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Donald Trump commandeers Jebbush.com
The domain Jebbush.com redirects to the official campaign page for Donald Trump's presidential bid. The URL has been up for grabs since April, at least -- at the time, CNN Money reported it was on sale for $250,000 via hosting service Fabulous.com. Apparently Bush, who's running for the Republican nomination alongside Trump and a (large) handful of other candidates, didn't think it was worthwhile to invest in his own-name dot-com domain. His official website is Jeb2016.com.
FBI slip-up leaves Megaupload, other seized sites hosting nasty ads
The FBI might want to continue brushing up on its internet skills. The agency's online division forgot to renew the web domain it uses to host seized websites, leading to a "black hat SEO" marketer taking over sites like Megaupload and temporarily filling them with malware- and scam-laden ads. Law enforcement officials eventually got their former domain suspended due to an "ongoing criminal investigation" into the malware, but the address' ultimate fate remains up in the air. Suffice it to say that the mistake is ironic -- the FBI inadvertently contributed to the very sort of digital crime it's trying to stop.
NYC's domain on record pace with over 56,000 accounts so far
The history of New York City's top-level domain is still quite young, having only launched in full last month. But, since then, .nyc has already managed to serve up more than 56,000 registrations, making it one of the fastest growing city domains ever -- above Berlin, London, Melbourne, Paris and Tokyo, to mention a few. A representative of .nyc told us there are over 5,000 accounts being registered every week; that's even higher than what the the likes of .london gets, which isn't limited to residents only, unlike The Big Apple's domain.
New York City residents can now get their own .nyc domain
NYC announced last year that its residents, including businesses and government entities, would be able to get a custom domain to match the place they call home -- something London has done as well. With the first two phases of the rollout now complete, which gave first dibs to city officials and trademark owners, it's finally time for the general availability of top-level domains for New York City. In order to qualify, you'll need to show proof that you live within one of the five boroughs (Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, The Bronx and Queens). To make things easier, NYC teamed up with over 50 registrars, among which are GoDaddy, Network Solutions, Domain.com and Name.com, with prices per domain ranging anywhere from $25 to $50. They're on a first come, first served basis, however, so hurry if you're interested.
These domains are making me thirsty: .beer options arrive for suds sites
New top-level domains have been popping up on the regular for quite a while, and now there's an option for breweries and other suds-focused operations. Starting today, .beer is an option for those looking lock down a new web address thanks to registry outfit Minds + Machines. In fact, US-based Elysian Brewing Company and Bear Republic Brewing Company have already opted in. If you'll recall, .london, .nyc, .scot and many more options are already available as a part of ICANN's internet naming overhaul. Sadly, ilove.beer has been snatched up. [Photo credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images]
Scotland finds independence on the web with new .scot domain
After heated debates and divided opinions, a slim majority of Scots voted to stay part of the UK in the recent Scottish independence referendum. Nevertheless, Scotland has achieved a slightly different type of liberty today, carving out a corner of the internet it alone can call home. The new .scot top-level domain is now officially open, meaning any and all can register websites with the Scottish-centric suffix. This "general release" follows the domain's announcement in July, when certain organisations like Scouts Scotland got early access, and businesses were allowed to stake their claims to relevant addresses. The .scot domain is the latest UK-focused slice of the web to go live after .london sites went up for grabs earlier this month. It also beats a pair of Welsh domains that are expected to become available to the masses in spring next year -- around the same time Scotland will no doubt be looking to break its six-year losing streak against Wales in the Six Nations.
SOE gives free game time for yesterday's login issues
If you were one of the players affected by Sony Online Entertainment's network-wide downtime yesterday, we have some good news. The company has announced on various social media outlets that it will be giving away two days of free access time to all accounts. This includes those on Landmark's beta access accounts as well. "We deeply regret the recent service interruption that is currently impacting all SOE games," DCUO Community Manager Mepps said in a forum post. "As a thank you for your patience, we will add two days of membership time to all members' accounts." According to EQ2wire.com, this downtime was caused by the SonyOnline.net domain name expiring, which SOE president John Smedley addressed in a tweet: "Sorry for the DNS problems folks. Won't happen again. Notices sent to wrong email. Doh."
West Ham United and Selfridges lead scramble for the first .london domains
After it was decreed that London was next in line to get its own domain name, lots of UK brands and businesses have fallen over themselves to bid for their own piece of the city's virtual real estate. Today, Dot London confirmed some of the companies wanting to show their hometown love, as well as giving Londoners a firm date as to when they can begin registering their own domains. Premiership football club West Ham United and high-end department stores Selfridges and Fortnum and Mason are amongst 40 businesses signed up to roll out new .london websites in the coming weeks, with city dwellers able to follow suit from April 29th. It's still not known how much the new domain will cost regular folk, but Dot London says prices will be set by registrars -- hopefully that means they won't mirror the city's house prices.
Shorter and simpler .uk domains to launch in 2014
If you didn't think UK domain names could get any shorter, they soon will be. In an announcement today, the UK's domain registry said it will soon launch its simpler .uk domain in a bid to remain cool with businesses and bloggers. While new registrations are encouraged, ten million existing customers (that have registered either a .co.uk or .org.uk address) won't need to rush: they'll have five years to claim a shorter version of their current address. News of the .uk address comes less than a week after ICANN gave London the go-ahead to offer .london addresses to "businesses, organisations and individuals". If all of this UK-related domain news is too much for you to handle, come back in February 2014 -- that's when we'll get a definitive .uk launch date. [Image Credit: friendlydragon, Flickr]
Trion starts the Trove teasing
Trion Worlds made news earlier this week by registering several domains with the word "Trove" in them. While the studio made no announcement regarding new games in development, most speculation centered firmly on Trove being Trion's next big project. Today we've received another little tidbit on the topic via Trion's official and brand-new Trove Twitter account. Posting under the name TroveGame, Trion asked simply, "Where will you go?" It's not much in terms of information, but the Twitter username at least confirms that Trove is a game. The profile information says only, "Something new from Trion Worlds." Stay tuned.
Trion Worlds registers Trove domains
Trion Worlds looks to be up to something new, as the studio has snapped up several domain registrations with the word "Trove" in them. TroveGame.com and PlayTrove.com are but two of the many domains secured by CEO Scott Hartsman as of late. There are also several regional domains in the list, including those for Germany, Canada, and the UK. As of the writing of this post, none of the domains link to a working website. Could this be a new title from Trion or an expansion to one of its other games? Whatever the case may be, we'll be keeping a close eye on this situation. [Thanks to WNxArcticwolf for the tip!]
Microsoft buys Xbone.com
"Xbone," as an alternative moniker for the Xbox One, sprang from the depths of the internet's hive-mind with such immediacy that it may as well have been included in the console's announcement PR. In fact, the nickname has become so ubiquitous that Microsoft has gone ahead and purchased Xbone.com, according to whois records dug up by the sleuths at Fusible. We wouldn't say the URL is doing a tremendous amount of positive work for Microsoft, though. Navigating to Xbone.com redirects to a Bing search for the term "Xbone," where the very first entry listed under "Related Searches" is "Xbox One Terrible," as of press time. Whoops! There's not a whole lot else Microsoft could have done with the domain, however, as having it redirect to anything more official would be like signing off on the term's legitimacy. Under the circumstances, this seems like all the company can do to control the term's usage online. Well, besides the secret army of undercover employees that have infiltrated the fabric of your life; employees who covertly guide the path of your daily existence and ensure that only approved words enter your personal lexicon.
Fable Legends domains registered
Microsoft has registered web domains for Fable Legends in .com and .net flavors. The franchise has been on hiatus since horse butt sim Fable: The Journey in late 2012. A high-definition remake of the orginal Fable is expected later this year with Fable Anniversary, which will also feature SmartGlass integration. Lionhead job listings from earlier this year sought online multiplayer level designers, as well as pointing toward an Unreal Engine 4-powered game. There have also been hints of an MMO-like game for next gen consoles. Former Lionhead co-founder Peter Molyneux had also theorized on the concept massive multiplayer Fable experience ... but the things that man says can be used to make a lot of games.
ICANN kills Google's dotless domain search dreams
We'd like to imagine that somewhere in Mountain View, a group of high-level tech execs are giving ICANN the stink eye. After all, the organization has recently passed a resolution that prohibits dotless domains, effectively squashing Google's dreams to own and operate http://search. This development follows a study ICANN published a few days ago, detailing how hard it'll be to mitigate security and stability risks that could come with the unusual domains. Google had big plans to turn http://search into a service where users could choose among a number of search websites that registered to be a part of it. Now that the one-word wonder is no longer an option for Page and Co., the company has to make do with .search (with a dot), assuming its bidding spree for a pile of gTLDs pays off.
HungoverX is a Bureau: XCOM Declassified mini-game
When Take-Two recently registered the domain HungoverX.com, we weren't sure what to expect. The publisher pulled the curtains back on the URL today to reveal a mini-game related to The Bureau: XCOM Declassified in which players guide a hungover Bill Carter through a groggy day at the office. The browser-based game is available now at HungoverX.com. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified will launch on August 20 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Take-Two stirs up the Kool-Aid, registers hungoverx.com
Take-Two, the publisher behind games including Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series and Irrational's BioShock franchise, registered the domain "hungoverx.com" on July 25. The domain is registered privately under the care of Network Solutions, but Whois shows Take-Two is pulling the strings. It's also under take2games.com domain servers, Fusible finds. There's no word on how this domain fits into Take-Two's franchises. Take-Two is gearing up for the launch of Grand Theft Auto 5 on September 17, and it recently trademarked "Bully" for gaming software, hinting at a possible revival of that 2006 PS2 title. Take-Two raised its outlook for fiscal year 2014 from $1.775 billion to $1.875 billion, earning net revenue of $142.7 million in Q1 and selling more than 4 million copies of BioShock Infinite to date.
Disney registers some Star Wars Attack Squadron domains
Disney's LucasFilm recently registered two dozen domains related to an as-yet-unannounced project called Star Wars Attack Squadron. Among the domains registered are StarWarsAttackSquadrons.com, AttackSquadrons.com and the ever-elusive StarWarsSquad.us. It's unknown if Star Wars Attack Squadron will wind up being a game, film or both, but Fusible points out that Electronic Arts also registered AttackSquadron.com and AttackSquadron.net domains recently. Unless EA is squatting on these domains and plans to sell them to Disney, it's hard to imagine it's not involved in the project, given that EA obtained an exclusive license to make Star Wars games in May.
Microsoft obtains XboxOne.com, XboxOne.net domains
Microsoft has succeeded in securing the XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net domains from a UK resident. The company filed a complaint earlier this year, saying that the previous registrant had no right to the Xbox One trademark and that the domains were registered in bad faith. The domains were transferred to Microsoft with help from the Richard Law Group, which has helped Microsoft with previous domain disputes, Fusible reports. Both domains were most recently updated on July 16. Earlier this month, Nintendo lost a similar dispute, failing to secure the WiiU.com domain that was established by an unknown registrant in 2004.
Atlus parent company registers Persona 5 domain
Index Corporation, the parent company of Persona series developer Atlus, registered the domain "persona5.jp" on June 25. Before throwing your hands up in glee, take a breath and look at the big picture: Index doesn't own "persona4.jp," "persona3.jp" or other similar constructions, and snagging a domain for Persona 5 doesn't, on its own, confirm the existence of the game. Index could simply be protecting its brand against potential squatters. Or Team Persona could be close to announcing Persona 5. (OK, now throw your hands up in glee and with full acknowledgement of all the information.) In August 2012, series producer Katsura Hashino said Team Persona was working on "the next numbered Persona game," but it wasn't specified to be Persona 5. After all, a Persona 2 remake is still a numbered Persona game.
Introducing .nyc: New York City to get its own top-level domain
New Yorkers are notoriously proud of their city, and what better way to show hometown love than with a .nyc address? According to Mayor Bloomberg's official Twitter account, that will soon be possible for Big Apple residents. The just-launched website for the "ultimate New York City address" (har, har) says the top-level domain will help local businesses' visibility in search results, in addition to eliminating all doubt as to where you reside. "Businesses, organizations and residents" will be eligible for the TLD, with registration beginning in late 2013. When it launches, .nyc will be the first city in the United States to receive a geography-based domain. Did you think New York would settle for anything less?
