Dot-TV Saga. (Technology).It's business as usual at dotTV Corp. after its acquisition by VeriSign Inc. of Mountain View. VeriSign, which already handles registration for the dot-com, dot-org and dot-net extensions, paid $45 million in cash for the dot-tv extension. DotTV bought the extension from the South Pacific Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, which is located midway between Hawaii and Australia. Marina del Rey-based Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, which allocates the two-letter extensions to independent countries, assigned dot-tv to Tuvalu, which gained independence from Britain in 1978. The government of Tuvalu, which represents the nation's 11,000 residents, agreed in 2000 to lease its dot-tv extension for 12 years to dotTV Corp., an Idealab company, for close to $50 million in cash, a minority ownership stake in dotTV Corp. and a seat on the company's board. DotTV became the biggest cyber (1) From "cybernetics," it is a prefix attached to everyday words to add a computer, electronic or online connotation. The term is similar to "virtual," but the latter is used more frequently. See virtual. squatter An individual who settles on the land of another person without any legal authority to do so, or without acquiring a legal title. In the past, the term squatter specifically applied to an individual who settled on public land. in the history of the Internet and took advantage of the huge interest in the extension to auction off domain names such as Free.tv, China.tv and Net.tv -- which each went for around $100,000 -- while Italia.tv sold for $5,000 and Phillips.tv for $4,000. Overall, more than 250,000 dot-tv domain names have been registered to date. In the process, Tuvalu has increased its gross domestic product by 50 percent, which has allowed it to enter the United Nations, put doctors in each of its hospitals, set up subsidized sub·si·dize tr.v. sub·si·dized, sub·si·diz·ing, sub·si·diz·es 1. To assist or support with a subsidy. 2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy. Internet access See how to access the Internet. via satellite for its citizens, and provide free high school education. DotTV now becomes a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of VeriSign and will remain in Westwood, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. current and former employees. |
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