For Immediate Release
Contact: Kim Vincent
Dotster Inc.
360-449-5916
kvincent@dotster.com

August 27, 2001
LEADING DOMAIN REGISTRAR DOTSTER INC. LAUNCHES NAMEWINNER, A POWERFUL SERVICE FOR REGISTERING EXPIRING DOMAIN NAMES

NameWinner will participate in major release of up to 250,000 expired domains scheduled for August 30th

VVANCOUVER, Wash. Dotster Inc., a leading ICANN accredited domain name registrar, today announced the launch of NameWinner, a service dedicated to the registration of expiring domain names from the VeriSign Global Registry. With direct access to the registry through Dotster, NameWinner is able to register valuable expiring domain names the instant they are deleted from the registry. The service is located on its own Web site at www.namewinner.com.

After several weeks of holding expired domain names from deletion, the registry will be deleting as many as 250,000 domain names on Thursday, August 30th, at 11 a.m. PST. A complete list of these expiring domain names is now available at NameWinner. This will be one of the largest deletions of domain names in the registrys history, and NameWinner customers are encouraged to visit the site early to select which domain names theyd like NameWinner to attempt to register.

Every day, tens of thousands of domain names are deleted from the registry, many of which are valuable three- and four-letter domain names, said Clint Page, Dotster president. Competition for the registration of these domains is fierce, and until now, only sophisticated domain speculators and select other groups have had the resources to get them. NameWinner changes all that. With its powerful domain grabbing technology and direct access to domains set to expire, NameWinner levels the playing field and gives customers the best possible chance of securing a name they might not otherwise have the opportunity to get.

NameWinner utilizes a bidding system to register these expiring domain names. Bids begin at $25 for one-year registrations, and customers are only charged if NameWinner successfully registers the domain name. Customers have the option of submitting proxy bids in the amount of their maximum bid amount, and instant e-mail notifications are sent to customers if they are outbid on their domains.

Customers can search for domain names at the Starting Line, NameWinners up-to-date list of expiring domain names, for domain name registration ideas. Customers can also perform searches by entering a key word into a search box to receive a list of all domain names set to expire containing that key word.

Similar to the Dotster site, customer account information can be viewed and updated in real time at Pit Row, NameWinners online account management system. During NameWinners beta-testing phase, the majority of customer-requested domain names were successfully registered. Successful registrations included compare.com, biochemistry.com, and tabloids.com. 

To view lists of soon-to-expire domain names and to place bids on domain names, please visit www.namewinner.com.

About Dotster
Launched on January 15, 2000, Dotster has quickly established itself as a leader among domain name registrars and was one of the first registrars to offer long-term registrations, synonym generation technology, and discounted pricing. Dedicated to the continuous innovation of customer-friendly registration tools, Dotster offers its clients superior customer service capabilities and many value-added Web site features. Dotsters exclusive Bulk Registration feature allows customers to check and register up to 300 domain names in a single session. Dotsters Instant Reseller System enables customers to add private-labeled registration services to their own Web sites. Dotsters latest innovation, NameWinner, registers expiring domain names the instant they are deleted from the VeriSign Global Registry. Dotster Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CAS Holdings Inc., headquartered in Kelso, Wash. Please visit www.dotster.com for more information.