Press Release for July 16, 2012

[News]

NEW YORK -- July 16, 2012 - Nextwork Media ("nextworkmedia.com"), a Michael Fara company, in affiliation with Windows 7 Forums ("windows7forums.com") and Windows 8 Forums ("windows8forums.com"), wholly owned subsidiaries of said company and Mr. Fara, announced today, the acquisition of WindowsForums.com and WindowsForum.com. These domain names will be used, in conjunction with vBulletin 5, to create the world's largest non-Microsoft owned technology enthusiast communications social network in the world, and to further improve existing services provided on the above listed website.

The benefit of a unified platform will become apparent as events surrounding Microsoft's next flagship operating system, Windows 8 begin to unravel by the end of the year. Tentatively scheduled to begin at the end of the year, under the banner Windows Forums ("windowsforums.com"), the unified site will provide direct access to new and existing users to pose and respond to technical issues surrounding mainstream Microsoft products and operating systems, create unique user profiles, and interact using existing Facebook and Twitter API. As a seamless upgrade, plans to incorporate a Windows RT site application and Android app update should be phased in gradually.

Operated by an all-volunteer, professional taskforce, Windows7Forums.com is currently ranked as the 38,472nd most visited website in the United States by Quantcast Corporation, and the 25,061st most visited website in the world, out of billions, according to Alexa Internet: An Amazon.com Company. The site itself has served more than 40 million unique visitors in the last three years alone, and has been estimated at a valuation of anywhere from $125,000 dollars to $250,000 USD.

By combining the unique content and amazing members of Windows7Forums.com with the anticipated audience of Windows8Forums.com, Windows Forums will provide unparalleled free and open discussion, technical support, and assistance to hundreds of millions of people around the world, free of charge.

These changes are tentative, pending unforeseen circumstances, but should continue to be phased in by January 2013. As such, all plans are subject to change. These changes are forward-looking statements.

For additional PR contact:

Windows7Forums.com HQ
+1 (914) 595-4455
Link Removed due to 404 Error

 

[Jimbo22]

Very interesting read...I thought this might go well with your post.

Windows7forums.com Site Info#

 

[Mitchell_A]

Wow, Mike.

It's great to see you continuing to go forward with this project. I look forward to collaborating with you in the coming days, as I have a few days off this week. I see a great future for the site, especially following the launch of Windows 8/WP8/Surface/Office 13 later this year.

 

[Mike]

Press Release Follow-Up: Major Problems in Acquisition July 19, 2012

Press Release Follow-Up: Major Problems in Acquisition

Unfortunately, we are currently in dispute with the acquisition of “windowsforums.com” from Sean at Strategic Investment, Ltd. While Sean agreed to transfer the domain for a certain amount through Afternic and BuyDomains, he reneged, without notice, literally hours before the transaction would have been finalized (It takes 5-10 business days for a domain to transfer registrars).

The legal experts I have consulted with consider this a violation of contract law, and numerous attempts have been made, without malice or threat, to try to get Sean to change his course of action. While the domain was put on auction at Afternic (an aftermarket domain reseller), we attempted to acquire it, and paid for it at the Buy It Now price on July 10, 2012. The authorization codes were sent by Sean to Afternic, and we were in process at our domain registrar for a complete transfer of ownership. Ownership of the domain name would therefore have been moved from India back to the United States and used to expand our forum network over a long period of time.

Shortly after our press release was made, the domain name transfer was abruptly cancelled by the initialization of a domain name lock and domain-by-proxy privacy option. These changes were openly made by Sean without prior notice to Namemedia (Afternic, BuyDomains). With the seller leaving us with no choice, and having been bound by a legal contract to sell the domain name if it was bought via Buy It Now, I am working to pursue arbitration through ICANN URDP rules and potential action in U.S. civil court and for damage as a result of that breach.

Oddly, the seller extolled his fondness for Windows7Forums.com, leading at least some of us here to believe that his actions may have been motivated by the valuation listed in the above appraisal on the press release. What was not made clear is that this appraisal was the result of the use of an online appraisal tool, which calculates inbound traffic totals, analytics data, and Google Page Rank over a long period of time. The calculator has little to do with the true value of a domain name alone, but of the size of online community and the number of viewers it receives.

We have worked for six years to make this site open, participatory, and interesting to viewers from around the world. Being unable to secure windowsforums.com is a setback, but an ownership decision has been made to press onwards. A strong believer in fairness in transactions, it is our goal to make sure the seller is held accountable for his use of his “windowsforums.com” domain name in online marketplaces. We do not know if the seller hoped to be paid, and then privatize the domain, thus preventing its sale.

Windows7Forums.com will work with the necessary authorities and groups to enforce the contract that was signed by the owner of WindowsForums.com and hold him accountable. Every social, business, and human interaction is based on trust. When one cannot depend on another to do right by oneself, those bonds of trust are broken. I personally do not believe this is right, and am well aware that under the universal commercial code it is also fraud.

Because of the sensitivity of this issue, I may not be able to post on it again often, until concrete milestones are made. I will be moving forward to make sure that our users and team will not be made the victim of domain name theft and fraud. We advise our members not to attempt to access windowsforums.com at this time, as our prior announcement may have been distorted by the domain name owner for nefarious purposes or monetary gain. This type of behavior is extraordinarily unacceptable over the Internet in 2012 and we will be pursuing all options on behalf of our past, present, and current viewers and members.

This website spent a significant amount of credit reserves to make this acquisition possible, enough that we still hope that Sean, as the owner of windowsforums.com, will reconsider his unethical and potentially illegal action.