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A few weeks ago, the government of Kentucky seized 141 domain names that were related to gambling. There have already been a few hearings about the seizure and yesterday the court came with a new decision. After the judge had looked carefully to all 141 domain names and websites, he decided the following:

The domain names which aren’t linked to a gambling site, don’t need to change anything. Those domain names can keep existing.

The domain names which are linked to a gambling site, have until November 17th to block their site for the people of Kentucky. If their site isn’t blocked on November 17th, their domain name will be confiscated and their website will disappear from the Internet.

On November 17th, a new hearing will take place to verify if the registrants of the domain names have blocked their site for the people of Kentucky.

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Today the .nl registry, SIDN, is down for maintenance. During this maintenance, registration of new .nl names and transfers aren’t possible. SIDN expects to be up again around 4pm. We’ll keep you posted.

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The .travel registry plans a huge relaunch of the .travel extension. This relaunch will take place in the UK. If you’re a travel agency, this is the ideal extension to show the world what your company is doing. A .travel domain name needs no further explonation.

Although .travel is a generic extension, it isn’t that simple to register a .travel domain name. There are strict conditions too which you need to comply to be able to register a .travel name. More information about those conditions can be found here.

Once you’ve applied for the registration of a .travel name, the .travel registry will check carefully if you comply too all those conditions.

You can read the complete article on www.travel.travel

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From November 17, it will be easier to register a .biz.tr, .info.tr and .tv.tr name because there won’t be needed any paperwork anymore. Right now, only pre-registrations are possible. From November 17 registrations are possible. You can sign in on www.bNamed.net. If you wish to register a large number of names, please contact us at info@bNamed.net

For the extension .com.tr, nothing changes. This extension can only be registred by copanies or by the owners of a registred trademark. The trademark doesn’t need to be registred in Turkey, therefore a Benelux trademark isn’t a problem. However, if you want to register a .com.tr domain name it is required that your domain name is exactly te same as your company or trademark name.

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From November 6, there will be a new registration policy in force on .info names. This was announced by Afilias, the central .info registry. This new policy prohibits people who register a .info domain name to ‘abuse’ it.

Abusing a .info name includes: sending spam, distributing child pornography, the use of botnets, the distribution of malware, … This new policy allows Afilias to remove .info names that are used for these purposes and to report the abuser to law enforcement.

This policy is a necessary measure. In June 2008 a survey of McAfee showed that 12% of .info names were misused. This makes .info the 3rd most ‘dangerous’ extension in the world after .hk (20%) and cn (17%)!

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Yesterday a new hearing on the 141 seized domain names took place in Kentucky. All 141 names link to websites that have something to do with gambling, with, amongst others, sites that offer online poker.

The main argument during the hearing was submitted by Edward Leyden, who represents iMEGA (Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association). During the hearing he referred to the site TwinSpires.com, an online site where you can bet on horse races.  “This site is a legal site in Kentucky, operated by Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, ” said Leyden. ‘How is it possible that the government of Kentucky allows a site which refers to online gambling and which is headquartered in Kentucky while they seize 141 other domain names also referring to online gambling and not headquartered in Kentucky? The website TwinSpires.com clearly shows that the idea of online gambling is not new in Kentucky.” said Leyden.

After the court had heard the arguments of both parties, the government of Kentucky and the gambling industry, the judge deciced that there will be a final decision next week. The Judge, Thomas Wingate also ruled that, until he finalizes his decision, the commonwealth must leave the gambling sites “as is”. This means all sites must remain online and accessible.

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Recently, a new phenomenon has emerged on the Internet, burger-flipping. This means that you buy an undervalued site, build up a visitor audience and then sell the site while there’s still a high number of visitors. (sell it while it’s “hot”).

Websites that are often used for burger-flipping, are websites which mainly focus on a niche audience, for example, the growers of bonsai trees, people who are interested in bird cages, and so on.

According to Gene Alvarez, vice president of technology consulting firm Gartner, the ads are responsible for the success of such sites. “Advertisers want to work very targeted,” says Alvarez. “A site that is specifically directed at their target audience, is a great gift.”

Meanwhile, burger-flipping has already become a new form of entrepreneurship in the US. And a cheap one too. All you need is a computer and software. In addition you must sell your site with a lot of enthusiasm to some advertisers. Sometimes you can earn a lot of money with burger-flipping. People Magazine recently bought the Celebrity Baby Blog Web site which was owned by Danielle Friedland. The exact price People Magazine paid, is not known but it is a number with 6 zeros. However, this is an exception. Most people keep it a bit more modest with a profit of a few $100 or $1000.

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Soon Cameroon, located in West Africa, offers the following extensions: .com.cm, .net.cm and .co.cm. From October 15, the sunrise period starts.  From that day on, holders of a registered brand name can register their name under any of the above extensions. This brand can be registered anywhere, therefore a Benelux trademark is eligible. As of Nov. 15 anyone who wants a name under any of the above extensions can register such a name.

If you wish to sign in for the registration of a .com.cm, .net.cm or .co.cm name, please contact us at info@bNamed.net

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In Kentucky, the government has seized 141 domain names related to online gambling. It is mainly about poker sites such as AbsolutePoker.com, PokerStars.com and Cakepoker.com.

On Thursday, September 18, the court in Kentucky ordered to transfer these names. Some domain name registrars have already said they will cooperate with this transfer, other registrars prefer to keep the names in their own possession. On October 7, the next hearing will take place.

According to Steve Beshear, Governor of Kentucky, he seized the names because he wants to protect the general welfare of the people of Kentucky. “The only permitted form of gambling in Kentucky are the state lottery and betting on horse racing. Against all other forms of illegal gambling measures should be taken, “said Beshear.

ImeGA (Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association) the civil party in this case wants the seizure to be rejected. “It is true that illegal gambling in Kentucky is prohibited,” said Edward Leyden, president of ImeGA, ‘however the existing statue only mentions ‘gambling devices’, on fields that are related to gambling, nothing is said. ”

“The registrars of the seized domain names also aren’t pleased with this matter,” says Leyden. “On one hand they realize that general welfare is important and they don’t want any trouble with the state Kentucky. On the other hand, they fear that the persons who have registered their names will claim damages if the names remain seized.”

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