Who could forget the saga of , the domain that just continues to keep giving? Indeed, it has had such a history that books have been written about it and kept many a journalist in beers for good measure. The rights to ownership of the domain were at the centre of a 10 year long legal fight, involving allegations of theft from the original owner and all sorts of shenanigans thereafter.
Eventually the legal wranglings got sorted, the rightful owner got his hands on the domain certificate and eventually sold it. The last time it was up for sale, back in 2006, went for a reputed $14 million to Escom LLC. A lot of money for sure, but when you consider the traffic passing through it as people enter into their browsers and the amount of click through advertising revenue it must surely generate, there's a good argument for saying that this domain is quite possibly one of the few sure fire dotcom investments out there right now.
The only problem being, if it's such a solid money-making opportunity how come it is up for sale? More to the point, how come it is up for auction as part of a foreclosure sale concerning alleged defaults in "the payment of debt and performance of obligations owed" by Escom to DOM Partners LLC according to the ?
Still, that little hiccup aside, it seems there is still a certain value attached to this domain and the auctioneers obviously expect it to still get snapped up despite setting a reserve of $1 million. Indeed, in order to bid you have to be in possession of a certified bank cheque for that amount on the day, just to show you are serious.
So, there you have it, the domain is up for sale with just a handful of not so careful owners but in a good if used condition. Just how much someone is prepared to pay for such a thing in these troubled times should prove interesting, but we'll have to wait until to find out. Watch this space...
