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Realistically, you can get almost any domain name not in use that isn't a major English word for less than $100 now. The domain business is over. Verisign's profits are off because hundreds of thousands of domains are being released when they come up for renewal, and the few people still into domain hoarding are using cheaper registrars.

A waiting list for blah.com.
So if I add my name to the waiting list for Microsoft.com do I get it after the current expiry? Now there's a pr0n URL :)
Last I saw networksolutions were offering a 'automatic grabbing' service which you paid your money for, and if they didn't reregister in time it did it for you automatically.
Just so you can try and steal someones domain (this is linked off network solutions). I don't really see how a waiting list is any different, and I also reckon it's a really daft idea.
Then again, NSI (sorry, verisign) do have some decidedly dodgy practices regarding domain names. Like auctioning (not going back into the $35 pool or whatever the cost is) old domain names on "Great Domains"
Or charging a 'preference' rate to get a domain transfer request actioned in 2 days rather than 6 weeks.
Looks like yet another extortion tactic by the domain monopoly.

I love how they don't list the dates of the big domain name sales. Wasn't Drugs.com sold like 3 years ago?

Look at GreatDomains.com. Skip the "list prices" for domains, and look at the "recent offers" listings, which are all in the few hundred dollar range. Realistically, that's where the prices are now. And those are offers for ".com" domains. Off-brand domains like ".ws" (Western Samoa), ".tv" (Tuvalu), and ".to" (Tonga) are almost worthless.

ICANN is now starting up a "registry escrow" program to back up the registrars, so that when registrars go bust, the domains don't disappear. It's good that they're thinking ahead. A registrar shakeout is due.

It's over.

Hold on and read my comment before you flame. I'm behind fair use on this one.

What I think is lacking in current cybersquatting laws is that bad faith squatting is considered only in the case where it has already been shown that the complainant has a prior mark which is infringed upon. link

I think that cybersquatting laws should be extended to any bad faith holding of domain names. Why? Because if you go to register a domain name these days you'll notice that virtually every English word and plenty of common combinations are taken. This wouldn't bother me, except that many of these domains aren't even in use...they've been bought by squatters.

It's simple math...when you can buy in bulk, you can register 428 domains for about $3000. Since the going rate for even crap domains seems to be above this (what is $3k to a company?) even one hit in 400 is a net profit. (example: "dot-diddly-dit-dot.com" is on the block for $99999)

This is terrible, because in its original form the domain name system was available to anyone. With "deregulation" consumers can now purchase domains as cheaply as $10...only problem is, big companies have bought most of the useful ones up, so if you aren't another company with a few Gs in your pocket you can forget about most of the names out there.

Sure, new TLDs addresses the problem. But really, why should one settle for i-friable.com, or friable.info, when the owner (houseofdomains.com) is just sitting on them? Shouldn't they go to someone who can contribute something to the Internet? What is to stop someone with a few million in capital from buying a large swath of useful names in every TLD, and waiting for the cash to roll in? (especially since some registrars are giving businesses the first crack at new names)

Opening the door to any bad-faith challenge certainly opens up a can of worms, but wouldn't it be nice to have a web where sushi.com actually led to a sushi site, and thousands of other dead, unused names were being put to good use and making it easier to find information in the billions of web pages out there?

I checked NSI's site, and they seem to be linking a lot to an entity called Great Domains where you can purchase already registered domain names. What is greatdomains.com's relationship with NSI ? Does NSI own them or part of them ? If anyone finds an expired domain name on there, that would explain a lot !!

A big percentage of those "bulk domains" will probably be dropped when renewal time comes around.

"I'm sick of all the hype surrounding 'dot-com'."

I can appreciate that. I wanted a "dot-com" because of the hype -- it's easier for the average joe to remember.

It probably didn't come across, but I meant my comments to be tongue-in-cheek. At the same time, I think people generally want ".com" and ".net" and ".org" are 2nd & 3rd choices, respectively. Also, according to GreatDomains.com Valuation general system, the monetary worth of a domain name decreases roughly by 10x, 100x, (.net) or 1000x(.org) everything else being equal. That is, "biz.com" would be worth $10 million, "biz.net" $1 million, and "biz.org" $10k (high-end guesses based on the GD system).

Of course, I predict the current naming system will be outdated and replaced within 10yrs (5yrs if I'm feeling saucy :) and our kids will be boggled that people paid millions for ".com".
-----
D. Fischer

It seems that this action gives businesses more of a stranglehold on the Internet. If NSI auctions these domains off, they give large corporations with deeper pockets a better chance to get the domain names they want. This would include the domain selling "services" like Greatdomains.com a chance to snatch up these domain names. I view this in the same way that used car dealerships buy all the cars at "public government auctions" for their own reselling purposes. However, this doesn't erase the fact that the individuals/groups affected should pay their bills.

Domain Name: fox.tv
Next Minimum Bid: $250,000 / Year

Domain Name: nbc.tv
Next Minimum Bid: $250,000 / Year

Domain Name: abc.tv
Next Minimum Bid: $1,000,000 / Year

I don't know if these have bids or those are just the starting bids, but if you go to Great Domains or any other domain auction site, you can see sites like ForSaleByOwner.com being sold for $835,000, Fruits.com at $160,000, Perfect.com at $94,000, Seminars.com at $119,000, and Stocks.com and Bonds.com at a cool $7.5mil each. Some of the prices on here, like Drugs.com and Taxes.com actually seem a little UNDER-priced at $800,000 and $700,000 respectively.

- Jeremy Fuller

GreatDomains.com doesn't own those domains. They're just an broker for speculators to use.

Because its become obvious that the domain name system is fatally broken, is there any alternatives currently in development? If not, what would comprise such a system? It would be great to have a system which allowed everyone to have a sensible name, not just the fortune 500 companies and domain brokers. For example, look at GreatDomains.com, the people who now own www.races.com. They are sitting on 173,000 domains with an estimated value (according to their web page) of $2,519,578,000! I for one am tired of having to register names like thisnameislongbecauseeverythingelseistaken.com so these guys can make it rich.

So nerd.com is owned by the NAACP? Wow -- I just thought it was owned by some lame squatter.