know, I am not one to steer away from controversy to expose the truth and I believe in laying content on the table for others to digest when they are ready and for the history books.  This often does not make me the popular guy in upper circles.  However, I have never been one to compete in popularity contests. This post is in regards to all the news in the industry about companies with unethical practices.  My comments may ruffle some feathers, but they are necessary to “assist” in building the next challenging level for domainers in the industry. A unified front, that so many have refused to build over the years. Perhaps, positive disruptive CHANGE can occur now. Of course, this is a very optimistic statement when talking to domainers who are set in their ways, with so many having egos bigger than the domain industry itself.

These are great articles to read and absorb to understand why I am blogging on this topic today. A wealth of knowledge is contained in each of them, especially in the comments sections. Here is a run down for you to read before reading the rest of my post.

Expired Domain Services Let Employees Bid Against Customers (DomainNameWire.com)
Ethics of Domain Drop Auctions (TheDomains.com)
Tucows Response to our Post: Not Good Enough And Here’s Why (TheDomains.com)
I’m Just Saying….Something You Might Not Know About Afternic DLS (Dotweekly.com)

In the last 7 days, a lot of information has surfaced in the domain industry on unethical behavior and practices at many of the top domaining companies in the industry. These practices are nothing new and have been happening for years, but they are finally getting the attention they deserve and are mainstream.  You can anticipate that there will be much more of this stuff to come as domains continue to increase in value and domain service companies consolidate to take up larger market share. (more on this in part 2)

Without industry regulations in place to enforce standards, companies in the emerging domain industry will continue to abuse the system and conduct unethical behavior. If you want examples and answers, look at history. History has proven this with the rail companies during the wild wild west days.  They had vision and understood the future of rail to man kind.  They did what ever it took to build their empires acquiring land and to remain in a position of power.  Individuals (ranch owners) who were only interested in making money empowered these rail companies to continue to grow and cross the lines by killing, stealing, and threatening land owners for their property in the rail companies path.  Eventually, regulations were passed and standards enforced because land owners were fed up with the unethical behavior and United as one voice that was heard.  Rail became the dominant mode of transportation for over a 100 years and rail companies still remain very powerful today. All because of individual players.

History has many answers to those who have their minds and eyes wide open, does the above example sound familiar? Though there is no killing(yet), there is stealing and threatening happening in the domain industry on all fronts. Welcome to the Wild Wild West of the domain industry!

This is only the tip of the iceberg of future problems that will arise if domainers continue to do business as usual and do not cause disruptive change.

In this world of the “Me” era, it is near impossible for domainers (past and present) to be held accountable and admit they are at fault for what has occurred throughout the years with all domain companies. Many domainers are outraged because of recent unethical events, but no one with power has done anything about these actions that have been ongoing for years. This is because most of those with power in the domain industry have working relationships with most companies.  They would not dare battle those who provide great incentives to their livelihoods.  It took this happening to Major/Serious domainers with an industry voice to finally deliver the outcry of the domain community because now they are being affected.  Many of these companies may suffer major reprocussions from the community due to their recent activities.

There is so much more to this unethical arena that has not been discussed so openly by major players. PPC Companies are a whole other animal of unethical practices.  Insider trading at its finest. Special deals with for those with elite portfolios, but not for those with crappy ones.   We do not hear major players complaining about this unfair advantage of insider trading.  This in itself is an unethical practice by major domainers, yet they cry wolf when wrong is done to them. It is all about the money and double standards can not be used as a defense. Funny how things work in this industry. The list goes on and I will discuss all in Part 2.

The small time domainer has complained about these same issues for years and many more, but few have paid any attention to them. Why, because they were small time domainers and of course, it could never happen to the major/serious players. Instead of acting at this early stage, seasoned domainers formed private forums, niche dominance, secretive discussions on domain opportunities, limited education on domain strategy, to include drops, exclusive conference events, closed circles, private ppc deals with these same companies, and the list goes on. Keeping the small time domainer and industry growth crippled to bring more money into major players pockets.  All of this focusing on the individual, instead of the industry that provides all the opportunity and wealth.  An industry with a solid moral foundation will deliver opportunity and wealth for eternity. This does not exist in the domain industry, and this is why the industry is at risk from corporate america and lawmakers.  Additionally, it is the same reason why companies will continue to do unethical practices.  The domain industry was built on unethical practices. More on this in part 2.

Now domainers want to rally and make a disruptive change, but how long will this last?  My guess is this will last 2 weeks max before the same “Me” mentality and Ego’s kick back in and business as usual continues.  Some say vote with your wallet, but this is a temporary fix to a problem that will continue.  Why? Entrepreneurs will take advantaged and exploit any opportunity that presents itself due to a movement.  If 100 major players stop buying drop domains at Tucows.com, guess what, 1000 other small time domainers will move in to make up the difference because there is limited competition from major players.  It is a vicious cycle of entrepreneurship.  However, if domainers unite, promote and support regulations and get them passed, these will have lasting effects for the life of the industry.  Which one makes more sense to do?

How did we get here? That is the question that demands to be addressed and will reveal the correct courses of action to embrace to make change. The second question I have for you, What are you willing to do to cause disruptive change? I am interested in hearing your comments and will stop here and post part 2 tomorrow after hearing your comments.

I will hit on 5 key controversial areas tomorrow after hearing your thoughts.

I just returned from vacation and the family and I had a great time.  We stayed at a private beach close to Virginia Beach in a nice log cabin.  During this short vacation, I had no internet or cell phone connectivity.  The area was a dead zone for both, which I found very upsetting at first.  However, it turned out to be a blessing as I was able to  unplug from everything and really enjoy my family.  Additionally, I was able to embrace life and nature to clear my thoughts and give me a new perspective to accomplishing goals. It is amazing what you can learn from nature when you open your mind. I will blog more about this in the near future.

Many of us are addicted to both the internet and our cell phone.  Both are vital tools to establishing or maintaining a successful business in the domain industry.  Many domainers take things for granted thinking they will embrace family, friends, and loved ones after they have made their mint. Even after making their mint, sometimes this is still not enough, as they have become addicted to a way of living. During this process, life does not stop, and many miss out in living in the now and taking advantage of creating priceless memories that will last a lifetime.  Most of us consistently live in the future. People say they will make things up to their family, loved ones, and friends once they have built their business and made their mint, but in all honesty, the things that you should embrace, your family, loved ones, and friends, do not require you to be successful to embrace them. They like you just the way you are (crazy, goofy, and average) and just want you to spend precious time with them.  In the end, no matter how much money you have, you will never be able to make up for lost time. Your kids grow up, family members pass away, and friends move on.

As you continue to build your business, stay in touch with reality.  Get unplugged from time to time to enjoy life. You will not fully understand the message I am delivering in this post until you get unplugged from the addictions that have kept you from living in the now and embracing life’s precious moments.

Believe it or not, life continues with you or without you.  This includes the internet and the domain industry. Many refuse to accept this, as they think they are too important to unplug. In reality, no one is too important, life goes on.  Don’t worry, you will not miss much thanks to emails and voicemails.

Overall, this was an outstanding vacation. I am really  thankful to the “dead zone” for not keeping me connected and allowing me to clear my mind of all the online madness.  My daughter caught her first fish, (which was a flounder), and my son and wife went on their first boat ride while deep sea fishing.  These are just a few priceless memories we created during this vacation that my family will remember throughout their lifetime.

In closing, embrace life offline.  Get unplugged and see how your world reopens. You will not know this feeling until you actually do it.  Stop living in the future!

I decided to take an extended break from blogging this weekend.  I wanted my last post to stay in the spot light to help others see how the geo domain industry is transforming in mainstream media.  It got great exposure and set the record straight for the most part.  There are a variety of post I will publish today for your reading pleasure.

I have already received a few emails asking me what is going on.    Everything is fine, and I am ready to get back into the bind.  Today, I have taken time to visit other sites and post comments.  I recommend checking out the post at DomainState.com on geo domains and provide input.

This morning, there was a lot of buzz about Israel.com selling for $5.8 mil, but it turned out to be an erroneous announcement made in the domain industry.  This is why it is so important for bloggers to validate their sources before posting publicly.  Sometimes we get so excited and want to be the first to report things in the industry, that we forget about the journalist golden rule, validate source.

Anyway, no harm done.  If you still want to purchase Israel.com, it is still for sale at a starting price of $5.5 million through moniker.com.

A few days ago, I upgraded to the current version of 2.5.1. At first, it was very impressive what the folks at WP have done to the backend, until I started trying to do things I was used to do doing when posting on the blog. First, there were a variety of problems with the plugins that I had with the old version. They kept the dashboard from operating properly, so I had to trouble shoot the problems and found that a few plugins were not compatible.

Then there is the photo upload issue. They did some damage with this. They should have just kept it the same as the old version. And now, I can not turn on comments to my last post. Hopefully, comments will be on in this post. There is also some messed up code on the dashboard.

I am frustrated with this current upgrade. Please do not upgrade unless you are ready to deal with headaches. They should be releasing an updated version soon that will fix all these problems. They really changed everything on the backend and it does not look anything like the old version.

So there will probally be a few issues to some articles I post. I no longer have the capability of inserting a table for geo domain sales at this time. So I will have to do it the old school way.

Anyway, hold off until the bugs have been fixed.

I wanted to share a few intimate thoughts with readers who frequent this blog. As many of you already know, I serve the United States daily as a service member in the Armed Forces. Today, is a very special day that is often taken for granted. Many Americans enjoy the 3-day weekend because of Memorial Day, but few actually celebrate it and pay their respects to the heroes who have paid the ultimate price and given their lives for their country.

Many do not fly an American Flag to honor them, nor do they visit the tomb of a fallen comrade. I understand many are busy with their daily lives and enjoying the freedoms they take for granted, which have enabled them to become successful in life. However, everyone should make time to celebrate this holiday appropriately.

These heroes paying the ultimate price for hundreds of years have enabled America to become what it is today. A great nation, where dreams can come true for anyone wishing to pursue them regardless of their race, gender, culture, or heritage. The freedoms that Americans and foreigners from many countries have enjoyed, are because of these men and women paying the ultimate price to protect them, and humanity from dictatorships that have tried to suppress/exterminate races, religion, gender, and cultures.

A few years ago, I almost paid the ultimate price in Afghanistan when an IED detonated 120 feet from my location. The lord was on my side that day. An embankment saved my life, as well as 3 others. I ask each of you, to take time during your busy lives each year, to give a moment of silence for those service members who have given their lives for their country, and pray for those currently defending the freedoms so many take for granted daily. If you want to go above and beyond, there are a variety of programs where you can send care packages to those in harms way, as well as send letters of support. AnySoldier.com is a great site where you can do this, and there are many others as well.

In closing, I would like to thank everyone for their continued support.