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…)

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…)

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…)

New high record set for .ca domains by Jobs.ca. The domain was reported to have sold for $600K to Ogopogo Media:

Ogopogo Media, an Internet media company that acquires and develops geotargeted destination and category specific domain names, recently announced it has acquired the rights to Jobs.ca from Domed Technologies, Inc. of Montreal, Canada.

The acquisition of Jobs.ca is the largest published single domain purchase in .ca history. The new ownership plans to create a job network, which will also include JobSearch.ca and Resumes.ca. (more…)

BQB.com has recently started operating as a new auction site for short domains:

BQB.com is a no commission, next generation domain name auction platform dedicated to short domains. Founded in March 2008, BQB.com Inc seeks to reduce the pain sellers of domain names currently endure, paying exhorbitant commissions which are in our opinion often unjustified. BQB.com also seeks to create a marketplace for short domain names, which we believe will continue to be one of the strongest appreciating internet investments for many years to come. BQB is founded on Professionalism - each member is individually screened, successful applications are manually approved. Better Quality Business really is just a few keystrokes away! (more…)

Domain news reports:

As promised, we are keeping you up to date on this developing story…  As  we reported yesterday, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer had held firm with the original offer, insisting it was fair in light of Yahoo’s eroding profits during the past two years. He threatened an attempt to oust Yahoo’s board if the 10 directors, including Chief Executive Jerry Yang, didn’t accept the offer by April 26th.
Since Yahoo has forced the issue by letting the deadline pass, Ballmer appears ready to put more money on the table. Microsoft’s board reportedly met earlier this week to consider raising the bid as high as $33 per share. It wasn’t clear whether Microsoft presented that figure, which would translate to about $47.5 billion for the deal, to Yahoo Friday. (more…)

Dot MX - Mexican domain names registry reached 250K registrations.

DomainNews reports:

NIC Mexico (Network Information Center México), the registry and administrators of the .MX cctTLD, is announcing that on April 28th, 250,000 .MX domain name registrations have been reached.

This new threshhold turns out to be highly promising for the increasing use of .MX domain names, given the accelerated behavior of registration in the last years; and considering also its 24% annual growing rate. It took 15 years to get the first 100,000 .MX domain registrations, and only two and a half years to add another 100,000. Therefore, reaching the amount of 250,000 .MX domains in just a single year is very satisfying for NIC México and they expect a much shorter waiting period to register next 100,000 .MX domain names. (more…)

Sedo updated today their brokerage service, adding new options for both buyers and sellers. First reported by dnexpert

Sedo’s brokerage services are being updated with a new process for submitting both buyer and seller side brokerage requests and…

Sedo’s brokerage services are being updated with a new process for submitting both buyer and seller side brokerage requests and enhanced communications tools. Our dedicated brokers will now be able to work one-on-one with clients through Sedo’s exclusive message tool. The goal of this new process is to strengthen relationships and to provide more efficient service and support to each individual buyer and seller. (more…)