Is Your Domain Name Secure? Interview With a Domain Appraiser

By Sarah J. Doyle

Denise Hoyle is a certified appraiser. She is also
an expert in the field of internet domain names.

For over 13 years Mrs. Hoyle, owner of her own appraisal office,
and holding licenses in several states, has been appraising real
estate for lending institutions as well as for estate purposes
and financial planning portfolios.

Hoyle is quick to point out, however, that land and homes are
not the only things that need to be appraised and included in
estate planning. It is not uncommon for individuals to be the
owners of one or more domain names, and more than 31.5 million
domain names have been registered, since they first became
available.

Here Mrs. Hoyle points out a sobering statistic. Of the 31.5
million registered domain names nearly 67% registered to date
have been deleted for non-renewal. "The frightening thing here
is the question of how many of those deleted names were money
making web sites, or valuable domain names that simply got
deleted because the owner forgot to renew the name, or perhaps
was sick or in the hospital and unable to get it renewed on
time".

Your domain name is YOUR piece of cyber , just like
a piece of land or house you own and should be treated in the
same way. For example, just as you keep up the insurance on your
home and provide for it in your will, you should keep your
domain registration information current and include it in your
estate.

As the co-owner, with her husband, of over 300 domain names,
Mrs. Hoyle knows and keeps up with domain name statistics. She
quotes a recent landmark case where the 9th US Circuit Court of
Appeals has stated that "domain names, despite their virtual
, should be treated exactly as a æplot of landÆ would be".
She says this is a huge victory for all domain name registrants,
not just for Gary Kremen who can now continue his lawsuit
against Network Solutions for allowing the theft of his Sex.com
domain name. Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) had argued that
domain names are intangible property and therefore they could
not be held liable for damages (Kremen vs. Cohen Case #01-15899).

Hoyle says this ruling means that traditional property
protections can now be legally applied to domain names. She
then posed a few very timely and provocative questions: "Is your
domain name secure? What would happen to it if you should
suddenly take ill or pass away? Do you have provisions made in
your will as to who will take over the running and management of
the website or domain name and insure that it gets renewed each
year?"

As a real estate appraiser, domain name appraiser, and author of
"The Dot Comment" book, Mrs. Hoyle asks "do you know the value
of YOUR domain name and/or website? Have you ever had it
appraised to see what the actual value is?" A domain name
should certainly be part of your estate, just like your house,
bank accounts and insurance policies.

"If youÆve never had your domain name appraised, nor added it to
your estate," she continues, "You could be in jeopardy of losing
a valuable part of your loved ones inheritance. Your domain
name or web site could be worth several thousand or
several hundred thousand dollars. Consider the loss that would
be sustained if no one but you knew the particulars of the
domain name or web site, and at renewal time it got ædroppedÆ
because you werenÆt there to renew it!"

You may contact Mrs. Hoyle directly at CEO@...
with any questions or for further information, or visit her
site at

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About the author:

Sarah J. Doyle owns and operates
along with five other craft and business web sites.

(c) Copyright 2003, Sarah J. Doyle. All Rights Reserved.

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Sarah J. Doyle
e-mail sarah@...

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