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NEWZEALAND.COM PURCHASE "SHOCKER"
30th April, 2003
After its failed dispute against the registrant of NewZealand.com, which resulted in Her Majesty the Queen being found guilty of reverse domain hijacking, the New Zealand government has bought the domain for NZ$1 million.
The purchase of the domain has proven controversial with New Zealand MP Rodney Hide asking Tourism Minister Mark Burton in parliament whether spending such a large amount of taxpayer's money on a single domain was justified. Burton responded:
"There is no question that this domain will provide an invaluable portal [for] commercial entry into New Zealand for those interested in tourism, commerce, and industry…The South African Government offered Virtual Countries US$10 million for southafrica.com. It has also been reported that korea.com was sold for US$5 million to True Net, Korea's largest Internet service provider."
Speaking to Demys.net today, Hide showed he was not convinced by his government's approach: "There are so many other options for promoting New Zealand especially on the net without purchasing any specific domain name.
More details at: http://www.demys.net/news/2003/04/30_nz.htm
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