--O.T.-- What's in a name, you ask?
Here's something to consider, from Wired Magazine.
I picked it up on the NANOG List.
You wondered what all the noise was about, when
it came to the new auction services on the 'net?
Why, they're there to auction off Domain Names, what else?
Talk about self-fulfilling...
From:
wired.com
Making a Mint on Wallstreet.com
by Craig Bicknell
3:00 a.m. 23.Apr.99.PDT
A Venezuelan online casino doled out more than
US$1 million to buy Wall Street -- dot com.
Players Sportsbook and Casino, based on tiny
Margarita Island off the coast of Venezuela, had
the US$1.03-million winning bid in an auction for
the rights to the wallstreet.com domain.
"I'm shocked that this kind of value exists for a
domain name, but I'm overjoyed, too," said Ehud
Gavron, owner of the flashy Web address since
1994. Gavron, the 32-year-old president of a
Tucson, Arizona-based Internet service provider,
will split the loot with two other co-owners.
Players Sportsbook outbid a slew of
competitors, including several financial firms, in
a blind auction run by broker New Commerce
Communications. The bidding started at
$300,000, moved slowly up to $500,000, then
made a sudden leap to seven figures, according
to Tom Millitzer, president of New Commerce.
"That's a pretty aggressive price to pay for 13
letters of the alphabet," he said. "$97,000 a
letter is a damn good bid."
The piece of prime Net real estate was worth the
price and more, said Players Sportsbook.
"We plan on making a return on this investment
in six months," said Patrick Carter, a manager
at Simpson Bay Limited, the corporate owner of
the casino.
The plan is to set up a Web site that lets people
place wagers on stock movements without
actually investing in stocks themselves.
"We'll say, where do you think the stock will
close at the end of the day, where do you think
it will close at the end of the month?" said
Carter. "You'll be able to bet on stocks, options,
futures. It's already been done with great
success in the UK. Now we'll bring it to
America."
In this market, that's a bit like gambling
squared. Whether it proves popular remains to
be seen.
Meanwhile, the sellers have some winnings to
spend.
"I think I'll fix up the kitchen and put a Jacuzzi in
the back yard," said Gavron.
"I'm planning on reinvesting it in the stock
market," said co-owner Matt Grossman, a
24-year-old Unix administrator who followed his
parents to Tucson from Albany, New York, five
years ago. "I'll be blunt -- I came out here for free
rent."
For its part, New Commerce Communications
will have some hot new domains to auction off.
"We're getting lots of calls from people looking
for our services," said Millitzer.
That has Net industry experts a touch
concerned.
"I'm sorry to see domains go for these prices,"
said Ellen Rony, author of the Domain Name
Handbook. "It really fuels the domain
name-speculation fire."
Related Wired Links:
Domain Name List Is Dwindling
14.Apr.99
Wallstreet.com Up for Sale
8.Apr.99
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