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I read some excellent advice the other day: rather than waiting for "things to return to normal," try to embrace today's version of normal.

That's easier said than done. We're cooped up in our houses. My daughter just found out she won't be in a physical classroom again this school year. Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of my family. (Note to self: make sure wife isn't subscribed to this newsletter before sending.)

But there are some good things about what we're going through. We need to observe and appreciate them.

For example, the golf course by our house is shut down to golfing but now open for walking. It's a beautiful way to explore my neighborhood from a vantage point that I've never enjoyed before.

In the absence of competitive pickleball, I bought a miniature net to play in the driveway with my wife and daughter. It's together time that we didn't have a few months ago.

And, something I never thought I'd say, but my wife gave me a haircut the other day. She's a journalist with zero experience cutting hair. But you know what? I'm not going to see anyone in person right now, so why should I care? My wife and I laughed as she figured out how to use the clippers.

At some point, we'll all be able to convene again. To dine out again. To hug again. I bet that, when that happens, we'll wish we hadn't wasted the downtime.

As for this month's DNW newsletter, you can probably guess the theme of the top stories. Yep, a lot of stuff related to the coronavirus.

If you missed it, yesterday GoDaddy announced that it is acquiring Neustar's registry business. This is the first time GoDaddy has ventured into the registry business after a couple of aborted attempts. This likely means more registry acquisitions in the future. Stay tuned.

Scroll down for a recap of the past month in the domain industry.

And, until we meet again in person, here's to enjoying life's little pleasures.

-Andrew

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Here are the top stories on DNW last month, as ranked by pageviews:

1. You really don't want to be 'that guy' taking advantage of COVID-19 - Trying to profit from the pandemic is tasteless. All major marketplaces have now blocked Covid-19 related domains.

2. ICANN and Verisign agree to .com extension with 7% price hikes - Screw the optics. The day after publishing a report on public comments, ICANN announced it agreed to let Verisign increase prices on .com domains. Verisign can raise prices starting in October this year, but said it won't raise them during the 2020 calendar year due to the coronavirus.

3. Oracle registers hundreds of COVID-19 domain names - The registrations didn't make sense at first, but then we learned that Oracle is a technology partner on clinical studies for drugs to treat the virus. Facebook also registered a lot of domains related to the virus.

4. NameSilo sold $840k of bitcoin before the crash - Talk about fortuitous timing!

5. It's time for domain name renewals beyond 10 years - If ICANN is going to let companies jack up domain prices, it should let registrants renew domains for longer than 10 years at today's prices.

Podcasts:

- Adjusting to the downturn and going virtual - Listen

- Saving your business in this downturn - Listen

- Coronavirus impact on domain business - Listen

- On the radio with .FM - Listen

- Death and Domains - Listen

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Thanks for reading,
Andrew