"A good year for us was a 5% return, " said Scott Ross, who co-founded Digital Domain in 1993 after serving as general manager of ILM.

WSJ: Red Ink Spills Across Visual Effects Industry

Donuts was co-founded by Paul Stahura, who sold his previous domain-registry firm eNom to Demand and served as its chief executive until 2009.

FORBES: Cybersquatters Get Rich New Territories With Generic Domains

In this case, Spamhaus's Domain Name System (DNS) servers were targeted - the infrastructure that joins domain names, such as bbc.co.uk, the website's numerical internet protocol address.

BBC: Global internet slows after 'biggest attack in history'

"It could make good business sense for both parties, " said John Styll, co-owner of Far Further LLC in Nashville, which is one of eight applicants vying for the domain name .music.

WSJ: Wheeling and Dealing for Domain Names

Protection of intellectual property and taxation are traditionally the domain of governments and given the global nature of the Internet, governments must develop a co-ordinated approach to prevent a patchwork of potentially inconsistent rules.

ECONOMIST: Letters | The