Until now, domain names have usually been either sold for fixed prices or auctioned on omnibus sites such as eBay. The founders used these names to help seed the site. Afternic concentrates on matching up buyers and sellers, and it charges a 5 percent commission on sales. Our Trademark Protection Center will show you how to shield your site. Instead of arbitrarily hanging a price tag on a domain name, a seller can put it up for auction, establish a minimum bid figure, then sit back and see what happens.
Members can appraise the value of the names being auctioned, to help buyers gauge their bids.
Whelan and Maroney admit that they can't make the site completely safe against unscrupulous auctioneers who might try to peddle domain names they don't own. But once a sale is made, the buyer's money is held in escrow until the buyer confirms that ownership of the name has been officially transferred in the central domain name registry. Disputes over the rights to domain names have led to the creation of an arbitration process by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the nonprofit corporation that administers the Internet's technical functions. Legislation pending in Congress would give trademark holders the right to sue those who register a trademarked name in bad faith. By offering a dedicated vehicle for domain name sales, sites such as Afternic could encourage cybersquatters who are out to make some quick cash.