The man who owns the Internet

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UPWARDLY MOBILE: Kevin Ham's kitchen-table business now inhabits the 27th floor of a skyscraper in Vancouver.
The man who owns the Internet
Kevin Ham is the most powerful dotcom mogul you've never heard of, reports Business 2.0 Magazine. Here's how the master of Web domains built a $300 million empire.

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Kevin Ham leans forward, sits up tall, closes his eyes, and begins to type -- into the air. He's seated along the rear wall of a packed ballroom in Las Vegas's Venetian Hotel. Up front, an auctioneer is running through a list of Internet domain names, building excitement the same way he might if vintage cars were on the block.

As names come up that interest Ham, he occasionally air-types. It's the ultimate gut check. Is the name one that people might enter directly into their Web browser, bypassing the search engine box entirely, as Ham wants? Is it better in plural or singular form? If it's a typo, is it a mistake a lot of people would make? Or does the name, like a stunning beachfront property, just feel like a winner?


When Ham wants a domain, he leans over and quietly instructs an associate to bid on his behalf. He likes wedding names, so his guy lifts the white paddle and snags Weddingcatering.com for $10,000. Greeting.com is not nearly as good as the plural Greetings.com, but Ham grabs it anyway, for $350,000.

Ham is a devout Christian, and he spends $31,000 to add Christianrock.com to his collection, which already includes God.com and Satan.com. When it's all over, Ham strolls to the table near the exit and writes a check for $650,000. It's a cheap afternoon.

Just a few years ago, most of the guys bidding in this room had never laid eyes on one another. Indeed, they rarely left their home computers. Now they find themselves in a Vegas ballroom surrounded by deep-pocketed bankers, venture-backed startups, and other investors trying to get a piece of the action.

And why not? In the past three years alone, the number of dotcom names has soared more than 130 percent to 66 million. Every two seconds, another joins the list.

But the big money is in the aftermarket, where the most valuable names -- those that draw thousands of pageviews and throw off steady cash from Google's and Yahoo's pay-per-click ads -- are driving prices to dizzying heights. People who had the guts and foresight to sweep up names shed during the dotcom bust are now landlords of some of the most valuable real estate on the Web.
Kevin Ham’s Reinvent continues to evolve,Kevin Ham’s company Reinvent continues to evolve as new ventures are launched, the company’s web site has been receiving facelifts.

The new web site look, showcases the company’s domains and now links to Reinvent’s developed properties on the Our Lab page - with clickable links to GoodNews.com, BlackFriday.com and Vancouver.com.
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Israel outlines easing of economic measures on Palestinians


Jerusalem (CNN) -- The general in charge of the Israeli government's program to ease the economic blockade of Gaza, cited major progress Tuesday, saying the flow of goods into Gaza has increased many fold.

That message given by Major Gen. Eitan Dangot, the coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli army section responsible for handling Palestinian civilian affairs in the West Bank and Gaza.

Speaking at a news conference, he detailed how presently 180 to 200 double container trucks are entering Gaza daily compared with about 80 to 90 such trucks before the June decision.

He estimated that soon the capacity at the Kerem Shalom crossing point will reach 300 trucks per day. But he also sounded a note of concern regarding the recent upswing of rockets and mortars fired into Israel by Palestinian militants from inside Gaza. "In the last weeks we are facing launching of rockets and mortar shells around Gaza, all over from the north to the south at Kerem Shalom," he said.

He said that this put the lives of those handling the transfer of material into Gaza in danger.

The general explained that all goods going into Gaza are coordinated with the Palestinian Authority, which is situated in the West Bank, even maintaining what he called a "24 hour hot line" with Palestinian officials in Ramallah. Looking toward the coming year, he said he planned to increase the capacity of trucks going into Gaza to 400.

The increase in materials entering Gaza supports 78 projects that are being implemented by the international community. Twenty-two projects are in education, 16 are water and sewage works, 10 agricultural and others in the field of housing, health and electricity.

There has also been an increase of business people allowed to travel out of Gaza to conduct business in the West Bank and Israel in order to promote economic growth. Daily about 60 to 80 such people travel out of Gaza. However when the general was asked about allowing unrestricted freedom of movement to go in and out of Gaza for its population, he made clear that Israeli security concerns would rule on that matter.
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Inter Milan ease into World Club final



(CNN) -- Inter Milan cruised into the final of the Club World Cup after beating Asian champions Seongnam Ilhwa 3-0 in Abu Dhabi.

The European champions, who have struggled to replicate last year's form, when they claimed the Champions League, Italian Serie A title and Italian Cup, will now face African champions TP Mazembe in Saturday's showpiece after this comfortable victory.

Despite the setback of playmaker Wesley Sneijder limping off injured early in the match, Inter were always in control and took the lead in just the third minute when Dejan Stankovic coolly slotted the ball home from the edge of the area.

And that advantage was doubled in the 32nd minute when same superb interplay between Argentine duo Javier Zanetti and Diego Milito resulted in captain Zanetti sliding the ball past Seongnam goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong.

The victory was sealed 17 minutes from time when Milito, making his return to action after five weeks on the sidelines, stabbed home a rebound after Samuel Eto'o's shot was parried by Jung.

Meanwhile, the fifth-place play-off was won by Mexican side Pachuca, who rallied from going two goals behind to defeat local side Al-Wahda on penalties, after the match finished 2-2.

A late double from Dario Cvitanich sent the match into extra time, where no further goals were scored.

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