The World's First Domain Stock Exchange Announces Public Beta

Fusu, which bills itself as the world's first Domain Stock Exchange, today announced the launch of its Public Beta. (Read the complete news release here.)

The site uses a stock exchange model to allow participants to get liquidity from their domain assets. Through Fusu, owners of a premium domain can offer a fractional percentage of the domain to the market via an "Initial Domain Offering" and get money from it. Shareholders, in return, get their share of future sales or advertising revenues generated by the domain name -- and they can trade shares, too, just like on any other stock exchange.

On Fusu's web site, they outline 4 major components of their mission:

1. operate the world's largest and most liquid domain secondary market,
2. open the domain secondary market to shareholders,
3. provide means to get liquidity for domain owners, without giving up
control of their domain, and
4. add transparency to the domain aftermarket.

This is a potentially HUGE undertaking that could dramatically change the dynamics of domain ownership! First, though, domain owners and investors will need to get familiar with this new investment model.

...Learn more at http://www.fusu.com, and come back and share your thoughts!

Oprah.com Heralding A New Era In Fractional Domaining?

Yesterday's announcement by Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications that they will create OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network in 2009 on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel is big news in many ways and could have a greater impact upon the Internet than perhaps anyone imagines today.

OWN will undoubtedly make a big mark in the broadcast industry, as two major media companies collaborate on a joint venture that will debut in more than 70 million homes. It will be interesting to observe how this pairing affects the Internet...

While the October purchase of Cowboys.com by a group of investors led by Eric Rice drew attention to the concept of Fractional Domain Ownership; Sahar Sarid shared his vision of Fractional Domain Ownership as a new industry; and sites like my Fractional Domaining Blog recently emerged; in my view the creation of The Oprah Winfrey Network may someday be seen as a milestone event that heralds a new era of activity in Fractional Domaining.

That's because the new multi-platform media venture, The Oprah Winfrey Network, LLC, an independent company, will include Oprah.com (more than 6 million unique visitors per month, according to their news release) and be owned 50/50 by Oprah's Harpo Productions and Discovery Communications.

Frankly, the idea of a domain like Oprah.com having been available as a fractional domain acquisition (albeit part of a bigger, much more comprehensive deal) was beyond my radar. Not anymore... and I believe other businesses will begin noticing -- and acting upon -- Fractional Domaining opportunities that make sense for them, too.

How dramatically will the collaboration of Oprah and Discovery Communications affect their online presences, reach, influence, and profitability? Fractional Domaining with strong partners can lead to great synergies, and I expect both companies will ultimately be pleased by significant online growth.

When I speculated in my December 11th post, "What Will The Next Big News Story Be In The Fractional Domain Industry?", I found the possibilities for events that influence Fractional Domaining to be exciting. If this Oprah Winfrey Network announcement is indeed the milestone I believe it may be, we are in for a very interesting year!

What do you think?