debate Where will the $55,000 from the bm.ai sale go?

[katerleonid]

The former owner of bm.ai, Yoshitaka Murayama, passed away on February 6, 2024.

In another NamePros topic, someone asked: If I may ask, will the payment from bm.ai go to his next of kin or to the registrar?

If the buyer pays $55,000, who actually receives the money?

Probably not Namecheap, since they are not the domain’s registrar (aside from a possible auction commission).

More likely candidates would be Zenaida.cate.ai (the registrar) and/or the .ai registry.


Do the former owner’s relatives receive anything at all, considering that the domain expired? If the domain had been intentionally left to someone else, wouldn’t they have renewed it, assuming they had access to the login credentials, or tried to sell it instead of letting it expire?

 

[Eric Lyon]

The former owner of bm.ai, Yoshitaka Murayama, passed away on February 6, 2024.

In another NamePros topic, someone asked: If I may ask, will the payment from bm.ai go to his next of kin or to the registrar?

If the buyer pays $55,000, who actually receives the money?

Probably not Namecheap, since they are not the domain’s registrar (aside from a possible auction commission).

More likely candidates would be Zenaida.cate.ai (the registrar) and/or the .ai registry.


Do the former owner’s relatives receive anything at all, considering that the domain expired? If the domain had been intentionally left to someone else, wouldn’t they have renewed it, assuming they had access to the login credentials, or tried to sell it instead of letting it expire?

Let's dig into it a little, shall we...

• According to whois: https://whois.domaintools.com/bm.ai (Tokyo, Japan is the deceased sellers domicile)
• It appears the registrar is: Zenaida.cate.ai
• Zenaida.cate.ai FAQ has no indication of what happens to unclaimed funds: https://zenaida.cate.ai/faq/
• Zenaida.cate.ai Escrow page is Blank: https://zenaida.cate.ai/escrow/
• Cate.ai resolves as a single page with family photo with a reference to domain brokerage: DataHaven.Net Ltd
• DataHaven.Net resolves as a single page claiming: DataHaven.Net Ltd. handles the sales of ".ai" domains for the government of Anguilla.

What Gemini says about Tokyo, Japan intellectual property law and unclaimed monies:

Japanese law regards both tangible and intangible property as inheritable, but a specific legal system for handling digital assets (excluding formal intellectual property like patents/copyrights) has yet to be fully legislated. Unclaimed assets with no legal heirs generally revert to the state after a court-appointed administrator settles debts.

Inheritance Process Overview

1. Heir Succession: Under Japan's Civil Code, heirs succeed all rights and duties related to a deceased person's property upon death. For a deceased resident of Tokyo, Japanese courts may handle the inheritance procedures.
2. Digital Assets Lack Specific Laws: There is no established law or judicial precedent in Japan specifically for handling digital assets (such as online accounts, in-game currency, or content not formally registered as IP) to protect heirs. The handling often depends on the terms of service of each service provider.
3. Identification Difficulty: The primary practical challenge is the identification and collection of digital assets without the deceased's passwords or private keys.
4. Formal Intellectual Property: Formal intellectual property rights (patents, copyrights, trademarks) are inheritable and must be officially re-registered by the heirs. Copyright generally lasts for the author's life plus 70 years.
5. Unclaimed Property: If no eligible heir exists or comes forward within a certain period, the family court appoints an administrator to manage the estate. After clearing obligations, any remaining assets (including unclaimed funds) are transferred to the national treasury.
6. Bank Accounts: A specific unclaimed property law channels funds from bank accounts dormant for 10 years or more to the Deposit Insurance Corp. of Japan.

Terms of service of each service provider (Outlined in #2 above):

Provider 1:

• Zenaida.cate.ai FAQ has no indication of what happens to unclaimed funds: https://zenaida.cate.ai/faq/
• Zenaida.cate.ai Escrow page is Blank: https://zenaida.cate.ai/escrow/

Provider 2:

NameCheap - Gemini's suggested overview of the terms in correlation to the situation:

Namecheap's terms of service do not have a specific policy for accessing accounts or withdrawing funds for a deceased user; instead, the process relies on the legal procedure of inheritance and estate administration. To access and withdraw monies from a domain sale, the legal heir or executor will need to contact Namecheap support and provide official documentation proving their legal authority to manage the deceased's estate.

Process for Heirs/Executors

• Contact Namecheap Support: The legal representative must open a support ticket or contact Namecheap's legal/billing department via the Namecheap Contact Us page or through their account interface.
• Provide Legal Documentation: To gain access, the legal heir or executor will be required to provide specific documents, which generally include:
  • An official death certificate.
  • A grant of probate or court order/document confirming their status as the legal executor or administrator of the estate.
  • Identification for the executor/heir.
• Fund Withdrawal: Once access is granted to the account, "Marketplace Earnings" from a domain sale are typically available for withdrawal to a PayPal account (minimum $100 requirement) or for use as Namecheap account funds after a waiting period of 5 days. Namecheap's refund policy states they can refund credit card or PayPal purchases to the original source, but moving funds between different Namecheap accounts is not possible.

Key Considerations

• Estate Law Governs: The process is primarily dictated by the laws of inheritance in the deceased's jurisdiction (Tokyo, Japan, in this case), not Namecheap's standard terms which focus on service usage and general refunds. Namecheap will require evidence that the person seeking access is legally entitled to the estate under Japanese law.
• Proactive Planning: Namecheap suggests that account holders nominate a "digital executor" and provide access details (like passwords) through a will supplement to ensure a smoother transition of digital assets.
• Funds are Inheritable: The monies from the domain sale are an asset of the deceased's estate and are thus legally inheritable by the rightful heirs once the proper legal authority is established.

However, I'm not sure who actually sold the domain, so that probably matters:

• Was it sold from the deceased account after being listed by them? (NameCheap holding the funds until claimed) - Japan Law
• Was it brokered through NameCheap by DataHaven.Net / Cate.ai? (Where the broker can withdraw the funds themselves) - Anguilla Law

This whole thing is above my head and I'm not sure I can find a definitive answer. The more I dig, the more confused I get about it all...

Someone who might know way more about this type of stuff would be an IP attorney with digital asset experience. Like, for instance, @jberryhill

Though, he may not need/want the headache of trying to dissect it all...

 

[Yanosh]

Probably the domain simply expired and went for auction at namecheap like any other expired .ai domain.
Unlike other TLDs that are handled by the respective registrar where the domain was registered , .ai domains when expired all go on auction at namecheap no matter the registrar.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Probably the domain simply expired and went for auction at namecheap like any other expired .ai domain.
Unlike other TLDs that are handled by the respective registrar where the domain was registered , .ai domains when expired all go on auction at namecheap no matter the registrar.

Well, that simplifies it a bit.. so the registry gets the funds then minus fees from Namecheap?

 

[Yanosh]

Well, that simplifies it a bit.. so the registry gets the funds then minus fees from Namecheap?

No idea about that , but probably yes

 

[katerleonid]

 

[Xukezu]

"Most of it goes to the government and people of Anguilla."

Let me fix that:

Most of it goes to the government of Anguilla.

Money for the people is such a quaint old fashioned idea.

 

[cooljub]

Most of it goes to the government of Anguilla.

You forgot to say "and their chums".

Money for the people is such a quaint old fashioned idea.

Yes, money from the people is more like it.

 

[Future Sensors]

It's a bizarre thought that the funds are being given to Anguilla residents instead of being used to build additional AI data centers.

 

[cooljub]

It's a bizarre thought that the funds are being given to Anguilla residents instead of being used to build additional AI data centers.

But what about the climate crisis?

Would they really keep building things that use unfathomably huge amounts of energy and natural resources while flying around the world in private jets to attend conferences with fine dining to conclude that pensioners should only heat the room they’re in and switch off 9w lightbulbs that cost pennies per year to run?

Wow, surely not?

 

[Simon SE]

Now listed for nearly $1m

 

[katerleonid]

Now listed for nearly $1m

It’s now listed by James Booth.

 

[NickB]

You've got a domain listed for nearly a million dollars and the landing page has a really cheesy "domain talk" ai voiceover right at the top....

Synergetic for a 2 letter .ai domain I suppose, but still.....makes me cringe....

Your ready to pump nearly a million dollars into a domain, brand, story......do you really need that cheesy ass BS to help you make your decision?....

 

[Future Sensors]

Synergetic for a 2 letter .ai domain I suppose, but still.....makes me cringe....

In slang, BM has several meanings, most commonly "Bad Manners" or "Bad-Mouthing" in gaming for unsportsmanlike behavior, but also "Bowel Movement" (poop) in general conversation, and "Baby Mama" in some social contexts, plus formal terms like Best Man (wedding) or Business Manager (tech). The meaning depends heavily on the context, especially in gaming versus everyday talk.

 

[NickB]

In slang, BM has several meanings, most commonly "Bad Manners" or "Bad-Mouthing" in gaming for unsportsmanlike behavior, but also "Bowel Movement" (poop) in general conversation, and "Baby Mama" in some social contexts, plus formal terms like Best Man (wedding) or Business Manager (tech). The meaning depends heavily on the context, especially in gaming versus everyday talk.

Missed the point.....

It's the actual concept of "domain talk" trying to help promote or sell a premium domain.....

 

[NickB]

Synergy in this case is an ai voiceover promoting a .ai domain

 

[katerleonid]

You've got a domain listed for nearly a million dollars and the landing page has a really cheesy "domain talk" ai voiceover right at the top....

Synergetic for a 2 letter .ai domain I suppose, but still.....makes me cringe....

Your ready to pump nearly a million dollars into a domain, brand, story......do you really need that cheesy ass BS to help you make your decision?....

I would replace that generic AI talk with the actual story behind the domain name, because it’s much more interesting.

It reminded me of hack.ai, they had (or still have) a similar AI-style voice message on the lander, but it doesn’t really say anything new.

On the other hand, most potential sellers probably don’t know that hack.ai was bought by a real hacker, a Romanian guy who was actually arrested for hacking.

Real stories are more compelling than an AI voiceover.

 

[Simon SE]

I have no idea how many of the bells and whistles actually help to sell the names on Atom, or whether the domains sell on their own merits. All I do know is James had a very strong year. Strong enough to be able to bid $55,000 on an auction domain. And that's not a one-off.

 

[Future Sensors]

I would replace that generic AI talk with the actual story behind the domain name, because it’s much more interesting.

Given the circumstances described in your opening post, I would advise against that course of action.

 

[NickB]

I would replace that generic AI talk with the actual story behind the domain name, because it’s much more interesting.

It reminded me of hack.ai, they had (or still have) a similar AI-style voice message on the lander, but it doesn’t really say anything new.

On the other hand, most potential sellers probably don’t know that hack.ai was bought by a real hacker, a Romanian guy who was actually arrested for hacking.

Real stories are more compelling than an AI voiceover.

Again....missing the point.....seriously.....

What is the point of having an ai voice over on a million dollar domain?......

No backstory, no bs...... a premium domain is listed, the potential buyer does not give 2 sh@ts about the story....

They care about their branding, their narrative,, their story.... not some domainer back story or hype that we are discussing

Am I missing something...