After the dissolution of Yugoslavia (.yu) in the 1990s, the independent country of Serbia and Montenegro (Crna Gora i Srbija in Serbian) was assigned the ccTLD .cs (yes, the same one previously assigned to Czechoslovakia). During this time, the .cs extension was never assigned an operator and was not used. The Republic of Serbia then became an independent state in 2006, after Montenegro (now using .me) left the union. According to documents on the official website (http://www.rnids.rs/include/data/list0032_en.pdf), existing .yu domains can be converted to .rs domains before general registration is opened to the public.

Serbia: Start of .rs domain registration March 10.
Serbian National Register of Internet Domain Names (RNIDS) informs Serbian and international public that registration of the new Internet domain names of the Republic of Serbia with .rs extension, will commence on Monday, March 10, 2008 at 12h noon.

RNIDS will accept requests for registration of new .yu domain names until Friday, February 29, 2008. After this date registration of new .yu domain names will no longer be possible. All .yu domain names registered until this date will continue to function normally at least until September 30, 2009.

Registration of new .rs domains will be conducted through 27 Serbian companies, which were accredited by RNIDS as the accredited registrars of .rs domain names.

List of the accredited registrars of .rs domain names, as well as detailed rules and procedures regarding .rs registration and transition from .yu to .rs, are available at Web site www.rnids.rs.

(Source: Economy.co.yu, February 28. Link to article)

What do you do when the perfect domain name comes along and you do not have enough cash to purchase it? Well, in part 1 of this post I mentioned that leasing might work, but what other options do you have? The first idea that comes to mind is to take out a loan, but since we are discussing creative financing we will not discuss the traditional business, personal, or home equity loans. If you are looking for loan and you own a strong generic domain name, companies like digipawn.com will let you use a name you already own as collateral and then lend you the money you need. If you do not own a strong generic, but you have enough to cover 20 to 25% of the purchase price, you might be able to get the remaining financing from a company like domaincapital.com.

If you do not want to lease or take out a loan, there is still another great option for you in the form of a custom escrow transaction. In a traditional escrow transaction, a domain is moved into an escrow account and payment is made to the escrow account, then the domain is moved to the purchaser’s account and the money is moved to the seller’s account. With a custom escrow transaction, you can modify both the terms and the payment schedule. For example, I recently used a custom escrow transaction to split the purchase price of a domain name into 12 smaller payments over the term of 1 year. In this situation, the domain was moved to the escrow account, and then I submitted my first payment. A portion of the first payment covered the the Moniker escrow fees and the rest was disbursed to the seller. The domain name remained in the escrow account until all payments were made, but I was able to change the DNS and develop the name after the first payment. I was also able to recover some of the cost of the purchase by monetizing the domain while making payments on what is the equivalent of an interest free loan. 😎

(For more great information on creative financing, also check out this great post by Sahar entitled “Pricing Is NEVER An Issue!“)

According to the press release, the company owns over 150,000 domain names in its private domain name portfolio, including the following:

• Over 1,000 “Gems” (their premium names, 100 examples below)
• 39,000 Surnames (used to sell email addresses like john@smith.net, etc.)
• 22,000 Brandable Names (names they are selling to other businesses)
• 88,000 Direct Navigation Names (names they are monetizing)

Here are the 100 examples listed in their press release:

Actresses.com Aerodynamic.com Alligators.com Amnesty.com Anger.com AnimalTrainers.com Artillery.com AutoRacers.com Backs.com Ballads.com BasketballPlayers.com Beagles.com BigSisters.com BikeRiders.com Biologist.com Blessing.com Breeding.com Brontosaur.com Bulldozer.com Burmese.com Canaries.com Cardiologists.com Cartoonists.com ChorusLine.com Codeine.com Congressman.com Corked.com Desperados.com DietFood.com Dietician.com Divorced.com DogBreeders.com DreamLover.com Drummers.com EndlessLove.com EnglishTeachers.com EquipmentStorage.com ExoticCat.com Geologists.com GraphicArtists.com GreatDanes.com Gynecologists.com Honourable.com Humble.com IceSkaters.com Interviewer.com JehovahsWitnesses.com Jewellers.com Labradors.com Lemons.com

Leopards.com Liberals.com Listener.com LonelyHearts.com Lutheran.com MailDelivery.com Mammal.com Masseuse.com Minis.com Moonlighting.com MorningShow.com MyGarage.com Narcotics.com Naturalists.com NewsReporter.com Ouzo.com Parakeets.com Paramedics.com PawnShops.com Penicillin.com Perfumer.com Pianists.com PoliceOfficer.com Pomeranian.com ProjectManagers.com PunchLines.com Puppysitters.com Relics.com Retrievers.com Rockclimbers.com Satanic.com SiameseCat.com Skateboarders.com Sleuth.com Sobriety.com SoftwareDesigners.com Stylist.com TennisPlayers.com TheBeaches.com TheCaribbean.com TheCompany.com TheHotel.com TheOpera.com ThePostoffice.com TheUnitedStates.com Tool.com Umpires.com Veggies.com Weasels.com Wrestlers.com

Source
😕

The sale prices of premium generic domain names are often out of reach for the average domain investor. If you cannot simply write a check or send a wire transfer to pay for a name, it is important to know that there are other options available. One of these options is leasing the domain name with the option to buy at the end of the lease. Elliot has a great post about domain leasing and how you can benefit from a well structured deal. The most important component as a lessee is to have a solid contract in place with the option to purchase the name at the end of the lease agreement for a set price. Ideally, one would make enough money during the course of the lease to pay for the name at the end; however leasing is just one of many options that you could consider. In part 2 of this post, I will discuss some other creative financing options that are available.

Although the quality of domain related press coverage is getting better, there are still many journalists who mistakenly report that anyone who owns more than one domain name or an undeveloped name is a cybersquatter. To counter this misconception, I would like to offer a brief definition of cybersquatting and then a simple comparison between domains and gold. First, what is cybersquatting?

Cybersquatting is defined as registering a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a TRADEMARK belonging to someone else.

A person who registers NewYorkYankees.com, and has no affiliation with the New York Yankees, would be considered a cybersquatter because they would profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. A person who registers Baseball.com would not be considered a cybersquatter (even if they do not develop the name) because the term is generic.

Another misconception occurs when someone is mistakenly labeled a squatter because they own multiple domains or domain names that are undeveloped. The term squatter is derived from “squatting,” which is the act of occupying something that the squatter does not have permission to use. After paying the registration fee, a domain owner is given permission by the registry to use the name that they registered, so by definition they are not squatting.

I wonder if any of these misconceptions would exist if they were applied to another item such as gold:
Should you only be allowed one piece of gold?
If you do not develop your gold into something useful like a necklace or watch, should you not be able to keep it?
If you have more than one piece of gold, are you a gold squatter?

By the way, if you answered yes to any of these three questions then you must also believe that Mr. T is a goldsquatter, and I pity the fool who thinks that. 😯

One year ago today, Frank Schilling wrote his first post on SevenMile.com:

So it’s February 17th 2007 and I don’t have a blog. The morning of the 18th I got a very nice note:

“Hi Frank. I read your article “The Closing Window: A Historical Analysis of Domain Tasting” and it is one of the best pieces of domain advice I’ve read in a long time. Do you have a personal website or other ways where you might publish news or advice that I can bookmark and follow? …”

…from somebody asking where they can read the odd stuff I write and realized I don’t have such a place. Well I do now.
Posted on February 18th, 2007 in Miscelaneous Ramblings

This post and the ones that followed soon became daily reading for me. His insights and thoughts have encouraged individuals, promoted the domain industry as a whole, and inspired a new generation of bloggers. It is now one year later, and to start the first post on my new blog I would like to say thanks for sharing your thoughts Frank, and happy first birthday sevenmile. 😉