General Availability for .SX (the new ccTLD of the constituent country of Sint Maarten, which became autonomous on October 10, 2010) opens on November 15, 2012. Anyone will be able to register .SX domains regardless of location—and there are no local contact requirements. Registering in country domains is the best way to optimize your naming strategy and strengthen your domain portfolio.

If you have any questions about the .SX extension or would like to check the availability of a .SX domain name, please contact your Safenames account manager. You may also contact the Safenames in the UK +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1.703.574.5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

Nominet, the registry for UK (United Kingdom) domains, has proposed a new service called direct.uk, which is primarily for businesses that are located in the UK or are doing business in the UK. This new domain name registration option would potentially offer shorter domain names registered at the second level (i.e., www.yourbusiness.uk) and a comprehensive bundle of security features (which have not yet been identified). Nominet is currently seeking input from all stakeholders on the potential introduction of this new service.

If you have any questions about the potential launch of .uk domains, please contact your Safenames Account Manager or contact Safenames Customer Support in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net). We will keep you posted as new information is released on this impending launch.

The Chinese Registry (.CN) is now offering ASCII.IDN domain names (e.g., domain. 中国) for the .CN extension. Previously, .CN domains could only be registered as ASCII.ASCII or IDN.IDN. For languages that include diacritics, IDNs are the best means of communication for domain holders because they reflect the pronunciation of their identity and/or their brand. And it allows domain holders to optimize their naming strategies.

This launch presents an opportunity for brand owners to register their international brand name with a true Chinese extension. The new ASCII.中国 domain names are launching in 3 phases:

1. Sunrise 1 Phase—September 16 through October 11, 2012: Priority phase for trademark holders; trademarks of Mainland China and trademarks outside of China are eligible; in the event that multiple applications are received for the same domain name, domain will be allocated on a first come first serve basis
2. Sunrise 2 phase—October 15 through October 22, 2012: Priority phase for existing holders of .CN domain names; the corresponding alphabetical and numerical .中国 domain names must be registered through the same registrar as the alphabetical and numerical .CN domain names
3. General Launch Phase—October 29, 2012: ASCII.中国 domain names registrations open to all individuals and organizations; available domain names will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis

If you have any questions about Chinese ASCII.IDN domains, please contact your Safenames Account Manager or contact Safenames Customer Support in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

The Italian Registry(.IT) is now offering International Domain Names (IDNs) for the .IT extension. Previously, .IT domains could only be registered in the “Latin without diacritics” format, based solely on letters (A-Z), numbers (0-9), and the hyphen (-). For languages that include diacritics, IDNs are the best means of communication for domain holders because they reflect the pronunciation of their identity and/or their brand. And it allows domain holders to optimize their naming strategies.

Additionally, the .IT registry has expanded the Local Contact requirements to include any individuals and businesses in Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, the Vatican, the Republic of San Marino, and Switzerland.

If you have any questions about Italian IDNs, please contact your Safenames Account Manager or contact Safenames Customer Support in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

Today the domain name Sexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com is dropping.

While that might not surprise you, what might surprise you is to find out that domain has been registered for 12 years.

Yes the domain was created in 2000 and ever since someone has been paying renewal fees on this domain.

If you don’t like that domain you can try to get another 12 year old domain dropping today: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com.

If you miss out any either of those don’t worry here are some more also dropping today also all 12 years old:

 …

I get about 20 emails a day from people I don’t know and never heard of offering me all sorts of crappy domains at ridiculous prices.

However the one from ICANNdomains.com caught my eye.

ICANN of course is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers which regulates the domain name space.

So naming a site ICANNdomains is just asking for trouble, and hopefully trouble will find them.

The owner of the site is not making a secret about who owns it as he proudly displays his name, address, phone number and email address in the email spam.

However his site doesn’t resolve.

The domain has been registered since 2010.

Not that I’m a great speller but I left the email as it came:

ICANN DOMAINS LTD
info@icanndomains.com

Dear Friends

My name is JORGE LUIZ.

I have the honor to present your estimated company the domains here listed.

====================================================================
* DOT COM PORTFOLIO ( BATH DOTCOM 006/12 WITTH 50 PREMIUM DOMAINS ).

* BONUS / FREE : MORE 5 DOMAINS. (TOTAL : 55 DOMAINS)

* ONLY DESCRIPTIVE DOMAINS, ABSOLUTILY NEATS, WITH DIRECT NAVEGATION.

* IN ENGLISH, NO LINES, NO POINTS, NO NUMBERS, NO TYPOS, …

* BASE PRICE FOR THE ENTIRE PORTFOLIO : U$ 25,800.00

* WE WILL EVALUATE ALL OFFERS CAREFULLY, BUT THE BASE PRICE

SHOULD BE AROUND U$ 25,800.00.

* AVERAGE PRICE PER EACH DOMAIN: ONLY U$ 469.00 . A BARGAIN .
====================================================================

We consider this an HONEST, FAIR and RIGHT value for me and also for your company.

# TRANSACTION BY ESCROW.COM. SEE WHO.IS TO PROVE THE PROPERTY .
# WHAT IS YOUR OFFER ??? GOOD and COMPETITIVE OFFER ???.

We wait your VALUABLE and KIND response.

Best Regards, GOOD BUSINESS for everyone.

=======================================================
* Name : JORGE LUIZ NASCIMENTO DE ALMEIDA.
* E-Mails : info@icanndomains.com
* City : RIO DE JANEIRO ( BRAZIL ) .
=======================================================

If you buy our Batch DOTCOM 006/12 (see below) we\’ll give you
ABSOLUTELY FREE, NO EXPENSES, as BONUS the following domains.

FREE / BONUS DOMAINS :

1) TOWINGTRACTORS.COM
2) METALKNIVES.COM
3) IRONSTRUCTURE.COM
4) TIREROLLERS.COM
5) RUBBERANTENNA.COM

Batch DOTCOM 006/12

ALUMINUMBLOCKS.COM
ALUMINUMBOARDS.COM
ALUMINUMSTRUCTURE.COM
ANTENATALCLINIC.COM
BENZTRUCK.COM
BLOCKCUTTING.COM
BOXLORRY.COM
COMMERCIALSHED.COM
CRYSTALBLANK.COM
DELUXEDUPLEX.COM
DELUXEMANSION.COM
DISCPLATE.COM
DISCPLATES.COM
DOORCARPET.COM
DOORCARPETS.COM
ELECTRONICINJECTION.COM
EUROCENSUS.COM
FLATBEDLORRY.COM
HOTAIRSYSTEM.COM
INDUSTRIALCENSUS.COM
INDUSTRIALCUTTER.COM
INDUSTRIALGARMENT.COM
INDUSTRIALLAUNDRIES.COM
INDUSTRIALPAN.COM
INDUSTRIALPRESSES.COM
INDUSTRIALPROCESSOR.COM
INDUSTRIALQUARTZ.COM
INDUSTRIALROOF.COM
INDUSTRIALTURBO.COM
INTELLECTUALTEST.COM
INTERCENSUS.COM
IRONDRUM.COM
IRONDRUMS.COM
LORRYTRUCK.COM
LUXURYDUPLEX.COM
METALCYLINDER.COM
METALCYLINDERS.COM
METALRAMP.COM
METALSHUTTER.COM
NYLONWHEEL.COM
OPTICALMATERIAL.COM
PHARMAAUTOMATION.COM
PROFESSIONALWASHING.COM
RINGCHAIR.COM
STEELSLAB.COM
TIREROLLER.COM
TOWINGTRACTOR.COM
VOCATIONALEXAM.COM
WASHINGSOLUTION.COM
WOODPARTITION.COM…

According to a pretty interesting article over at xBiz.com “several seemingly “adult” search terms have recently become dominated by mainstream sites as the Google algorithm now ranks non-adult content sites on the first page for keywords that were historically considered to be profitable adult traffic sources.”

“A search for terms like “lesbian,” “Ron Jeremy,” “C*nt” and many others in Google now reveals page one listings for several gay rights groups, mainstream movie credits and other mainstream content. ”

“What impact will this change have on adult site SEO, traffic patterns, domain values and profitability for adult webmasters?”

“It’s no secret that Google dislikes adult content and has made moves in the past, present —and will again in the future, to sanitize the Internet for people whether search users want porn or not,” said Mitch of BurningAngel.com.

“Now as Google appears to be recharacterizing many adult terms, the SEO window of opportunity appears to be shrinking even tighter for paysite owners.”

“Nicot, a well- known SEO webmaster is quoted as saying:

“Generally, terms that would get a lot of porn results, based on what the searcher actually wants, have suddenly started going mainstream, even if only five percent of those searchers are looking for mainstream sites. That’s very important because it means Google isn’t only looking at what the searcher is looking for (based on bounce and time on site), but also blatantly filtering out porn from terms like ‘c*nt’ to show mainstream content instead.”

“Based on that sort of reasoning, some now question the potential impact that these changes will have on Domainers and domain prices.”

“If for example “lesbian” is now essentially a term used to find gay rights nonprofit sites and hardcore fans are now having to type “lesbian porn” into their browser to find what they are actually looking for, the twoword domains like Lesbianporn.com or PussyVideos.com may have their values assessed much more closely to the primary single keyword domain values for Lesbian.com or Pussy.com, which would represent a very significant shift in the way domains are appraised by sellers or valued by buyers.””…

Three months ago we asked whether Google just bought the domain name Chrome.com and today the answer is YES.

The domain which was the home of Chrome Systems Inc/DealerTrack, Inc. which notified customers in March that as of September 1, 2012 they will stop using the domain name Chrome.com and use the domain name Chromedata.com instead.

Shortly thereafter the domain registration went to privacy at Godaddy.

Well not only did DealerTrack, Inc stop using the domain name by June 1, 2012, but it already is going Google.com to a simple download page for Chrome.

The whois just updated and the domain is now over at MarkMonitor.com under the ownership of Google

 …

Looks like Apple has done it again.

The company know for evolutionary products is also notoriously known for not obtaining the matching domain names to the product sometimes until well after the product has launched.

According to Patentlyapple.com, Apple has filed at lease two Patents on what is calling the iPen.

iPen.com is owned by someone in Istanbul Turkey.

The domain name iPen.com was first registered in 2005

The domain is currently going to a Godaddy.com placeholder and already has an Alexa Rank of just over 8 Million.

iPen.net is owned by someone in Madrid Spain and is parked.

iPen.org is actually used for a real site.

Apple recently gained control over iphone5.com by filing a UDRP with WIPO but this product is not going to enjoy such protection and Apple (AAPL) should have acquire iPen.com through a shell company well before filing for a patent and letting their plan’s for the next big product launch to hit the press.…

Another two letter .com appears to have changed hands in the last few days.

The domain name Tu.com appears to have been sold.

The domain was owned by Energy Future Holdings in February 2012, then moved to Trademark Protection firm, MarkMonitor.com in the past month and yesterday became the property of Luis Miguel Sanz Triguero of Telefonica I y D of Madrid.

I couldn’t find any press releases on the domain but Tu.com now describes itself as:

The internet is simple. Or at least it should be. We crave for things to simply work, to be delightfully easy to use. Of course it is not easy to make things simple. It is difficult. Very difficult. This is what TU is about. It is full of folks dedicated to one thing – creating products that will delight us because they are truly useful.

What is TU Me?

TU Me is a free, all-in-one global communicator that puts text, calls, shared photos and more on a brilliantly simple timeline. It’s free, private, and you don’t lose any of your conversations even if you have to re-install the app or get a new phone.

 …