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VeriSign Buys .tv
Mike Damm writes: "As everyone is so worried about Microsoft these days, another monopoly is slipping through the cracks. VeriSign has paid the country of Tuvalu $45 million in cash for The .TV Corporation, as stated by this press release. Same great service, different obscure TLD!"
IIRC, they (Tuvalu) sold the rights to a company that formed the .tv corporation. Verisign looks like they just bought the company, which in theory would mean that Tuvalu got no money from the deal (unless they retained some sort of interest in the company that was formed).
I think you're overestimating the size or importance of Tuvalu, which is just a couple of specs in the ocean (and around 10,000 inhabitants). Tuvalu could rebuild its internet/IT infrastructure if Verisign simply donated to them the used equipment that they throw away.
.tv domain.
The country basically lives off a trust fund established years ago, and makes money from selling off phone numbers from its 900 area code and (previously) its
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as a few other people have pointed out, Tuvalu is a country of a few small islands and a population of around 11,000. the country has hardly any natural resources, and covers only 26 square kilometers. According to countrywatch, they have no real resources of revenue and have established a trust fund to try to make sure that their country has money to survive into the future. the article at this page says that the country's largest source of revenue is from the .tv domain. their only other real source of revenue (aside from fishing lisc) is a phosphate mine that is going to be depleted this year.
i guess what i am trying to get at is that they arent doing it because some corporation has forced them into doing it, but they did it because they needed the money. domains may not be popular forever and at least they are trying to be self sufficient instead of simply sitting back and relying on others to foot their bills. the US$37M in their trust fund wont last forever. US$45M goes a long way. and they are doing some pretty neat things with it (education for life programs, etc...). ok so it may not be the best way to finance a government, but when its the only one you've got....
Get your history straight. .TV Corporation came into existence in the domain name squatter rush and that is when the island of Tuvalu got paid. VeriSign just bought the .TV Corporation since it was a stupid frigging idea to begin with. But at least the 10,000 people of Tuvalu get a minimum $4 million per year.
Ya Sure! You Betcha!, The_THOMAS
Can you explain why you think that Verisign doesn't have a monopoly on .com domains? They get $6/year on every .com domain registered, regardless of who you're paying.