Personal Domain Names Emerge As New Commodity

5 June 2001

MEDIA RELEASE

Personal Domain Names Emerge As New Commodity

What's the price of a good name? We'll soon find out. A new commodity is coming to market: the Personal Domain Name (PDN), the name we'll use to secure our identity on the Internet.

Robert Wiles, founder and CEO of Pdom, launched today as the world's largest Internet site dedicated to the registration and trading of personal domain names, says while Internet domain registration is modestly accelerating, PDN registration is growing exponentially.

"The PDN has become a tradable commodity. There were 27 million domain names registered at the end of last year, and only 1% were PDNs," Wiles says.

"PDN registration is growing by 400% per year. In three years' time, commentators estimate 36% of 140 million Internet domains will be PDNs.

"By the end of 2003, 50 million people will have registered a Personal Domain Name. This exponential growth exceeds the growth of email."

Wiles believes trading in PDNs will supplant recent speculation in commercial domain names and will become a billion dollar market within three years.

"There will always be a secondary market for PDNs because most names are shared by thousands if not millions of people. For example, globally there are 6,000 names that are each shared by more than 100,000 people. In China 89 million people share the surname Zhang. Because of this commonality it is almost impossible for anyone in the world to register their first name or last name as a .com, .net or .org.

Wiles says the secondary market in commercial domain names is flawed. The fundamental difference between the emerging personal domain market and commercial domains is the nature of the underlying demand. A valuable PDN is shared by thousands of people who have no desire to change their name. This is the opposite of companies who can create new brands and have a legal right to secure ownership of a domain name.

"Even for uncommon names, there will be a market," Wiles says. "A market just requires a willing buyer, a willing seller and a secure place to trade. We provide access to a global market and a new trading platform to buy and sell PDNs. For our customers we offer a simple and fast negotiated sales procedure with the security of an escrow service.

"The market for PDNs is still in its infancy and it's too soon yet to offer precise comment on pricing trends. Who knows what your name is worth? Chances are it will be worth a lot more over time. Net names could contribute to net worth."

About Pdom: Launched 5 June 2001, Pdom is the world's first Internet company to focus on everything to do with personal domain names and personal websites.

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CONTACT:
johanna.coughlan@pdom.com

www.pdom.com

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