domains Niue wants .nu redelegated

[equity78]

Niue wants it's country code back! This is not something new as I have written before about how countries view their country code as a natural resource and want to control their own digital identity. Back in February Wired wrote a piece on several small countries and their fight to be in control of their cctld. Ending what they deem a digital colonization. The Chagossians want .io back as I … [Read more...]

 

[branding]

Yeah, this has been going on for a while. I wholeheartedly hope they do, if they can actually assure they will maintain the same quality and performance of Internetstiftelsen which seems unlikely.

'Selling' the ccTLD is what put them on the map. It's the past and current owner that made them big. Hard to take sides on cases like this.

I own over 2K domains in the extension so as long as they don't mess things up it's all fine with me

 

[Alop]

Yeah, this has been going on for a while. I wholeheartedly hope they do, if they can actually assure they will maintain the same quality and performance of Internetstiftelsen which seems unlikely.

'Selling' the ccTLD is what put them on the map. It's the past and current owner that made them big. Hard to take sides on cases like this.

I own over 2K domains in the extension so as long as they don't mess things up it's all fine with me

Pokémon Go

 

[pb]

While Niue signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Semich around that time, it quickly backtracked, claiming it did not understand what it was agreeing to

That can be said about millions of agreements govts have signed over the centuries. Not to mention individuals. Let's just void them all.

They will probably win, but it's a typical case of kindergarten logic. "I didn't need or want those blocks, but now that you built a nice castle with them, I desperately want them back."

It heavily reminds me of the recent case of Sapkowski vs CD Projekt RED. Sapkowski is the author or Wiedźmin (The Witcher) and years ago he sold rights to make a video game based on the book for a hefty amount, laughing all the way to the bank. He was convinced it would fail, in fact he mocked them for paying that much, and they were not the first company to buy the rights either, with the others failing. But then after CDPR went on to make great games in the franchise, he sued them for further royalties. It was a dick move but he got a settlement, probably laughing all the way to the bank again...

Anyway, I don't know the details of the "memorandum" and if they were paid anything, but it's a totally different case to that of .io. In this case it's an actual government signing the domain away and then regretting it, probably envious of .tv or .fm etc. who actually had brains to handle it well.

Final word: I sympathize with the people of Niue and I agree that every nation should have full control over their TLD - but I have no sympathy for the government. How many of ccTLDs that are controlled by their respective countries are actually in competent hands? Lots of private or state-owned companies making money on these domains with little or no benefit to the nation. I doubt I would run out of fingers trying to count truly non-profit ccTLD registries with friendly policies.

 

[CraigD]

Niue has a population of 1,631 people - less than half what the population was 50-years ago.

90% of nationals live in New Zealand.

The government amounts to a few dozen individuals, and I doubt that there are many legal professionals living there.

Niue country brief | DFAT
https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/niue/Pages/niue-country-brief


Personally, I don't think assets assigned to a country should be transferable to another party.

EDIT:
I also just learned that they leased out their four-digit telephone numbers:

...the international lease of Niue's unique four-digit telephone numbers are important income earners for the country.
Source: https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/niue/Pages/niue-country-brief

 

[CraigD]

Yeah, this has been going on for a while. I wholeheartedly hope they do, if they can actually assure they will maintain the same quality and performance of Internetstiftelsen which seems unlikely.

'Selling' the ccTLD is what put them on the map. It's the past and current owner that made them big. Hard to take sides on cases like this.

I own over 2K domains in the extension so as long as they don't mess things up it's all fine with me

Given that their population is less than 2000, your annual renewal fees could actually make a difference to their economy - if they received it.

 

[pb]

@NameDeck how does that feel to have more domains in a ccTLD than there are people in that country?

 

[branding]

@NameDeck how does that feel to have more domains in a ccTLD than there are people in that country?

To be honest, doesn't feel good when renewals come they're not big moneymakers.

To offset the costs I have developed a lot to generate enough revenue to sustain the portfolio. Sales are profit but it's not life-changing

Although it is a 'repurposed' ccTLD it has a limited target audience, popular in Sweden and the Netherlands as nu means now in our language. The upside is that is has much broader recognition amongst the public compared to most new TLDs. They make great call to actions.

On subject, I think I addressed this before, if the TLD would be given back to the island I fear they will turn it into another .co. Lot of premiums, high renewals.

This won't work for this specific TLD. Once costs/acquisition go way up there are still better and affordable options available.
The number of registrations and, more importantly, the number of developed domains will drop over time and they will send the TLD into oblivion.

IIS/Internetstiftelsen did a great job on running the TLD. Before they took over, The island did get a good deal, increasing their digital access, at the time. Not sure how that worked out but I don't think the argument that the TLD increased in value and they haven't gotten 'payed' enough holds up.

I've sold bitcoin way back for <$100. Do I regret that. Sure. Am I now entitled to more because I could never have (well maybe I could have ) predicted the surge in popularity? No. Of course not. Classic sellers remorse

That being said, I don't think any country should ever sell off their ccTLD as they're intended to serve and protect the countries citizens and businesses online interests. But it is what is it. Money talks. Bad decisions were made.

 

[branding]

Double post.

 

[equity78]

Yeah, this has been going on for a while. I wholeheartedly hope they do, if they can actually assure they will maintain the same quality and performance of Internetstiftelsen which seems unlikely.

'Selling' the ccTLD is what put them on the map. It's the past and current owner that made them big. Hard to take sides on cases like this.

I own over 2K domains in the extension so as long as they don't mess things up it's all fine with me

You own 2,000 .Nu? That's a big number, many sales?

 

[kam]

The country will likely to win. They will pretend or deem the country code as their natural resource so they can take advantage to sue in the name of country. They can even saying that the former officer who signed the contracts betray their country and sell the inherent natural resource without a legal ground, the illegal contracts are therefore voidable and should be terminate etc. There are too many things a country can do in this case.

Anyway, if the cctld registry willing to pay $$$ that the country can't refuse. The registry will keep in business but the costs would ultimately be transferred to domain owners and reflected on renewal fee.

 

[branding]

You own 2,000 .Nu? That's a big number, many sales?

Tbh, it's just under 2K, I just checked but still a large number and a hefty price tag when it comes to renewals.

Sales average is 9/year ranging from mid xxx to just over 1K, inbound. Some low XXX, when liquidating. Some outliers but nothing like me.nu So the math doesn't work if you don't go the extra mile.

I do maybe like another 10 sales a year, direct sales to endusers that hire me for branding/marketing usually using it as a call to action, temporary promo. Goes under advertising costs

So looking at sales only, I don't break even. It's the revenue/passive income and sales combination that makes it possible to hold. I like having these in my portfolio to offer good names whenever I need them for projects but wouldn't advise people to go there solely as a domain investor. It's easy to lose money on. That money can be spent on some good gTLDs which are easier to make a profit from, especially if you don't really understand the specific ccTLD market. More endusers, higher ROI/name.

 

[Mytz.com]

I personally don't like IO domain names