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Welcome to the latest edition of the Domain Name Wire newsletter.
Two big things happened in the domain name industry in June.
First, Voice.com sold for $30 million. That's more than twice the previous record for a publicly disclosed cash domain sale. Adam Strong and I discussed the sale on DNW Podcast #241.
Second, and this just happened yesterday, ICANN removed price caps on some legacy top level domains including .org and .info.
This is a big disappointment. It really seems like the public comment period was a farce; ICANN had already negotiated the .org contract in private and then ignored the overwhelming outcry about the new contract.
I think we'll look back on this decision as a watershed moment in domain names. It removes the certainty a business has when it registers a domain name that it will be able to use that domain forever with reasonable price increases over time. It is costly to switch domain names (because of technology and search, not the actual cost of the other domain).
It also means that ICANN is likely to rubber-stamp price increases on .com and defer to the U.S. Department of Commerce on all pricing decisions.
Now, let's get to the top stories on DNW (by traffic) for the past month...
-Andrew Here are the top stories on DNW last month, as ranked by pageviews:
1. Gail.com, the Gmail "typo" - This domain name gets a lot of traffic and even more misdirected email. 2. DigitalTown let its domain names expire - DigitalTown, a company that registered lots of second level domains under new TLDs, is letting all of its domains expire as it effectively winds down existing operations. 3. GoDaddy adds its branding to 'for sale' landers - Potential domain buyers will see a brand they instantly recognize and trust. 4. Clothing company fails to upgrade domain name through UDRP - I'm surprised the panelist didn't consider reverse domain name hijacking. 5. Record breaker: Voice.com domain name sells for staggering $30 million - Microstrategy's sale to a blockchain company smashed the previous record.
If you missed any podcasts, download these to your podcast app or listen now:
#241 (listen) - Adam Strong and I discuss the Voice.com sale and one-word domains #240 (listen) - Joe Uddeme walks through a process for finding end users to buy domains. #239 (listen) Nicolai Bezsonoff, current VP & GM of Registry Services at Neustar, talks about how he got into domains and how he views the market today.
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Don't wait for this newsletter to get the latest domain name, online advertising and marketing services news. Check in on DNW daily, and join the 35k people who follow DNW on Twitter. Thanks for reading, Andrew | 
