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VeriSign Buys .tv

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the throat-singers-need-not-apply dept.

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!"

6 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Feynman wasn't here by isomeme · · Score: 5, Funny
    from the throat-singers-need-not-apply dept.
    Cute one, but just for the record, Tuvalu != Tuva.
    --
    When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
  2. What about the country itself by Ryu2 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I believe that one of the conditions that Tuvalu originally gave Verisign, Network Solutions, or whatever it was called back then, for the right to sell .tv names was that the Tuvalu govt would get some royalties to be put back towards developing Tuvalu's own Internet/IT infrastructure.

    Is this $45 million a one time lump sum, and is so, does this mean that Tuvalu itself has completely given up ownership of its domain (so if a Tuvalu company wanted to register, they'd have to go through Verisign like everyone else?)

    --
    There's 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
  3. Tuvalu needs the money by eufaula · · Score: 5, Informative

    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....

  4. Re:How many of these new domains? by renehollan · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I couldn't believe people would buy that line of crap.

    "There's a sucker born every minute" -- P. T. Barnum, I believe.

    Sometimes I think the reason most smart people don't get rich selling, as you say, crap, to the dummies, is that most smart people can't imagine anyone that stupid. Sadly, such people exist. Frighteningly, they vote.

    --
    You could've hired me.
  5. Re:Microsoft buys .NET by Alsee · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft has decided to follow VeriSign's lead and has bought it's own country.

    Microsoft is now proud to announce several sites in it's new domain:

    Fear.US
    Hate.US
    BugsR.US
    BuyFrom.US
    IncompatibleR.US
    Monopoly?Who.US?
    TheNetBelongsTo.US
    CantGetAwayFrom.US
    GiveYourMoneyTo.US
    and, the ever popular
    AllYourBaseAreBelongTo.US

    -

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  6. Speaking of the .US TLD... by guttentag · · Score: 4, Funny
    <SARCASM TYPE=prediction OFFTOPIC=1>

    January 23, 2003 -- WASHINGTON

    Chief Terrorist Whacker Bush today announced a fundamental change to the commonly used system for internet addresses.

    "I went to this interweb site to buy some more helicopters for the army and I realized I have no way of knowing if this is a terrorist organization. How do I know that the money I am spending on helicopters to help our future isn't going to some Yahoo in Somalia? So I picked up the bat phone and called Vice Whacker Cheney and said, 'Dick, we need to change this.'"

    Bush's new system does away with the .com, .net, .edu, .info, .musuem, .name, and .org "top level domains," as well as all country-specific TLDs. They will be replaced with two TLDs: .us and .them.

    Web site owners can register .us domains at their local DMV (or equivalent Motor Vehicle Administration), where they will be required to furnish a social security number, photo ID, and finger prints. The old addressing system is slated to be shut down in March 31.

    "Most of the Web sites I need already have the .us designation thanks to some forward thinking by my friends at ICANN, so I don't foresee too much of a problem here," Bush said.


    </SARCASM>