How to Get Started with IDNs – 14 Tips, Techniques and Resources

How does becoming wealthier than Frank Schilling sound? Schilling, the most successful individual domainer in the world, has a portfolio of about 300,000 names, estimated revenue of $20 million dollars per year, and has received several 9-figures offers for his portfolio. Yet according to long-time IDN investor and IDN expert David Wrixon, “[t]here are IDN investors out there that will make Frank Schilling look like an amateur.”

When it comes to making money in domaining, there are many strategies. But if you are looking to capitalize on one strategy that holds a lot of potential, you should check out IDNs. Although you may never be as successful as Schilling, the timing for getting into IDNs is good.

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Interview of Larry Kutscher, CEO of Register.com on Front Running by Network Solutions

I discussed in a recent post that Network Solutions had started front running domains. To gain more of a perspective on the issue, I spoke with Larry Kutscher, CEO of Register.com, a leading domain name registrar, about his views on the matter. Here is what he had to say:

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Canadian TBR Drop Auction Irregularities

I’m not sure how many of my readers are Canadian – if you are, please let me know by leaving a comment. If there is enough interest, I’ll write more about the Canadian domain landscape.

Anyhow, CIRA is the authority for .ca domain names. Every Wednesday at 2.00 p.m. Eastern they run a TBR (“to be released”) drop of .ca domains that have expired. The registrars compete to catch the drops, then auction them off.

Fine and dandy, except today, a lot of the names that were caught yesterday suddenly were added to next week’s drop list.

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Network Solutions Engaged in Front Running

Domain front running is the “practice of stealing someone’s domain name search queries and registering the domain name before the original person can register it.” According to ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) they were not able to find any evidence that this practice exists, even though most domainers have experienced it.

Most registrar’s publicly state that they do not front run. However, Network Solutions really doesn’t care, and is now front running all domains that are queried on their website.

I gave it a try myself and looked up the domain name IAmADellCybersquatter.com at Network Solutions. Sure enough this was available. I then went to register it at Moniker, and was told that it was not available. I looked up the whois and the registrant is “This Domain is available at NetworkSolutions.com.”

So, there you have it – Network Solutions admitting to being a Dell cybersquatter.

In short, avoid Network Solutions like the plague. They have always been one of the most expensive in the industry, and now they are domain front running.