GodTube.com, a YouTube knockoff for the evangelical set, seems to be one step closer to building a kingdom on earth.Last week the site, which shows Christian videos and features a flip-through Bible and prayer blogs, received a $30 million investment from GLG Partners, a big London hedge fund. The investment valued GodTube at nearly $150 million, according to PaidContent.org.

GodTube offers sermons, theological debates, Christian rap videos and low-budget skits like “See man watching porn get caught by Jesus,” which plays out exactly as the title suggests. The investment will help sustain the on-screen Bible and a prayer wall where devout Web surfers can petition God to bless the afflicted or warm the heart of an intransigent girlfriend. (more…)

As reported by domainnews

When you read the minutes of ICANN’s Board meeting on April 30th, you come accross a section that describes RegistryPRO, the registry responsible for the .pro domain extension, and their request to change its registration agreement with ICANN.

The minutes indicate that, “The TLD has had limited success to date, with registrations in the low thousands.” Only a few thousand .PRO domains have been registered to date, primarily d (more…)

New, great story by Ron of dnjournal (more…)

From prweb,  still unconfirmed:

Corporation and LLC formation company acquires toll free number 1-800-COMPANY for $10 million.

(PRWEB) May 9, 2008 — The toll free number, 1-800-COMPANY, was acquired today by a document filing company that forms corporations, LLCs and trusts for $10 million. The associated website that promotes the company’s services, www.1800company.com, was recently launched as well.

The acquiring party is associated with Companies Incorporated (www.companiesinc.com) a corporation and LLC formation service that started business in 1977. The toll free number and website will be operated under newly formed 1-800-COMPANY, LLLP based in Santa Clarita, Calif. Santa Clarita touches the northern border of Los Angeles. 1-800-COMPANY, LLLP will be managed by Lincoln International Services, Inc. established in 1908. The 1908 company was acquired from a federal attorney who recently retired from the company formation business.

“We are excited about the new brand,” says CEO Kevin Wessell. “1-800-COMPANY® is a memorable brand name that, promoted properly, will breed in instant recognition and will allow us to serve more customers.”

Mr. Wessell adds, “We acquired the company that holds the toll free number along with an associated domain name and the trademark. Then we acquired additional relevant domain names. Now we have all pieces of the puzzle in place. Just to clarify,” Wessell adds, “the larger transaction was between two of our companies for tax reasons and to set a value on the brand. So, we acquired the individual pieces from various outside parties for a hefty sum but a bit less than the numbers that are being tossed about in the media. We see a tremendous growth of the enterprise with the addition of this valuable new brand.”

Name.com is growing, which means they’re hiring. They’re looking to fill several positions, including:

• Linux Systems Administrator
• PHP Developer
• Web Designer
• Administrative Assistant

All of these positions are in their Denver offices. (more…)

Moniker.com has released the list for the domains to be auctioned off at live auction at the TRAFFIC Orlando show on Friday May 24.

Remote live bidding will be available through snapnames.com.

There are some great names on the list.

As usual moniker.com lists a range of reserve for each domain rather than an actual reserve price

20.net $25,001 - $50,000

360.ORG $5,001 - $10,000

action.com $250,001 - $500,000

Affect.com $10,001 - $25,000

affiliateprogram.com $1MM - $5MM

Afghanistan.net $10,001 - $25,000

airforcebase.com $1 - $5,000

airlines.mobi $5,001 - $10,000

airports.info $1 - $5,000

Anger.com $25,001 - $50,000

Ankle.com $25,001 - $50,000

armtattoos.com $1 - $5,000 (more…)

Israel is being sold off to the highest bidder. The Internet domain name israel.com is expected to fetch at least $5.5 million when it is sold at auction, said Monte Cahn, CEO of Moniker.com, which is running the sale.

Jean-Noel Frydman, 46, registered the domain name in 1994 and never imagined at the time it would be worth millions.

“Mainly, I didn’t want anyone to misuse it. That’s why I registered it,” he said, noting he retains final approval on the sale at the May 23 auction.

Frydman chose to part with his domain this year because of the 60th anniversary of Israeli independence, which is today.

This weeks bargain on DomainMagnate.com:

 OOOM.com + BBBD.com + NNNM.com For $5500

- Post sold in the comments to claim the domains
- payment accepted only by escrow.com or direct wire, buyer pays all fees.

This is a very solid investment and a great addition to any domain portfolio. Especially now when the prices for LLLL.com’s had dropped a bit.

4 letter domains like these with 3 repeating premium letters represent one of the most rare LLLL types and are a great collection item which value will only go up.

Recent similar sales:

aiii.com     $2,100.00    04/30/2008    NameJet
cbcc.com     $3,840.00    04/23/2008    Afternic
onnn.com     $2500.00    04/18/2008    Namepros
alaa.com     $2,300.00    04/17/2008    Namejet
sooo.com     $2,250.00    04/12/2008    Sedo

I recently stumbled upon shoemoney.com blog and found an interesting post about Berkshire Hathaway weekend meeting, featuring some of the legendary investor’s insights:

Religion - He is agnostic. A true agnostic. He just does not know and neither do I.

Investing - investing in what you know and understand. Diversification is for the idiot investor - I can’t agree with this more. (more…)

WHOIS: Protecting the Privacy of Domain Name Holders

CIRA is implementing changes to the dot-ca WHOIS search tool, effective June 10, 2008.

WHOIS is a common Internet search tool used to look up the contact information of domain name holders (Registrants). A search returns information such as name, address, phone and fax numbers, and email address. While WHOIS has been used since the inception of the Internet, recent concerns over privacy necessitated a re-evaluation of what information is publicly available in the dot-ca (.ca) WHOIS.

In January 2004, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) took effect in Canada. This Federal law provides guidelines for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by private organizations. Under this act, the situations where an organization can disclose an individual’s personal information are strictly limited and require consent. (more…)