Reprinted from San Jose Mercury News, Wednesday, March 10, 1999:

7-year-old wins big in Net's name game

By Chris Nolan
Mercury News Staff Writer

How much is a domain name worth?

Well, if the name is Eve, it's worth a little cash, a new computer and a trip to Disneyland. That's not all. There's free software, equity in the company that's buying your domain, and the right to keep your special e-mail address for 25 years.

That's the deal Eve Rogers and her mom, Gilinda, were able to negotiate with the soon-to-debut e-commerce site Eve.com. Eve.com, which has recently received funding from Charter Venture Capital and others, wants to sell make-up and other kinds of cosmetics and beauty products online.

Gilinda Rogers -- it's not surprising to learn she's a Web developer, is it? -- registered the names of her two daughters, Eve, 7, and Gwen, 8, about a year ago, she said. Both girls have been getting e-mail at their addresses and were able to offer e-mail service for their friends, too. Eve uses Eve@eve.com. Her sister, Gwen, whose name doesn't quite have the same commercial appeal, now hosts the other kids' mailboxes and a special Web site for classmates and friends at the girls' Williamsburg, Va., school.

Eve Rogers wasn't eager to part with her domain. After all, she is Eve. Her Mom was on alert, too.

``She had turned down several suitors because she was worried,'' said Eve.com CEO Mariam Naficy.

``I was very concerned about what the uses were going to be,'' said Gilinda Rogers. ``You don't want your daughter in Playboy.''

Naficy declined to say how much cash or equity the Rogers got, except to say the cash paid was ``a pretty fair rate'' for domain name sales. That puts it in the high four figures.

Eve seems happy with the deal. ``I liked it a lot,'' she said of her trip to Disneyland, where her favorite part was going on the Alice-in-Wonderland ride. The sale, however, has raised a few questions at the Rogers household.

``Eve has asked about wearing make-up,'' Mom reports. ``That's a couple of years away.''

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