Careers in virtual estate
Following up on the previous post because there’s just so much I want to say about it. I don’t want to write long, boring essays here though. So I’ll just stick to the short boring kind. Domain names like sex.com already have histories filled with controversy. So far, I think people’s competing claims to domains have been settled quickly, efficiently and clear precendent has been established for better or worse. But that will change.
When a web 3.0 startup writes up a business plan it will undoubtedly include purchasing domain names. The .com version of the principle name will require some legwork before and after the sale. Ascertaining the approximate sales price will need to be part of the feasibility study. But more to the point of this post, professional help will be needed after the acquisition.
In the early days perhaps lawyers will craft documents stating what is known about the domain’s history and verifying the chain of legitimate transactions or court rulings leading to the current ownership. Ultimately, as in the world of real estate title issues, business ventures planning to develop online properties using acquired domain names will simply buy “virtual title insurance.”
In the interest of full disclosure I run a domain name registration company, Boca-Domains.com, and I think about this stuff all the time. because I’m asked an increasing number of questions about the increasingly complex interesting world of domain names.
November 29th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
[…] Remember my post here about title insurance for domain names? Well it’s not crazy at all to some folks. In fact this article over at DomainNameWire discusses it as if expecting it as a neccessary part of “doing business” in the business environment we currently operate in. How might they operate? Take a read a DNW and think about it for a while. Guess my “webtitle.org” name might come in handy someday after all. […]