why do .tv's cost so much to register?

[deronsizemore]

?

[LuckyShima]

Because people are willing to pay the price?

[Chris]

Its a country extension and the country sets their own price. I don't remember exactly which country it is.

[deronsizemore]

LuckyShima: Good, answer...I guess that is true of most high priced things.


Chris: Thanks. I didn't even realize it was a country. Went right over my head until you pointed it out. lol. I was thinking "television". DOH!

[LuckyShima]

Deron,

I automatically assumed you knew what the extension was and how it was being sold (it had been a long day).

.tv is the domain name extension granted to Tuvalu, a small island in the Pacific with a population of around 10,000 people.

The people responsible for domain names on Tuvalu entered a contract with a private company which allowed the private company to sell .tv names in return for a guaranteed income stream.

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/05/08/tuvalu.domain.idg/

So I guess in one sense, prices are relatively high because the private company selling the names needs to secure enough income to meet its payment obligations to Tuvalu authorities, although I am sure they could have done this at a lower price.

[deronsizemore]

Deron,

I automatically assumed you knew what the extension was and how it was being sold (it had been a long day).

.tv is the domain name extension granted to Tuvalu, a small island in the Pacific with a population of around 10,000 people.

The people responsible for domain names on Tuvalu entered a contract with a private company which allowed the private company to sell .tv names in return for a guaranteed income stream.

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/05/08/tuvalu.domain.idg/

So I guess in one sense, prices are relatively high because the private company selling the names needs to secure enough income to meet its payment obligations to Tuvalu authorities, although I am sure they could have done this at a lower price.


Ah, okay. Thanks for the detailed response! :)

[ozgression]

Because people are willing to pay the price?

Or are they? I've hardly ever seen a .tv site, let alone a popular one.

www.rpmlive.tv is the only one i can think of.

[Chris]

They're usually bought by TV programs I think.

[Nintendo]

There also bought when every thing else is taken, like the 'v7ndotcom Elursrebmem' SEO Contest link in my sig (Ugly site disclaimer). :D

[ket]

Or are they? I've hardly ever seen a .tv site, let alone a popular one.

www.rpmlive.tv is the only one i can think of.

Here is one popular one in Europe - http://www.techdigest.tv/

[Mullen]

I didn't realise .tv was associated with a specific country either - it's pretty obvious now I think about it though.

[Bleys]

The guy who runs www.pot.tv (a marijuana activist from British Columbia named Marc Emmery) was featured on '60 Minutes' on CBS last night. I saw the piece and it showed clips from his website and mentioned it a number of times.

If that one wasn't popular already, I bet it is after the '60 Minutes' segment.

I've only ever purchased one .tv domain (recordyour.tv ... which I sold last may).

[MikeD]

I used to own attract.tv back in the days. I swear, I thought the whole .tv thing would fall apart within a year or two. Well, I've underestimated the fact that once people build sites on them, they brand the .tv and are going to keep it. 50 bucks or not, if you market it well, people will pay and keep on paying, and others who see the sites are going to get their own .tv

I bet this is the biggest income generator for the small island of tuvalu.

[Bleys]

I bet this is the biggest income generator for the small island of tuvalu.

That's quite possible. The initial terms of the deal was a $50 million royalty for use of the .tv domain. But I don't think they'll ever get that high.

Othe than that, they mostly rely on a trust fund established in their name by larger neighboring countries. Tuvalu is really small... 11,000 people. So their $37+ million trust fund can go a long way, I am sure.


Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund has grown from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new technology sources could increase substantially over the next decade. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments.

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tv.html

[peach]

.tv are quiete common for websites that advertise on TV.