Apple secures iPhone.com for seven-figure sum -- report
A last minute bid by Apple Inc. to acquire the iPhone.com domain ahead of the gadget's launch on Friday is reported to have netted its previous registrant a seven-digit sum.
Jay Westerdal of Name Intelligence claims in his company's DomainTools Blog that Apple has bought iPhone.com, reportedly taking control of the URL from domain owner Michael Kovatch for what could be "at least a million dollar sale."
Kovatch had registered the domain well before Apple chief Steve Jobs' return to his company, signing up for the address in 1995 and in more recent years using the site for an online cellphone store dubbed The Internet Phone Company. This gave him the legal right to use the site and to turn down Apple's offer -- which he initially did, according to Westerdal. The owner was reportedly motivated by serious interest in using the site for profit.
"He was holding out because he truly wanted to use the domain," Westerdal said. "He considered not selling at the very end, [as] he had registered the domain back in 1995 and was building a company on the domain."
And Apple's January 2007 introduction of a device named the iPhone was largely beneficial, Kovatch allegedly told the Name Intelligence blogger. Site visits had grown dramatically since the phone's announcement, granting iPhone.com's then-owner far greater exposure. Apple's interest in the domain, however, is said to have been extremely high as the link between the product and the site was considered virtually necessary.
"That domain was so valuable that Apple just had to own it," Westerdal wrote. "The headaches would have just compounded [the situation] had they not owned the domain."
While the exact conditions of the purported sale were not disclosed, the seven-digit price would make the purchase one of the largest of its kind, rivaling the well-known Sex.com and similarly easy-to-remember addresses in terms of its obvious appeal.
Although the details of negotiations and the resulting financial compensation remain unconfirmed, a check of the ownership for iPhone.com confirms that its domain name servers belong to Apple and that ownership of the site was transferred at the last minute, reaching the iPhone maker through the domain registrar outlet GoDaddy on June 29th.
Jay Westerdal of Name Intelligence claims in his company's DomainTools Blog that Apple has bought iPhone.com, reportedly taking control of the URL from domain owner Michael Kovatch for what could be "at least a million dollar sale."
Kovatch had registered the domain well before Apple chief Steve Jobs' return to his company, signing up for the address in 1995 and in more recent years using the site for an online cellphone store dubbed The Internet Phone Company. This gave him the legal right to use the site and to turn down Apple's offer -- which he initially did, according to Westerdal. The owner was reportedly motivated by serious interest in using the site for profit.
"He was holding out because he truly wanted to use the domain," Westerdal said. "He considered not selling at the very end, [as] he had registered the domain back in 1995 and was building a company on the domain."
And Apple's January 2007 introduction of a device named the iPhone was largely beneficial, Kovatch allegedly told the Name Intelligence blogger. Site visits had grown dramatically since the phone's announcement, granting iPhone.com's then-owner far greater exposure. Apple's interest in the domain, however, is said to have been extremely high as the link between the product and the site was considered virtually necessary.
"That domain was so valuable that Apple just had to own it," Westerdal wrote. "The headaches would have just compounded [the situation] had they not owned the domain."
While the exact conditions of the purported sale were not disclosed, the seven-digit price would make the purchase one of the largest of its kind, rivaling the well-known Sex.com and similarly easy-to-remember addresses in terms of its obvious appeal.
Although the details of negotiations and the resulting financial compensation remain unconfirmed, a check of the ownership for iPhone.com confirms that its domain name servers belong to Apple and that ownership of the site was transferred at the last minute, reaching the iPhone maker through the domain registrar outlet GoDaddy on June 29th.
Comments
"He considered not selling at the very end, [as] he had registered the domain back in 1995 and was building a company on the domain."
Yeah. I wonder how long he thought about that....
I think I'm going to just start buying all future domain names that could be potential products from Apple.
I think you might be a little late to join the domain name game.
I don't know if the rules changed, but I can't believe such a sum was paid. Those using the trademarks of others as a domain name usually didn't have much of a leg to stand on. For example, even if your given name was Barbie, I think Mattel sued her or her parents out of barbie.com.
It's not like he just went and got the domain in january, he's had it before there was 'i' anything from apple. He made a good business decision holding out.
I think you might be a little late to join the domain name game.
Obviously.
You knew exactly what I was going to say before I even said it!
I don't know if the rules changed, but I can't believe such a sum was paid. Those using the trademarks of others as a domain name usually didn't have much of a leg to stand on. For example, even if your given name was Barbie, I think Mattel sued her or her parents out of barbie.com.
I think he was allowed since he registered it so long ago. 1995 was before even the imac, wasn't it?
1995 was really the very begining of the internet. Many domains back then were given out free too...
Why are posts on this site always out of order??
Well, either people think its funny to edit their posts to reply to people below them or the site sucks... Alternatively, there's a rift in space-time.
Well, either people think its funny to edit their posts to reply to people below them or the site sucks... Alternatively, there's a rift in space-time.
The servers have been quirky lately.
They are Windoze based.
AI, I am guessing, has a contract with them that is currently being a bit stressed (this has been going on for a little while).
I don't know any of this for sure...
The site is hosted by vBulletin (check the bottom of your screen); they seem to use Windoze.
VB is the forum engine. AI is hosted with IntuitiveISP as far as I know.
Somewhere, the threads and posts have been getting scrambled timewise (sometimes creating very interesting continuity problems!
Well, a quick "whois iphone.net" at the terminal gives an interesting tidbit:
Cisco owns the iphone.net domain. Creation date 28-Jan-1998, record last updated 20 minutes ago.
Hmm, wish I'd whois'ed it about an hour sooner. Anyone know who had this domain before, assuming it was an ownership change that just occurred?