Stephane Van Gelder - General

The beginning of the end for a united Internet?

stephane.vangelder@indom.com (Stephane Van Gelder) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:30:51 +0200

The Economist is running a fascinating story on the Internet itself. The main pitch is that the Internet was a great global unifier in its early years. But now that governments and law enforcement agencies have caught on to the Internet's power and ability to transcend any boundary, be it physical, geographical or legal, they are increasingly trying to control it. The result is a strong risk of seeing the Internet splintered and as such becoming less effective as a planetary communication tool, with less innovation and less user benefit and choice.

Read the article here, or click on "continue reading" for a glimpse of the article.

Continue reading "The beginning of the end for a united Internet?"

It's clobbering time… again?

stephane.vangelder@indom.com (Stephane Van Gelder) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:59:30 +0200

I naturally keep a close watch on all domain name related topics. One of fun side effects is seeing fan and geek sites scramble for clues about upcoming films or products as soon as a new domain is registered. Media and entertainment companies must have a hell of a time hiding their new projects while at the same time protecting their intellectual property by registered the relevant domains…

I especially love leaks like FantasticFourReborn.com, a domain spotted by fan sites as being registered by Fox, and hence the source of some speculation that the Fantastic Four movie reboot will be entitled "Reborn".

Could be, although it must be said that movie studios are becoming more and more adept at generating buzz around "false positives", i.e. domains that are registered as realistic possibilities just to throw people off the scent. So far, there's no working website behind www.FantasticFourReborn.com. But that could change.

Reminder: the sex.com auction is tomorrow!

stephane.vangelder@indom.com (Stephane Van Gelder) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:06:26 +0100

So intense was the sex.com saga that my good friend Kieren McCarthy, ex ICANN manager of public participation, even wrote a book about it. Will the last chapter of this story be written tomorrow, when the name comes up for auction in New York?

Domain name and Internet watchers around the world will no doubt focus their attention on New York tomorrow, where sex.com is set to come up for auction.

The most famous domain name in the world is more Hollywood than geek. Sex.com was first registered by Gary Kremen (who later went on to launch match.com) in 1994 with what was then the world's only registrar for .COM, Network Solutions.

The following year, Kremen realized that he was no longer listed as the owner of the name. A guy called Stephen Michael Cohen has simply sent a forged fax to Network Solutions asking for the name to be transferred, and Netsol has done so without even checking!

A drawn out legal battle ensued, Cohen even went as far as fleeing the US to avoid getting caught, but Kremen eventually won the rights to his domain back. Sex.com was by then an extremely valuable piece of Internet real-estate. It is said that at one point, the name bringing in $15,000 a day!

In 2006, he sold sex.com to a company called Escom LLC for a reported $14 million, although the actual amount has never been officially confirmed. Escom made the deal with a loan from DOM partners, and was then unable to repay.

To try and get some of their money back, DOM Partners are putting the name up for auction. To take part, potential buyers must stump up a $1 million certified cheque.

How much will the name go for? In today's economy, are people prepared to speculate millions of dollars on a domain name? All will be revealed tomorrow…

Porsche CEO to leave

stephane.vangelder@indom.com (Stephane Van Gelder) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:31:51 +0200

Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking is leaving the company. Photo Porsche AG.

Today (July 23rd), sports car manufacturer Porsche announced it is dismissing its star CEO Wendelin Wiedeking with immediate effect.

Why am I talking about this? This has nothing to do with domain names, does it? True, but although my blog may be domain centric, it is first and foremost the blog of an entrepreneur. And this Porsche story is fascinating for anyone interested in the world of business.

What has my interest so spiked? The lightning fast way in which fortunes can turn around in business. A year ago, Porsche was hailed as a modern miracle. Although a producer of niche sports cars in the premium segment, it was the most profitable carmaker in the world. Period. And yet, when Wiedeking became CEO on October 1, 1992, Porsche was on its last legs.

The miracle turnaround Wiedeking orchestrated reached its pinnacle with the attempted takeover of Volkswagen. In classic David vs Goliath style, tiny Porsche was about to buy one of the biggest automakers in the world.

Then the recession hit and it all went south. Crippled by the debt (in excess of 9 billion euros) that it had run to buy a large enough holding in VW to be able to take control, Porsche went from very top to rock bottom in a matter of weeks. Today, it looks almost certain to be bailed out by VW, set to pay off the largest portion of Porsche's debt and acquire the company in the process.

Wiedeking, considered a few years ago the auto industry's golden man, is now on the dole. Oh don't worry about him, he was the highest paid executive in the industry and he leaves Porsche with 50 millions euros in "severance pay".

But there are lessons to be learned from this. There's an obvious one that all entrepreneurs know only too well. Even when things are going extremely well, disaster may never be far away so you need to adjust your strategy to suit.

I take away a more personal lesson as well: be passionate and knowledgeable about the product you sell. It's not that Wiedeking could have anticipated the recession, but maybe just concentrating on Porsche's core business instead of becoming more trust fund than sports car maker would have helped (just before the downfall, Porsche was making more money from dealing in VW shares than it was from selling cars). No-one will be surprised to learn that Wiedeking, undoubtedly a brilliant CEO, is said to not even like cars! Therein may lie the root of Porsche's problems…

National Arbitration Forum can no longer handle credit disputes

stephane.vangelder@indom.com (Stephane Van Gelder) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:48:05 +0200

This is an interesting one. Official UDRP provider NAF has just settled with the Minnesota Attorney General's office after being sued by them for deceptive practices. Under the terms of the settlement, NAF has agreed to stop handling any credit disputes from July 24th.

Reading from the Attorney General's press release, it appears NAF "misrepresented its independence and hid from consumers and the public its extensive ties to the collection industry."

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson added: "The company tells consumers, the public, courts, and the government that it is independent and operates like an impartial court system. In fact, it has extensive ties to the collection industry—ties that it hides from the public."

So should this case have any impact on NAF's domain name business and status as an official ICANN dispute resolution centre?

Everyone is copying the domain name system

stephane.vangelder@indom.com (Stephane Van Gelder) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:26:20 +0200

Read a story somewhere that Facebook will soon allow users to register their own "vanity URLs". From what I understand, anyone with a Facebook account will be able to request a correspond Facebook.com URL, with a key word of their choosing. So I could have facebook.com/stephane for example.

This may not be exactly what Facebook has in mind, but you get the idea. Facebook wants to give (or sell?) its users unique identifiers. Why? Because as domain names have shown, in our Internet world having your own, highly explicit name is of paramount importance. It means people can find you more quickly. And that means better connecting and networking, whether it be for social or business uses.

We're seeing the same trend on Twitter, with news that Twitter IDs are starting to sell for lots of money (BTW: you can follow me (stephvg), or INDOM (same ID) on Twitter!).

And my point? Domains names remain the most effective (and therefore most valuable) unique identifiers around. If you haven't done so already, get yours and use it!

Two blogs in one.

stephane.vangelder@indom.com (Stephane Van Gelder) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:41:33 +0100

When asked, I usually describe myself as bi-national and bicultural. I was born in France and lived there until I was 10. I then moved to England until the age of 22. I've been back in France since. This, you might have guessed, has left me deeply schizophrenic as far as my cultural roots are concerned. I often think like an Englishman but express myself like a Frenchman, or vice-versa…

This blog is a perfect example of the state of constant mental flux that my two cultural heritages has left me in. When I first set the blog up, I thought I would simply translate each post into both languages. I soon found that tiresome and difficult to manage. The cultural difference again. For example, some topics might be riveting for a French audience and downright boring for others.

I experimented for a while, publishing different pieces in English or French only, but having the two languages coexist on the same blog just wasn't the result I wanted. So in the end, I've decided to split everything down the middle. From now on, this blog at www.stephane-vangelder.com is English content only, while over at www.stephane-vangelder.fr I will only upload French content.

If only sorting myself out was that simple ?

Politicians make domain name famous

stephane.vangelder@indom.com (Stephane Van Gelder) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:58:16 +0200

Imagine that your domain name, currently unknown outside of your immediate circle of customers and friends, suddenly became THE byword in a presidential debate watched by the entire planet.

That's exactly what happened to JoeThePlumber.com owner Joe Francis. During the third Obama/McCain debate, both candidates mentioned "Joe The Plumber" a total of 26 times. The little frequented website suddenly saw its number of hits explode… And buy offers soon started pouring in. Francis is said to have received a top offer of $900,000 for his domain!

But the canny neighbourhood plumber isn't selling just yet. He first wants to look into marketing and licensing possibilities now that "Joe The Plumber, Friendliest Plumber in Town" is fast becoming America's catchphrase. T-shirts are already been sold on the JoeThePlumber.com website. Soon, the Joe The Plumber brand may become a fully-fledged franchise…

Domain name comedian

stephane.vangelder@indom.com (Stephane Van Gelder) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:20:59 +0200

Domain names, a laughing matter? Not in a million years, or so I thought. Turns out I was wrong. Either that or I've become such a complete DN anorak it's just too sad for words. Either way, I love this video that Cédric Manara (a clear DN anorak if ever there was one J) found and told me about. Enjoy.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die