This is a case of ‘let the seller beware’ …
The tiny Polynesian island nation of Niue is beginning to think it’s been had.
Frankly, it’s clear they didn’t do their homework before they did their deal.
Ironically, it seems the buyer hadn’t really done his, either.
Anyone who has been inundated by advertisements for ‘global domains’ can easily understand that it’s a burgeoning business. The specter of purchasing a domain at a much better price than the more common ‘dot com’ or ‘dot net’ or ‘dot org’ is most attractive to most aspiring entrepeneurs on limited budgets. This niche’s market leader is most likely Global Domains International (GDI), which has no doubt put Western Samoa on the mental map of many a cybernaut. The key element in that deal is that the Western Samoan government granted the rights to GDI in return for a royalty for every domain sold.
Niue’s name is derived from the local language’s phrase for, “Look, a coconut!” It seems they should have used theirs more thoroughly before signing a domain deal with Bill Semich in 1998.
An American businessman whose former station was editor for a computer magazine, Semich recognized the potential value in the marketability of unique domains. Apparently finding the ‘nu’ extension an attractive letter combination, he signed a contract with the Niue government that gave him the exclusive rights to it.
It wasn’t a one-way deal. Semich guaranteed free wireless access for all 2000 of Niue’s citizens and he delivered, completing the installation of an island-wide network of translator towers in 2003. The country’s leaders surely felt they had provided their citizenry with a service for the new century which would favorably ensconce their place in island history.
Semich, meanwhile, intended to hawk his bargain domains to Americans. He had no idea that his ideal customers were in Sweden, where ‘nu’ is the local word for ‘now.’
Obviously,’now’ is a hot marketing action term in any language, so Semich was pleasantly surprised to find the Swedes flocking to his cyber-property. As a translated example of why this works for them, ‘drive.now’ (which would be ‘k