Free Whois Lookup Tool - Yet Another Awesome Tool From DNBuff.com!

We have released yet another awesome tool here at DNBuff - a free whois lookup tool which currently supports .com, .net, .org, .co.uk, .biz and .info TLDs (with more TLDs scheduled for addition very soon)

Check it out now at http://www.dnbuff.com/whois-lookup/

Major Features Added To DNBuff

DNBuff has 2 new major features - Expired domain names and pending delete droplists!

Expired domains can be found at http://www.dnbuff.com/expired-domain-names/ (and are filterable)
Droplists can be found at http://www.dnbuff.com/droplists/

Your comments are appreciated, and your suggestions are more than welcome.

Reallocation Of Reserved .Info Domains

During the original .Info sunrise period, a substantial number of .Info registrations were invalidated and returned to the official .Info registry, Afilias, due to errors on their part.

Afilias has now submitted a proposal to ICANN entitled “Phased Equitable Reallocation of Non-Compliant .INFO Sunrise Domain Names” which puts forward ideas of how to deal with these domains.

The 3 main phases in the proposal are:

Phase 1
A request for a proposal process where interested parties can put their ideas forward for the development of a chosen domain. Afilias will then review each submission and allocate the domains to worthy applicants that they feel will use the domains to further enhance the .Info brand.

Phase 2
This phase involves auctioning off the domain names and seems to be the main phase.

Phase 3
Any domains not allocated in the first two phases will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

I believe phase 2 will be the most controversial as it will see Afilias profitting from their own mishaps, but as we have seen so many times in the past, auctions are probably the best way to distribute newly released premium domain names.

At Last - Sedo Update Their Offer Details Page!

Sedo have recently updated their offer details page with the aim of creating more transparency on the marketplace.

New features include a meet the seller section and both a buyer and seller activity index.

The meet the seller section will provide prospective buyers with some useful information, such as the month and year the sellers Sedo account was created, aswell as the time the domain or website has been listed for sale on the marketplace. Buyers also have the option to send a comment to the seller once negotiations begin.

The new seller activity index section displays a 5-star rating system which is based on the members transaction history and sales volume on Sedo over the last 6 months. Keep in mind that a lower star ranking does not mean a seller is unreliable, it simply means they have sold fewer websites and domains than members with a higher ranking. The buyer activity index is determined by the amount of offers a user has submitted, aswell as the quality and value of the domains they have purchased.

European buyers can now also view the VAT (Value Added Tax) status of a domain name or website before submitting a bid, and sellers have the option of including a link to their entire portfolio on the offer details page, which increases their chances of making a sale.

Overall, I think the changes were much needed as the old offer details page was dated and didn’t include enough information to help prospective buyers make an informed decision.

BQB.com - Spanking New Marketplace

Reece Berg of 4letternoob.com has launched this revolutionary marketplace for short domains and yeah! it’s totally awesome. Their logo pretty much sums up their entire site. Registration is free if you want to get in as a beta-tester. Just PM “Reece” on NamePros or DNF and he’ll help you out.V-Q-I.com was the domain that was sold first by VURG and that pretty much makes history. Right now, there are over 50 listings in the 4L.com category and about 50 more in all the other categories put together. The prices are reasonable and the system is pretty much perfect.Reece has some great ideas to protect BQB (Better Quality Business) from all those scummy scammers. Right now it’s in beta-testing so those changes haven’t been implemented yet, but keep an eye out for this is sure to create ripples (of happiness) in the domaining industry.

NamePros Live Auction

Ty Maier (bfluid on NamePros) has put in loads of hard-work and has been making preparations to organise an exclusive 4 letter auction. Lots of LLLL.com’s and LLLL.net’s shall be included and most importantly, it is a live auction

Bill, a prominent member of the NamePros staff generously agreed to let out the live auction room in the NamePros Live Chat for the big night. We owe you one Bill!

Anyways, back to the auction, I honestly believe that this is going to be a roaring success with the quality of the names we have and the buyers who shall be attending the auction.

You may go here to view a list of the lots up for auction and you are surely going to be astounded by the featured lot which has some super-premium LLLL.com’s which anyone would kill to possess.

The auction shall be held on March 22nd at 3PM EST (GMT-5), the timing is a bit awkward for me (12 : 30 AM) but I’ll surely sit through the entire auction hoping to snipe off some names and will present an exclusive report of the auction for the benefit of those of my readers who couldn’t attend.