US entrenpreneur David Sams is trying to add sex appeal to a Web domain by registering domain names that end with ".mu."
SamsDirect .MU Inc., hopes to register 100,000 Web addresses in its first 12 months. A standard domain name costs US$50 a year. Users can also register for a personal domain name, such as johnsmith.mu. Although that service is free of charge, Sams said there is a US$4.95 fee to verify a person's identity.
The effort has the unmistakable glitz of a former television "marketing architect" who claims his work at King World helped "Wheel of Fortune," "Jeopardy," and "Oprah" rule the TV syndication world.
The domain that rocks
The Web site for the new .mu address, www.dot.mu, is sprinkled with bikini-clad models -- one posed on all fours -- together with a guitar, a speeding car, and the slogans "the domain that rocks" and "because .com is for old people."
Anyone offended by his approach might as well get used to it because Sams is becoming a major player in the top-level domain space. He is one of a new breed hoping to capitalize on what happens after the dot.
Aside from .mu, his company has registered 400,000 addresses with the .cc top-level domain (TDL). He's looking at three other new TLDs to register in the next year or so.
He also claims to be working with three of the seven companies negotiating with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers for the right to register domains under seven additional TLDs.
Domains for dollars
The TLD field was getting crowded, even before the ICANN began considering additional TLDs. Sams was one of the first to discover that country codes of far flung island nations like the Cocos Islands(.cc) and Mauritius (.mu) can earn millions for him and his employees.
Another company, Dot TV, paid the South Pacific islands of Tuvalu US$10 million for the right to register .tv domain names. Sams declines to discuss his deals with the Cocos Islands and Mauritias. What he will say is that he's planning to roll out three more country codes turned general purpose TLDs in the coming months.
Growing market
Another player is .ws, which last week celebrated having registered 100,000 addresses, according to Robert Blodgett, Website.ws vice president.
With such a crowded field trying to attract customers, TLDs are starting to scream for more attention. Some analysts estimate that there could be half a billion domain names registered within the next few years.
Most of the demand will likely be in the personal Web site space, analysts say. Country code turned sex machine .mu hopes to address that need.
"Software is easier to use, digital cameras are everywhere," Blodgett said. "It's getting easier to create your own Web page."
