Microsoft fails to secure key Zune domains

49 Comments

“Microsoft’s ambitious multimillion-dollar Zune digital music recipe oddly lacks a key online marketing ingredient: dot-com domains,” Red Herring reports.

Red Herring reports, “The Redmond-based software behemoth last week announced a $249.99 price tag and November 14 as the date the device and its accompanying Zune Marketplace online music site will become available.”

“Zune.com is registered to one Antonio Nogales of London. Mr. Nogales was unable to be reached for comment at the out-of-service phone number found in Network Solutions’ Whois record on the domain, created in June of 1998,” Red Herring reports. “For Microsoft, this is just par for the course in its Zune strategy, though.”

“How else can you explain a black under-construction page at Zune.com? Right now Zune.com brings up a black page in a web browser that says ‘Welcome to zune.com’ and ‘UNDER CONSTRUCTION.’ Microsoft confirmed that the company does not own Zune.com. Microsoft did register Zune.net, but not until June 26, 2006, according to the Whois database record,” Red Herring reports. “‘Someone else owns Zune.com and that’s the deal,’ a Microsoft representative said. ‘It’s Zune.net and it’s not launched yet.'”

“Meanwhile, Microsoft keeps Comingzune.com as their placeholder for all communications on the Zune launch,” Red Herring reports. “But the official site will be at Zune.net—if you can remember it’s a dot-net.”

Full article here.
Brown is the color of dried blood.

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49 Comments

  4. Three things:

    1) the world is too fixated on dot-com domains. They’re not necessary at all. dot-com is severely over-used.

    2) If MS has a valid product (ie. Zune), then they would be entitled to the domain name if the current own doesn’t have a legitimate use for it.

    3) MS could easily buy the domain from the current owner at a reasonably outrageous price.

    Reply

  14. to Coolfactor:

    Respectfully disagreeing with your “Three things:”

    “1) the world is too fixated on dot-com domains. They’re not necessary at all. dot-com is severely over-used.”

    having a .com domain (at least to us spoiled Mac users) means that all I have to type in the address bar is the “meat” of the domain. Only having to type “zune” vs. having to type “zune.net” doubles the typing required to visit the site. No matter how many times you tell them, I’ll bet 50% of the people out there will still hit Zune.com FIRST. On the rare occasion I’m stuck on a windows machine, it BOGGLES my mind how much less productive I am because of the lack of attention to the subtleties of usability in windows. Having to type out the whole URL – cant jump to the beginning or end of text input fields using up and down arrow, etc. Suffering Windoze is like typing with your feet.

    2) If MS has a valid product (ie. Zune), then they would be entitled to the domain name if the current own doesn’t have a legitimate use for it.

    I think that only applies if a company had a copyright BEFORE the domain was registered. I remember Apple having problems trying to secure iTunes.co.uk of something like that because some guy had registered it long ago.

    3) MS could easily buy the domain from the current owner at a reasonably outrageous price.

    IF the guy is willing to sell. Personally, I would hold it just to spite Microsoft. OK, no I wouldn’t. I’d make them pay me millions and then use at least half of the money to donate Mac labs to my kids schools and rip out All of the crappy windoze boxes… But that’s just me.

    Reply

  20. ‘having a .com domain (at least to us spoiled Mac users) means that all I have to type in the address bar is the “meat” of the domain.’

    That trick doesn’t work on Internet Explorer for Windows. Try it sometime. It takes you to an MSN page.

    Reply

  21. WindozeKiller: “Only having to type “zune” vs. having to type “zune.net” doubles the typing required to visit the site.”

    Er, strike that. Reverse it.

    DB: “That trick doesn’t work on Internet Explorer for Windows. Try it sometime.”

    He doesn’t need to “try it sometime.” He made your point in the original post.

    Reply

  22. GmanMac: “T Y P I C A L”

    Actually, I don’t think this is typical of MS. Dumping a load of money into a superficially “better” product to compete with a popular existing product is typical MS, but not having your marketing lined up is not.

    Wouldn’t one of the important steps of deciding on a new trademark be the availability of the corresponding .com domain?

    Reply

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