dotMobi

Premium Name Compliance - Update

It has been a while since we last wrote about our Premium Name Compliance Program, and some folks have been wondering about those domains that had a development deadline of 10 January  2009 ...

Overall, we are very pleased with the results; the needle has definitely moved in the right direction since we embarked on this Compliance Program. We have been impressed by the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of many domain holders. It has been a complex process wading through domain transfers, dealing with language difficulties and various scenarios but the level of cooperation that we have seen has been encouraging and much appreciated.

This is the first time that any Registry has attempted to enforce content in such a way, and it has been a learning lesson for all. We are now taking additional measures against the small percentage of registrants who have not complied with the Auction Agreement. Our registrars have also been busy updating their .mobi Registration End User Agreements to further enable dotMobi to take back a domain where necessary.

Meanwhile, work is well underway on the "Batch 2" names that have a development deadline of 20 May 2009, and we are about to commence our checks on the "Batch 3" names (those names that were part of the dotMobi / Sedo auction which took place in November 2008.) The message here is: don't delay. Do what you can at this stage to avoid any last minute panic.

There are plenty of tools and resources available to build out sites efficiently and effectively, all of which are listed on our Premium Name Compliance page. Another quick way to comply is to use our new Instant Mobilizer, which will automatically pull content from a desktop Web site URL and convert it to a mobile-compliant site that works on any mobile phone, on any network. As always, we are here to help and any queries may be directed to compliance@dotmobi.mobi.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our Premium Name registrants for their efforts.

autism.mobi

Today, dotMobi announced the launch of autism.mobi, the result of a project lead by Steve Edelson, Director of the Autism Research Institute in San Diego, in collaboration with dotMobi.

autism.mobi was a Premium Name and one which we were delighted to release as part of a closed Request for Proposals process.

The content which is being made available to end users ticks all the right boxes: it is practical, informative and helpful and the ARI, the oldest autism research institute in the world, has demonstrated that it understands the needs of today's market by adapting its information and making it accessible on mobile devices. It already does a fantastic job of disseminating information and research findings across various mediums, and it is now targeting the huge number of mobile phone users with features such as its Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist, which is designed to evaluate cognitive, communication, sensory, and social skills of individuals on the autism spectrum.

In other Premium Name news, dotMobi recently issued the Premium Name why.mobi via RFP to online forum Mobility.mobi who have since developed the domain as a educational site. dotMobi is also currently working with some other RFP candidates and hopes to announce some additional site launches shortly.

dotMobi goes to Disneyland!

We're getting ready to attend our fifth T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference which will take place 20-24 May in Orlando, Florida. At this event, dotMobi will make 16 of its valuable premium names available as part of the Moniker-sponsored auction (including a live auction segment on 23 May). The selection of generics for this auction is bound to attract a lot of attention: airlines.mobi, boats.mobi, company.mobi, computers.mobi, drugs.mobi, escort.mobi, forsale.mobi, films.mobi, men.mobi, mortgage.mobi, religion.mobi, records.mobi, ringtone.mobi, sales.mobi, show.mobi and strip.mobi.

dotMobi followers know the drill as regards content requirements attached to these premium names -- sites should initially consist of a dotMobi compliant parking page with a live web site containing relevant content to follow within a six-month period. In case you don't, we covered the basics in our auction press release this Monday past.

Anyone interested in participating in the auction should contact the event organizer for details on how to register. It is not necessary to attend the auction in person to bid ... but if anyone is planning to make the trip, be sure to look us up when you're there!

Super Happenings

Toronto was the stage for out latest Happening; since it's a regional center of activity for mobile, we had received many requests to have one there.

So on an unusually warm and gorgeous weekday evening a couple of weeks ago, my colleague Chris Campbell and I were delighted to meet and network with mobile developers, marketers, bloggers, registrars and dotMobi Premium Name domainers and developers from the Toronto metro area. Everyone in attendance was able to introduce themselves and tell the entire group a little bit about what they do in the mobile space. We heard from domainers about what is going on with their sites like ringtones.mobi, price.mobi, scottsdalespas.mobi, roses.mobi; and a quite a few others, too.

We heard what Canadian companies like ooober, jambomobile, Carlson Marketing Canada and Mustard Seed eCommerce are doing with mobile right now. Beginners were networking with more advanced types. Developers were chatting with domainers. Marketers were talking with developers. And of course we spoke about our latest activities, such as what we've done with our DeviceAtlas.

As we heard at previous Happenings, several in attendance said that they are interested in attending more of what I'll call a "Super Happening" for now.

dotMobi Happenings: More happening.

Our first two Happenings -- held in Los Angeles and La Jolla, CA a couple of weeks ago -- were a hit. We enjoyed meeting domainers and others with keen interest in dotMobi and sharing information and ideas. I noticed great chemistry between various domainers and those with interest in development partnerships who were meeting each other for the first time. The energy and ideas that came from these Happenings was powerful, and we learned a few things from meeting dotMobi enthusiasts face to face in an informal setting.

One thing we learned from some is a desire to learn more about mobile development tools and resources, monetization strategies and ways to partner with others with experience in mobile who have the human and/or financial capital and desire to work with someone with a great name portfolio. To that end, we intend to structure future Happenings to address this feedback, and we will continue to refine our Happenings as we gather additional great ideas from the community. And speaking of more of them, our next two Happenings are in:

• Toronto, ON - Wed., April 9th at 7 PM
• Boca Raton, FL - Mon., April 28th at 7 PM

Seating is limited and attendance is limited to those with invitations that will specify the location and other particulars.

Request an invitation. (Please indicate your full name and desired Happening city.)

Stay tuned for details on Happenings planned for New York, Atlanta and various other spots around the world in the coming months.

dotMobi Happenings are free, casual, very conversational and always at a cool place. It’s your opportunity to meet dotMobi executives and speak freely about what’s on your mind and what’s on ours. And of course it’s a great way to network and meet others who are interested in dotMobi. We hope to see you at one of them!

Traffic West: A Buyers' Market

It was in the "wee small hours" this morning when news reached us of the results of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West auction in Las Vegas. Like many others, we were initially surprised. However, when we analysed the sales over our cups of coffee this morning, it became clear that within the context of the whole event, .mobi domains had in fact fared extremely well.

First off, we are delighted that all our .mobi names sold in the live auction, given that just over a third of the total names in that auction sold. Clearly people once again voted for mobility and the mobile web as being the future of computing and communications. There were 9 six-figure sales at the event - porn.mobi being one ($110,000) - but no seven-figure blockbuster sales this time round.

It's apparent that the market as a whole has gone a bit soft and jittery. The signs of sluggishness have been there for quite some time: the world is facing potential financial crisis and that is affecting all markets, not just the domain market. The subprime lending issues in the USA triggered a nervousness in the world's stock markets late last year and, clearly, investors react to marketplace conditions. Domains are subject to economic cycles, and for that reason, some of yesterday's prices were somewhat depressed (unlike the lucky winning bidders!).

The good news is that cycles are -- by their very nature -- cyclical, and prices will undoubtedly rise again. Premium names continue to be a big focus for us this year, so stay tuned for news on further allocation rounds.

Last week was a big week for the dotMobi team in terms of travel and events as we hit both the ICANN Meeting in New Delhi and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The troops returning home from that latter event report a seemingly lower-than-usual turnout of participants. The show organizers claim the numbers were the same, so let's just say getting into restuarants this year was not the problem it was in 2007. Another sign of the current economic climate perhaps? That said, it was a fantastic event for dotMobi and we will be sharing our full report of the week very shortly.

A dotMobi Happening. Maybe in your city?

We attend and speak at a variety of domain name industry conferences such as T.R.A.F.F.I.C., DOMAINfest, DomainRoundtable and ICANN, and always enjoy meeting .mobi enthusiasts face-to-face at such events. But one thing that has been missing is the opportunity to meet domainers and others with interest in .mobi who are not able to attend the major conferences, either because of logistics or cost.

To that end we’re looking at hosting dotMobi Happenings in several cities this year. The idea of a happening is just that. They will happen where a concentration of enthusiasts suggest when and where they should happen. The Happenings will be free, casual and very conversational---an opportunity to meet with dotMobi executives, investors and developers and speak freely about what’s on your mind and what’s on ours. And of course any food and beverages associated with such a happening will be on us!

I’ve already fielded interest in advance of this post, and am looking to announce our first Happening very soon. Until then I encourage you to comment or send an email to me at pbrand@mtld.mobi if you think we should come to your city or region. Don’t be shy---it takes time to coordinate these things---the early bird usually gets the worm!

December Online Auction: Next Steps

dotMobi would like to update the community on our efforts to resolve the issues relating to the Sedo auction that took place last December. We recognise that some people have been frustrated by the pace at which things have been moving, but this has been an extremely complex and difficult issue with many moving parts. That said, we are happy to report that significant progress has been made in the last couple of weeks.

We have now reached out to all of the auction stakeholders -- both the high bidders in the extended auction and those who received a notice in error as a result of the crash. We put a compromise proposal on the table and asked for feedback. Fewer than 10 of the more than 70 stakeholders rejected our proposal; since the proposal appears to have the support of the community, we are now moving forward with it. In the small number of cases where competing claims remain, we will provide appropriate assurances to the bidder entitled to the name under our proposal.

We will be contacting each bidder individually over the next few days, but the next steps will be as follows:

1. We have already delivered the authorisation codes for the names to Sedo for release in accordance with the proposal.
2. Each stakeholder will receive a detailed Agreement that describes the settlement, states our mutual obligations and releases claims arising in connection with the auction.
3. Sedo will release the codes once the stakeholder has faxed a signed copy of the Agreement to Sedo and wired the necessary funds to their Sedo account.
4. We will then begin to release the declined and substitute names to those who have faxed the signed Agreements to Sedo.

Clearly, the sooner people fax the Agreements and wire the funds, the quicker they will be in a position to register the names. And to participate in the allocation of declined and substitute names, signed Agreements must also be faxed to Sedo.

As we reach these final stages, we would like to thank everyone involved for their patience and understanding throughout this entire process. It has certainly been a unique experience with valuable lessons learned on all sides. The passion and commitment demonstrated by the community for .mobi domains has been extraordinary  and that is what excites us most as we draw a line under this chapter and move on.

They say, "It never rains in Southern California" ...

... but it was raining buckets last week during DOMAINfest Global 2008 in Hollywood. It was also raining domainers who are enthusiastic about dotMobi and that gravitated to our exhibit to try to win the totally cool new Nokia N95 we gave away just before the live auction. The lucky winner was Ken Bhullar, the Chief Idea Officer for Unlimited, Inc. in the greater Los Angeles area. Ken has registered 200-plus .mobi names, and it was a pleasure speaking with him and addressing the DOMAINfest audience on how we are reinvesting the dollars we earn from our Premium Name auction sales back into tools and resources such as site.mobi, dev.mobi and ready.mobi that will help Ken and others develop and monetize their .mobi assets.

For those of you that we missed at DOMAINfest, we hope to see you at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West in Vegas in a few weeks.

Go West, dotMobi ... T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West Premium Name Auction, Las Vegas

We're prepping for February's T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West Conference in Las Vegas, and for our first 2008 premium name auction to be held there, hosted by Moniker.

We are super excited about the names we are offering this time round: banks.mobi, broadway.mobi, cards.mobi, doctor.mobi, floods.mobi, geneology.mobi, hollywood.mobi, lottery.mobi, naked.mobi, property.mobi, score.mobi, tickets.mobi and – appropriately enough given the venue – vegas.mobi. Oh ... and last, but definitely not least, the highly anticipated porn.mobi will be auctioned.

Our usual content obligations apply, and since these names provide some great development opportunities, I can't imagine anyone not wanting to develop these names.

See Moniker's auction site for details on participating in the auction and see the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West Conference site for more information on the whole T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West event.

Hope to see you all there!