<nettime> Triple GDP for Tuvalu Domain Space

["Weslake, Brad BG" <Weslake.Brad.BG@bhp.com.au>]

>From the latest RCFoC <http://www.compaq.com/rcfoc/>:

--
*   Domain Name Fever -- That race for cyber real estate that has seen
    dot-com domain names selling for millions of dollars is not over
    yet. According to the April 7 LA Times
    (http://www.latimes.com/business/20000407/t000032588.html
    <http://www.latimes.com/business/20000407/t000032588.html> ), a
    company called DotTV has agreed to pay the country of Tuvalu, a
    tiny Pacific island nation whose total land area is about that of
    the LAX airport, three times its gross domestic product, or as much
    as $50 million over ten years, for the rights to sell its dot-com
    addresses.

    Why?  Because Tuvalu's assigned domain is one of the most
    recognized, and in DotTV's mind a most lucrative, two-letter
    abbreviation -- "TV."  How much could DotTV get from ABC for
    "www.ABC.tv <http://www.ABC.tv> "?  Or perhaps "www.millioniaire.tv
    <http://www.millioniaire.tv> "?

    The quarterly $1 million minimum payment represents Tuvalu's
    single-largest source of income.

    I'll bet the folks who originally assigned domain names are kicking
    themselves...
--

Brad Weslake
Application Communication Solutions
BHP Information Technology
email weslake.brad.bg@bhp.com.au
ph     +61 2 4275 5311
fax    +61 2 4275 5215


EOM 

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