While a .com.au domain name may be transferred, it cannot be sold given licensing arrangements, for example with IT Melbourne which issues them.

The position is different for .com names. Year on year record prices are being achieved for .com names. That's great news for a few, but for millions of others a reminder is needed that there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Numbers can be exciting. Here's the latest. In March 2008 Fund.com Inc paid US$9,999,950 to buy the domain name fund.com. It was the highest price ever reported for a domain name sale according to DN Journal.

The price topped the previous record in May 2007 of US$9.5 million for porn.com. Before that the record was for diamond.com. It was sold in 2006 for US$7.5 million.

Numbers can also be deceptive. This point was not the focus of our 2006 post, Online advertising, shaken not stirred. However, some IP strategy observations in that post are background for today's takeaway on how the get rich quick stories about domain names mask a reality in which millions of domain name holders make nothing.

• The post examined the value of domain names triggered by the US$3 million paid in 2006 to buy the vodka.com domain name.
• The post examined how Australian company, Dark Blue Sea Ltd, converted its holdings of hundreds of thousands of domain names into a business sold in December 2006 for A$54.5 million to the Australian company, Photon Group Ltd [ASX profile | Website profile]. 
  

The numbers behind the numbers can tell the most remarkable stories. Take Melbourne IT. It has made money in spades from the ambitions or hopes of domain name owners. As domain spaces have proliferated, so too have the profits of Melbourne IT.

In the domain name gold rush Melbourne IT  has made money by selling domain name spades, picks and shovels to gold diggers. Over the dozen years since 1996 it has achieved a great deal of shareholder value marketing the value of holding domain names.

Today Melbourne IT manages more than 4 million domain names. Many are for operating businesses or organisations. Yet in all likelihood most of its customers are hopefuls, people who have staked their claim on domains in the hope that someone, someday may buy them out.

For Melbourne IT the gold rush tools selling business has been wonderful. In recent years it has used its growing income in its domain names business to add revenue streams beyond the "dotname" revolution.

However, the occasional record domain name sale price masks a reality. It is a reality in which most domain name holders stand in complete contrast to companies acting strategically in the domain name game, eg Dark Blue Sea Ltd and Melbourne IT.

Read Six good questions for building wealth with intellectual property and then call if you want to discuss improvement of your domain name strategy. We'll either give you some hints or refer you to appropriate specialists.