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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/6387783.htm
(interesting read--not totally what you think...make sure you read the entire article....)
Posted on Mon, Jul. 28, 2003
CHATROOM: SOUTH FLORIDA'S TECH SCENE
Hereweare.us or .com? Upstart making name for itself
BY BEA GARCIA
[email protected]
Last December, President Bush signed into law a bill that would create an Internet neighborhood for kids only, a virtual area where children younger than 13 could explore the Web without facing some of the online evils that they might encounter in some areas of the Internet.
The dot-kids domain, set by the Dot-Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act, is a subdivision, of sorts, of another relatively new domain: dot-us. Some folks in the business of buying and selling domain names have high hopes that the dot-kids domain will spark interest in the dot-us Internet address.
''It's America's Internet address,'' says Harry Griggs, a Miami business owner who owns between 700 and 800 dot-us domain names.
He's one of those who expect the dot-kids address to give the dot-us address a boost.
The fact is there is demand for the dot-us names, especially among smaller businesses, because so many of the dot-com names have already been registered. Small-business owners might have better luck finding the names they want in the dot-us names, says Roger Collins, president of ProProject, which runs Afternic.com, a domain-name exchange based in Fort Lauderdale.
More than 21.3 million dot-com names and more than 3.6 million dot-net names have been registered -- compared to just 315,215 dot-us names -- according to State of the Domain, an online magazine that tracks the domain name industry.
Griggs and various other South Florida entrepreneurs are positioning themselves for a takeoff of dot-us names. Griggs, who owns september11th.us and has set up various pay-for-click sites, says he would be more interested in leasing the dot-us names he owns than in selling them outright.
''You only get these things once,'' he says. ``It's like a piece of real estate: Once it's gone, it's gone for good.''
Collins, however, says he would advise businesses that are totally Internet based to keep looking for dot-com names.
''The dot-com name has a bigger prestige factor for a business that does all of its business online,'' he says.
Collins himself tried a dot-us name for a free Internet-service provider by his company that monitors websites for changes and notifies registered users by e-mail. The service was initially called WatchIt.us. He recently changed it to ChangeNotes.com.
''We liked [WatchIt.us], because it was shorter and catchier, but some people found it confusing and hard to remember,'' Collins says. ``People are so used to dot-com addresses that it almost didn't register as a domain name.''
Afternic.com helps brings together sellers of domain names and buyers looking for domain names that might already be registered.
Afternic.com has partnered with two of the leading ICANN-accredited domain-name registrars: DomainPeople.com, which has some 300,000 registered domain names, and DomainDiscover.com, which owns 400,000.
Afternic.com also lists nearly 300,000 domain names that are for sale by their owners. Owners can list the names they have for sale with asking prices or on a make-an-offer basis.
ProProject, a software-consulting firm founded in 1995, offers Project Plus, a project accounting software for small- and midsize consulting firms.
It set up Afternic.com late last year. The company is owned by Collins, his brother, Michael, of Apoka, and Denney Cole, of Portland, Ore. Each works from his home office.
(interesting read--not totally what you think...make sure you read the entire article....)
Posted on Mon, Jul. 28, 2003
CHATROOM: SOUTH FLORIDA'S TECH SCENE
Hereweare.us or .com? Upstart making name for itself
BY BEA GARCIA
[email protected]
Last December, President Bush signed into law a bill that would create an Internet neighborhood for kids only, a virtual area where children younger than 13 could explore the Web without facing some of the online evils that they might encounter in some areas of the Internet.
The dot-kids domain, set by the Dot-Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act, is a subdivision, of sorts, of another relatively new domain: dot-us. Some folks in the business of buying and selling domain names have high hopes that the dot-kids domain will spark interest in the dot-us Internet address.
''It's America's Internet address,'' says Harry Griggs, a Miami business owner who owns between 700 and 800 dot-us domain names.
He's one of those who expect the dot-kids address to give the dot-us address a boost.
The fact is there is demand for the dot-us names, especially among smaller businesses, because so many of the dot-com names have already been registered. Small-business owners might have better luck finding the names they want in the dot-us names, says Roger Collins, president of ProProject, which runs Afternic.com, a domain-name exchange based in Fort Lauderdale.
More than 21.3 million dot-com names and more than 3.6 million dot-net names have been registered -- compared to just 315,215 dot-us names -- according to State of the Domain, an online magazine that tracks the domain name industry.
Griggs and various other South Florida entrepreneurs are positioning themselves for a takeoff of dot-us names. Griggs, who owns september11th.us and has set up various pay-for-click sites, says he would be more interested in leasing the dot-us names he owns than in selling them outright.
''You only get these things once,'' he says. ``It's like a piece of real estate: Once it's gone, it's gone for good.''
Collins, however, says he would advise businesses that are totally Internet based to keep looking for dot-com names.
''The dot-com name has a bigger prestige factor for a business that does all of its business online,'' he says.
Collins himself tried a dot-us name for a free Internet-service provider by his company that monitors websites for changes and notifies registered users by e-mail. The service was initially called WatchIt.us. He recently changed it to ChangeNotes.com.
''We liked [WatchIt.us], because it was shorter and catchier, but some people found it confusing and hard to remember,'' Collins says. ``People are so used to dot-com addresses that it almost didn't register as a domain name.''
Afternic.com helps brings together sellers of domain names and buyers looking for domain names that might already be registered.
Afternic.com has partnered with two of the leading ICANN-accredited domain-name registrars: DomainPeople.com, which has some 300,000 registered domain names, and DomainDiscover.com, which owns 400,000.
Afternic.com also lists nearly 300,000 domain names that are for sale by their owners. Owners can list the names they have for sale with asking prices or on a make-an-offer basis.
ProProject, a software-consulting firm founded in 1995, offers Project Plus, a project accounting software for small- and midsize consulting firms.
It set up Afternic.com late last year. The company is owned by Collins, his brother, Michael, of Apoka, and Denney Cole, of Portland, Ore. Each works from his home office.
