Awebsitebyanyotherna.me
Love.me, hate.me, couldntgivetwofigsabout.me? Over the summer the nation of Montenegro caused a flutter of excitement online as people raced to register websites ending in the newly minted .me domain as Global Voices reports
While initial offerings went to Monetengrans clearly the bulk of the names were going to people in the US looking for a shiny new name for their business, protecting an existing brand or looking to snap up a valuable web address.
Companies will pay millions for the right address. And where there's money inevitably there is litigation. There are protracted legal disputes with cybersquatters and typosquatters (how many o's in variants of Goooooogle.com have Google registered). And then there are the amusing tussles over a name that might legitimately belong to two different people (Remember MikeRoweSoft.com vs Microsoft.com)
But the Domain Industry is big business. Take a look at this recent set of numbers from a domainprices.co.uk, and you'll see even something as virtuous as recycle.co.uk can attract a hefty premium.
So what of .me? Well our best efforts at coming up with a clever unregistered domain that would allow us to retire to a private island came to nothing: volu.me (gone), teati.me (gone), chro.me (gone) etc. etc. etc.
On this week's programme we'll have a look at the chequered history of national domain names from the Federated States of Micronesia (think last.fm) to the island of Niue (pictured) and the slightly rude, in some languages, .nu domain.
And we're in the market for puntastic domain names too. Do you own a web address that you think might be your road to riches? A favourite clever web address or do you have a good .me pun you don't mind sharing with the world? Drop us a note.
UPDATE: We ran your naming suggestions (see comments below) past Nora Nanayakkara, who trades in domain names for Sedo. She's on Saturday's iPM - but this is the full unedited interview. Here are her thoughts on what makes a top-selling website name and how much popular domains go for these days...
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I bet subli.me has gone. But perhaps not subpri.me
(I did post this in The Other Place as well)
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surprise.me - squatted.
squash.me - squatted.
shock.me - squatted.
subpri.me - redirects to USHomestead.com - "Home Protection Services LLC"
These 12 are being auctioned on 23rd Sept - useful if you've got a few million dollars to spare...
date.me / show.me / rent.me / play.me
kiss.me / loan.me / love.me / marry.me
meet.me / ask.me / buy.me / watch.me
These four are second level domains owned by the Montenegro government:
co.me / net.me / org.me / its.me
And www.me appears to be a general Montenegro info site run by the government - even including a periodic newsletter (!). Then again, as the republic's population is only 650,500 it can get away with a local government feel.
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What about nut.me ?
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Its really important that people know what they are buying when they register something like .me. Whilst you don't have to live in Montenegro in order to register, .me is the property of the Republic of Montenegro and subject to decisions of the Montenegro government. Its therefore possible that (like the Columbian government in the case of .uk.co) they may change their minds at some stage in the future.
It is also important for people to be aware that their .me names will autorenew, unlike .uk names that will only auto renew if that is what you ask for.
As you will gather, I'm a bit of a domain name anorack, as well as being a pm listener!
Lesley Cowley
CEO, Nominet (the .uk registry)
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Lesley, what a useful post!
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