Qant.as sells for $1.3 million

Qant.as, a domain that resembles you know, the Australian airline Qantas, was sold for $1.35 million USD. The seller, Dominic Holland, said in a statement, “The domain name Qant.as could be snapped up by a competitor so damage to Qantas’s business could be in the millions of dollars.”

The .as ccTLD is used by American Samoa. Personally, I think the idea that this domain could hurt Qantas is absurd. While the name does spell the name of the airline, most Internet users still aren’t comfortable with including the extension as part of a spelled name. No one would confuse it for the real thing.

There is some question as to whether it violates the airline’s trademark or not, but since extensions usually aren’t considered part of the domain name, I don’t think Qant.as is in violation. Either way, the buyer got a horrible deal.

Source | The Domains
Photo | Flickr