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Donuts

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Revision as of 02:46, 10 August 2012 by Caterina (talk | contribs)
Type: Privately held
Industry: Internet
Founded: 2010
Founder(s): Paul Stahura
Jonathon Nevett
Headquarters: 1720 205th Place NE

Sammamish, WA 98074

Country: USA
Website: donuts.co
Key People
Paul Stahura, CEO
Jonathon Nevett, EVP
Daniel Schindler Executive Officer
Richard Tindal
Mason Cole, VP of Communications

Donuts is a start-up company offering registry services co-founded by Paul Stahura and Jonathon Nevett, Richard Tindal, and Daniel Schindler. In April 2011 the company was in stealth mode and raising capital; based on the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Donuts raised $1 million equity financing.[1] Since then it has submitted 307 gTLD Applications and secured some $100 million in financing. The company's headquarters is located in Bellevue, Washington.

New gTLD Applications[edit | edit source]

On June 5, 2012, Donuts announced that the company submitted applications for 307 generic top level domain names (gTLDs), including IDN TLDs, and secured $100 million in capital from multi-billion dollar private equity and venture funds.[2]

According to Mr. Schindler, the company originally came up with a list of 3,000 prospective domain names. He said, "We made a long list of dictionary terms, in multiple languages and character sets. We created our own proprietary way of valuing the [gTLDs], and that helped us narrow it down. But 307 is still a lot, obviously."[3]

A separate article from Bloomberg reported that the company plans to apply for 10 gTLDs. [4] Mason Cole, the company's Vice President of Communications and industry relations explained that the reporter from Bloomberg misunderstood or had miscommunication with Stahura. He said that during the interview, the exact number of the gTLD's to be applied for hadn't been finalized. Cole also said that the company is well prepared to operate all the 307 gTLDs.[5]

The company signed a strategic partnership with Demand Media in pursuit of certain gTLDs. According to a press statement, under the agreement, Demand Media has the right to acquire some of the approved gTLDs applied for by Donuts.[6] Furthermore, Demand Media Europe Limited, will serve as the back-end registry service provider for Donuts. The registry provider is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Demand Media.[7]

In terms of intellectual property rights protection, the company said that it created rights protection mechanisms for new gTLDs and it will implement an open Internet philosophy. According to Stahura, "The Internet is an engine of information, ideas and commerce, and one that’s not restrictive unnecessarily. Donuts intends to preserve that openness for all users, not operate a ‘by invitation only’ section of the Internet."[8]

Cybersquatting & UDRP claims[edit | edit source]

Cybersquatting and UDRP accusations have been alleged against Donuts from several sources. Jeffrey Stoler, a lawyer at Boston law firm McCarter & English, submitted a letter to ICANN and the GAC accusing Donuts of being associated with a number of UDRP cases that were lost by Demand Media. He argued that two of the company's founders were employees of Demand Media when many of the UDRP cases occurred, as well as when ICANN announced that any applicant to have lost more than three UDRP cases in the last four years would fail the required background check. He alleges that Stahura and Tindal both left Demand Media to found Donuts when they realized that Demand Media would fail this background check.[9] Donuts has refuted these claims, stating that Demand Media serves as nothing more than their registry backend provider, and is not involved in any sort of joint venture with Donuts.[10] James Oliver Warner filed a public comment stating that former Director Graham Stirling, who has not been a part of the company since November 2011 and is not listed on any of the company's applications, owns a number of domain names containing Olympic and Disney trademarks.[11]

Donuts Team[edit | edit source]

The management team of the company include:[12]

Board of Directors

  • Paul Stahura, Donuts Inc.
  • Chris Pacitti, Austin Ventures
  • Robert Verratti, TL Ventures
  • Brian Jacobs, Emergence Capital Partners
  • Thomas Ball, Austin Ventures
  • Jonathon Nevett, Donuts Inc.

Investors[edit | edit source]

The company's investors include:[13]

  • Austin Ventures
  • Adams Street Partners
  • Emergence Capital Partners
  • TL Ventures
  • Generation Partners
  • Stahurricane (Paul Stahura’s investment fund)

Videos[edit | edit source]

Mason Cole, Dontus' VP of Communications and Industry Relations, was interviewed at ICANN 44 in Prague:

<videoflash>ad8PwcqMn1A</videoflash>

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Former Demand Media exec Paul Stahura emerges at stealthy Donuts Inc.
  2. ↑ Donuts raises $100 million, applies for 307 new TLDs
  3. ↑ 'Donuts' startup lands $100 million for dot-brand domains
  4. ↑ Domain Nuts
  5. ↑ A tasty conversation with Donuts, which just applied for 307 TLDs
  6. ↑ Demand Media to Participate in Historic Expansion of Generic Top Level Web Domain Name Extensions
  7. ↑ Donuts Launches Domain Namespace with 307 gTLD Applications, More than 100 Million in Funding
  8. ↑ Donuts applies for 307 (yes, 307) gTLDs
  9. ↑ Lawyer tries to nuke Donuts and Demand Media’s gTLD bids, domainincite.com
  10. ↑ Donuts dismisses “meritless” cybersquatting claims, domainincite.com
  11. ↑ (Former) Donuts director hit with cybersquatting claim over Disney and Olympic domains, domainincite.com
  12. ↑ The Donuts Team
  13. ↑ Donuts Launches Domain Namespace with 307 gTLD Applications, More than 100 Million in Funding


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