Apple Moving Aggressively To Acquire The iPhone5.com Domain
Posted by Michael Nace on Sunday May 6, 2012 Under Apple News, iPhone 5 Opinion
Let’s talk iPhone. More specifically, let’s talk about the name of the next iPhone — and how Apple is currently in the process of acquiring iPhone5.com.
There has been a great deal of conjecture about what Apple will name the next iPhone. Seeing as this year’s iPhone release will technically be the sixth-generation iteration of the Cupertino-based tech giant’s landmark smartphone, hard core Apple enthusiasts are quick to point out that Apple could never name the next iPhone “iPhone 5,” since the name would be out of sync with the generation. Pragmatists argue that the “iPhone 5″ moniker is just too hot for Apple to pass on, no matter how technically incorrect it may be. And still others say that Apple might simply adopt the “New iPhone” name for the next iPhone, as they did for this year’s third-generation iPad.
Last week, however, Apple took a big step in what might be the first solid clue as to what Cupertino will name the next iPhone.
In a very unusual move, Apple has taken action to wrest away the iphone5.com domain from another website owner. According to MacRumors, “Apple has filed a claim with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) seeking to gain control of the iPhone5.com domain. WIPO authorities are currently assessing compliance of Apple’s claim with the agency’s regulations, and proceedings are likely to be initiated in the near future.” Currently, the iPhone5.com domain is owned by someone else, and at present, very little is on it — it’s nothing more than a bland forum of iPhone 5 discussion.
The iphone5.com website gets very little traffic because, in spite of its domain name, it does not rank high for iPhone 5-related keywords. however, this has not stopped Apple from taking decisive action to legally control it.
MacRumors points out that the fact that Apple is pursuing the iPhone 5 domain ahead of any device called “iPhone 5 actually being released is unprecedented:
Apple’s pursuit of the iPhone5.com domain is interesting given how slow the company has been to take action to secure domains related to its previous products. Apple didn’t gain control of iPhone4.com until nearly a year after that device launched and Apple didn’t seek to gain control of iPhone4S.com until several weeks after that device debuted last October. In the latter case, Apple was likely extremely motivated to take control of the domain because it was being used to forward visitors to pornography sites.
Never before has Apple secured a domain like this before the official product launch. But Apple’s move to do so proves how incredibly valuable the “iPhone 5″ name truly is. My argument for believing that the New iPhone will be called “iPhone 5,” in spite of it technically not being the fifth-generation iPhone, is simply because the name itself is too valuable for Apple to squander; yes, they are already a wealthy company, but they still want to capitalize on their product launch as much as possible, and make good on the “promise” of a groundbreaking iPhone 5 that has been rumored since the late summer of 2010. If you still believe that Apple won’t be calling the next iPhone the “iPhone 5,” then why would they be making such an effort to control the iphone5.com domain?
By Michael Nace
Michael Nace is the Publisher of the iPhone 5 News Blog and iPhone 6 News Blog. He has published articles about the iPhone since 2010.
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May 7th, 2012 at 9:00 am
I think it’s suspicious that Apple is going after it before they even announce the device. Apple never reveals anything, even the name, about their devices beforehand.
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May 7th, 2012 at 9:20 am
I think it’s misdirection. They knew that this would end up in the media and because they want to be unpredictable, I can’t believe it will be iPhone 5.
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May 7th, 2012 at 9:29 am
Theoretically, Apple I believe would have the right to control any domain with the “iPhone” trademark in it — including this one. They permit blogs like mine to persist because, in the grand scheme of things, it helps them. But with a root domain like iPhone5.com, that becomes an actual landing page for apple.com. Take iPhone4s.com, for example: when you type it into your browser, it redirects you to Apple’s iPhone 4S category page.
It is possible that Apple could call the next iPhone the “New iPhone,” but because people might continue to refer to it as the “iPhone 5,” they want people who type in “iPhone5.com” to land on their New iPhone category page. That is the only explanation I can think of for why they would begin trying to acquire this domain right now.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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May 7th, 2012 at 10:09 am
Can they demand to take the domain, simply as it has the word ‘iPhone’ in it? Or do they need to make a sincere offer to purchase it?
The domain has been out there for 4 years as well.
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May 7th, 2012 at 10:14 am
Not sure, @Core2. I was reading some of the comments on that forum, and people are like, “you should sell it to Apple, but make sure you get at least $2 million for it.” Fort all we know, Apple may have not offered them anything — they might have just moved straight ahead with the process of claiming it.
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May 7th, 2012 at 10:16 am
Well last year before WWDC if I remember correctly, there were multiple Facebook pages that were associated with the name iPhone 5 as well that were shut down weren’t there? And lately when I searched the only onenit could fond was this site’s facebook page. I hope this is a sign of things to come at WWDC!
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May 7th, 2012 at 10:23 am
I wonder what will happen with this, as it has been around for 4+ years.
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May 7th, 2012 at 10:24 am
@Spasticpat: Yeah, that rat ba$tard Zuckerberg unceremoniously deleted the iPhone 5 News Blog‘s Facebook page last year! It wasn’t during the WWDC, but a week before the iPhone 4S launch. We had 5,000+ likes, and the Facebook page was a major channel for getting out our articles. Are we really the only remaining page?!
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May 7th, 2012 at 11:32 am
I actually just searched again and found quite a few with one having over a million likes https://www.facebook.com/viaiphonelima not that they have anything posted at all
And this one https://www.facebook.com/pages/iPhone-5/360020560675380 has some random stupid pictures posted like a cat on a scale and some bald guy and it seems to be in chinese.
I found one that has over 2000 likes but only has a poll asking if people will buy the iPhone or not, no news articles or relevant content. Another that has 5,000+ but again no articles or anything posted that give any hint at the next iPhone though…
So while there are a quite a few other iPhone 5 pages, yours is the only one I see posting serious articles and that is any good.
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May 7th, 2012 at 11:36 am
I apologize for saying this was the only one though, I was on my phone so it must have just brought me right to this one since I ‘like’ it on facebook. When I searched on my laptop though, it did bring up a ton more sites, but as stated above, nothing really worthwhile like this site’s page.
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May 7th, 2012 at 11:43 am
Wow — imagine having a FB page with a million likes, and posting an article on it. Even if only 1% of the followers click on the article, that’s 10K views in one shot!
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May 7th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Yeah def. Some of them are apps too. I don’t know what these ‘iPhone5 apps’ would do on Facebook other than possibly post advertisements or something on people’s walls I guess
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May 7th, 2012 at 4:41 pm
I know this is nit-picking, but I have to correct the whole generation thing. A generation change would signify a major reworking, including being visually different, just look at the automotive industry. The current iPhone is the 5th iPhone released, but it is 3rd generation iPhone.
1st Generation:
iPhone
2nd Generation:
3G
3GS
3rd Generation
4
4S
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May 8th, 2012 at 9:19 am
It takes us back to the ‘New iPad’ name as when this unit becomes legacy I guess it will be known as the iPad 3, which most people are calling it anyway.
The iPhone 5 may be known as the ‘New iPhone’ but in time will most probably be called the 5.
Using @Darren’s logic above my trusty 3G phone is only one generation out even though there have been 3 phones superseding it. That makes me feel better!
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July 25th, 2012 at 9:44 am
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