Internet Address Sells For $150,000

A new high price for a high-profile Internet address was set last week when an address - business.com - was sold for $150,000 to an undisclosed company in Texas.

According to Idnames.com, a Houston company that specializes in Internet intellectual-property rights, the price is the highest ever paid for such an address, the online equivalent of a Madison Avenue address for a retail shop.

The Internet address - also called a domain name - was sold by Business Systems International of London, which had used the address for a Web site for its banking software business. Business Systems paid nothing for the address four years ago.

Idnames.com negotiated the purchase for the buyer, which does not plan to use the address until its site opens in an estimated four months.

It’s uncertain what the previous high for a name was, but Internet addresses generally fetch far lower sums.