Awebsitebyanyotherna.me
Love.me, hate.me, couldntgivetwofigsabout.me? Over the summer the nation of Montenegro caused a flutter of excitement online as people raced to register websites ending in the newly minted .me domain
While initial offerings went to Monetengrans clearly the bulk of the names were going to people in the US looking for a shiny new name for their business, protecting an existing brand or looking to snap up a valuable web address.
Companies will pay millions for the right address. And where there's money inevitably there is litigation. There are protracted legal disputes with and (how many o's in variants of ). And then there are the amusing tussles over a name that might legitimately belong to two different people (Remember )
But the Domain Industry is big business. Take a look at this recent set of numbers from a , and you'll see even something as virtuous as recycle.co.uk can attract a hefty premium.
So what of .me? Well our best efforts at coming up with a clever unregistered domain that would allow us to retire to a private island came to nothing: volu.me (gone), teati.me (gone), chro.me (gone) etc. etc. etc.
On this week's programme we'll have a look at the chequered history of national domain names from the Federated States of Micronesia (think last.fm) to and the slightly rude, in some languages, .nu domain.
And we're in the market for puntastic domain names too. Do you own a web address that you think might be your road to riches? A favourite clever web address or do you have a good .me pun you don't mind sharing with the world? Drop us a note.
UPDATE: We ran your naming suggestions (see comments below) past Nora Nanayakkara, who trades in domain names for Sedo. She's on Saturday's iPM - but this is the full unedited interview. Here are her thoughts on what makes a top-selling website name and how much popular domains go for these days...
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