Sedo announced this morning that is partnership with dotHIV, the future nonprofit registry behind the new .hiv generic top-level domain (gTLD) is based in Berlin.
As far as we can tell this is the 1st publicly released new gTLD client of Sedo.
”Sedo is helping dotHIV by appraising and auctioning premium .hiv domains, supporting preregistrations for people and organizations wishing to reserve names before the official launch, and evaluating the entire .hiv namespace to ensure that important .hiv domain names reach the best end users.By offering its services at a significantly reduced cost, Sedo is helping dotHIV’s mission of contributing a majority of its revenue to projects and initiatives that fight HIV/AIDS.””
“More than 70% of the registry’s revenue – with an ultimate goal of at least 80%– will be distributed to relevant charities.”
“The remaining funds will be used to finance registry operations, manage donation distribution and raise awareness of the digital red ribbon as a means for the world to beat AIDS together.”
“The dotHIV initiative is both an innovative and an impressive social project,” added Sedo’s CEO, Tobias Flaitz. “We are looking forward to putting our know-how and our expertise to good use to help our new partner in the worldwide fight against HIV and AIDS.”
You can read more about the dotHIV initiative here
I don’t think this even qualifies as “Fools Gold”.
I speak only as a person investing in domain names.
But my knee jerk reaction was, you got to be kidding!
An extension like that may not give anyone HIV but it certainly could affect future rollouts as less and less credible.
I’ll pass on this one.
I was wrong! I said .blackfriday has got to be the dumbest new gtld, and here comes .hiv to prove me wrong. Oh well.
There are other new gTLD in the vertical like .health
Sounds like this one will be short lived….
“future nonprofit registry”
“.By offering its services at a significantly reduced cost, Sedo is helping *…”
Sedo: Whatever happened to Social Service?
(Tax write-offs)
profiting from a deadly illness is pretty shameful…
desperate moves by SEDO.
*itself
I want to .ninja .hiv .omg .wtf
health.co sounds good to me or HealthTechnology.com
Request PriceG CorporateHealth.com
$150,000G HealthSciences.com
Request PriceG
HealthConscious.com
$100,000G Healthlnsurance.com
Request PriceG PhysiciansHealth.com
Request PriceG PracticalHealth.com
$100,000G
RoyalHealth.com
Request PriceG HeritageHealth.com
Request PriceG CatholicHealthcare.com
Request PriceG ConsumersHealth.com
Request PriceG
HealthSecurity.com
$80,000G HealthTesting.com
$80,000G HighEndHealth.com
Request PriceG HealthAdvisors.com
$70,000G
HealthHorizons.com
$70,000G HealthInnovation.com
$70,000G HealthyOptions.com
I am going to help Sedo with the appraisals of .hiv names:
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Hi Mike,
There is more info at the dotHIV registry site about how the financial side of their business model works (http://www.dothiv.org/dothiv/donation-allocation/).
They are a charitable organization, and they use their business to fund research into HIV and AIDS. Sedo is pleased to partner with dotHIV so that we can spread the word about this new gTLD and help raise awareness for a good cause. We think this is a great and innovative use of the new gTLD namespace!
Daniel@Sedo
Hi,
.hiv domain names are quite distinct from your usual web address – they are designed as a tool for online communication with a social core.
This is mostly because they come with a special twist: dotHIV will use the assembled registration fees to finance a micro-donation program. Every visit of a .hiv website will redirect a small amount of money to HIV projects. By this, surfing on .hiv websites becomes an easy way of doing good.
Registrants are free to use their .hiv domain as they please, but are advised to simply forward to the standard homepage. By doing so, the .hiv-domain becomes a second entry door to the usual web content – but will enhance the surfing experience through the micro-donation.
dotHIV is organized and run as a charity: the domains will raise funds to support HIV projects, foster awareness of the cause and fight the stigmatization of people living with HIV. The .hiv TLD will be the first TLD ever solely serving a social cause – and we are happy to have great partners like Sedo, NCC and Afilias on board to support our mission.
The dotHIV Team
Thanks for the info
So who would be the typical registrant of a .HIV domain?
What would the registrants websites promote or sell?
I love the idea of domains for charity but in this case there is no wealth to spread, but I do have a good customer for them, “HIVeg Peptones” https://us.vwr.com/store/catalog/product.jsp?product_id=4678045
I have a better use of time and money, use my domain AidsInfo.org or Health.co and partner with Grassroots.org for other free services, I wont charge anything for my help either.
There is another way to look at this, I work for charity, Rick Schwartz, not, and people dont want us to talk crap, however if both of us are betting on one side of the same equation its likely a good bet and vice versa. I wish it was a great profitable idea for charity but it has nothing to do with me.
even if it was a good idea on its face using good math and marketing the fatal flaw is that very few people will want to brand themselves with AIDs as their lead in GetHealthy.Aids? Health.HIV? and that is the very best of them prior to accounting for time and expenses
and the dumb money continues…
Berkens, why are you allowing Mann to spam the blog? He was the one complaining about spam a few months ago, remember?
Entertainment Value
I am discussing the subject matter. Sorry you cant handle the truth Jack. The domains I am posting is to prove a point, the great .Com are hard to sell, Im sorry when many of the gtld speculators eat it, especially if they didnt read my posts.
Lamest spammy looking site online: domenclature.com, duh
“Most men join dating sites in an effort to reduce rejection. Hunting down women who are far out of their league defeats this purpose.
While real beauty is on the inside, intimidating beauty is on the outside. Most men see a 10 on a dating website and instantly write her off as “unattainable.” In reality, these women have the same quirks and flaws as anyone else. They are just hidden by a rather flawless exterior, meaning the rest of the world would rather not take a chance.
Let’s face it, nothing is worse than being played for a sucker, and there’s no better Trojan horse on the internet than a totally sexy lady.
Though not all hot girls have a hard time finding true love online, many do. If you want to have a shot with a “perfect 10”, leave her a message that shows you read her profile and noticed her interests, and avoid telling her how pretty she is. She’s heard that thousands of times before, so if you want to stand out from the pool of potential suitors, try to make a real connection.
“
I just registered Powerbrawl.com for you, Mann. If you don’t win the powerball, DomainMarket can step in the ring with Domenclature.com
Generally speaking, I love ‘contrarian’ thinking and would like
to pick something good out of this. I have read the text that
Sedo, charmingly, calls the project’s “financial side”, however,
and can not see the .hiv project working well at all.
There may be some benefit in creating GEO names, for the world’s
hiv sufferers, however, so that sufferers can ‘feel’ more connected
to others who have it locally. For example, . boston.hiv.
But sufferers already have ‘support’ groups online for their local
areas. So the main benefit that there could have been is rendered
useless, because it is unnecessary.
And what about the name? .hiv
What about it… Yes, it’s short.. Yes, it’s relevant. But a MUCH better
registration for them would have been “.hivfree”. The medical world
has known for years that the mind has the potential to cure disease,
and that particular name/identity really would give sufferers something
positive to believe in, and it would explain their premise more clearly,
and much more positively to those who don’t have the disease.
As for general health sites, I think they will like being associated with
.hivfree, but they really won’t like .hiv; the name is much too negative
and ambiguous.
Sedo are helping them out/advising?
Oh shoot!.. Sedo wouldn’t know a valuable name if it crept up and bit
them on the ass..
Michael, to answer your question:
.hiv domains will start with two separate core target groups.
Firstly the medial field related to HIV – specialized pharmacies, doctors, clinics and pharmaceutical providers. For them, .hiv domains are a specialized TLD showing expertize that connects them to the 34 mio people affected and in need of services and knowledge.
Secondly those companies that are engaged in the field of HIV/AIDS trough their Corporate Social Responsibility programs. HIV is one of the most important development topics worldwide, and a lot of companies stand up to the responsibility, especially if they manufacture or sell their programs in highly affected communities. And of course they want to communicate their engagement. A .hiv-domain is a new way to do that, and reaches customers more directly than any CSR report.
Feedback from those two groups is great so far, and we are confident to cover an actual market need at the intersection of social engagement and corporate communication.
Starting from there, we aim at building a social movement. For that, dotHIV is partnering with thjnk (formerly kempertrautmann), one of Europe’s leading creative agencies. thjnk is a frequent Cannes Lion winner, and making .hiv domains known as the virtual Red Ribbon and a symbol of solidarity is how they use their creative skills to do good. Campaigning will already start in 2013, so watch out.
Carolin@dotHIV
@Carolin,
I understand the CSR angle and i’m glad you’ve had some good
feedback, but ultimately, I can’t see this working on a practical
level. I am sure that many companies want to be seen to be
putting their name to a premise that wants to help in the ‘fight’
against aids, but the name you have chosen creates very real
branding problems for companies…
If you had chosen a TLD that presents this issue in a positive
light, however, (AND DOES SO IN THE NAME ITSELF*) then
corporations can instantly associate themselves with it, and
benefit from being seen to be involved in a constructive way.
As it stands, you’re asking companies to be associated with
something/an identity where the benefits are not clear, and
I think many will avoid it because of that.
* This is very important. If the domain doesn’t explain your
whole site premise then it’s pretty much useless. And for an
emotionally-charged issue, such as HIV, this is even more
important.
What if a company decides to show its CSR credentials, and
buys a name from you and then publishes an ad, that gives
some kind of ‘rallying call’ in the fight against aids… The ad
also features, of course, their newly purchased domain,
companyname.hiv…
Most people reading the promotional message WON’T read
all of the ad text, and will simply focus on the domain name
(many people do this as a way of ‘scanning’ an ad, to see if
the whole thing is worth reading or not).
So, what does the reader take away from the experience?
That the company is ‘somehow’ connected with the world’s
most feared disease… Are they ‘connected’ in a good way?**
The reader has no idea, they didn’t stick around long enough
to read the ad, remember?..
The net result?.. bad news for the company who just spent
good money “trying” to do the right thing.. ugh.
** As unsavory as it sounds, there are some who claim that
HIV is Gods Punishment etc.. Companies understand this.
are any of you posting on behalf of dothiv.ORG …paid employee$?
Hi again,
The redirection does not just occur by itself but involves a banner popping up that frames the surfing experience, informs on .hiv and the amount of money raised and activated through clicks cooperatively. As for the practical questions, I can assure you that we have figured out a way to do this that is both technically feasable and economically sustainable, without needing additional external funding.
Ultimately, we don’t think that HIV should be the only social issue covered by a TLD. We are happy that .eco, .green and projects representing regional and cultural identities are out there, too – and there will be a second round some day. Domain names as global identifyers are a strong bearer of meaning, and we think this has great potential for social issues, especially if they affect people as directly and individually as HIV does.
We hope to build a rolemodel here how a TLD can connect online business, Internet users and NGOs and activists. And: there is a great coalition behind this already: domain industry businesses providing services for free or at reduced rates, companies from media and communication working pro-bono-hours, the whole team investing time and dimes, HIV organizations and agencies providing input and spreading the word. People donating energy and work-time is also how a charity registry can run on a small budget.
For more information and continuous updates, please visit http://www.dothiv.org and facebook.com/dotHIV.
Carolin@dotHIV