Apple acquires iCloud.net domain from little-known Asian social network for undisclosed sum

Apple just bought the iCloud.net domain from a little known Asian social network for an undisclosed sum. The social network in question has since been shut down. Users can still log into the service and delete their accounts, however. All data will be destroyed on 1 March.

Apple has been purchasing domains with the iCloud name in them for years. As TechCrunch points out, Apple acquired iCloud.com from Xcerion in 2011 for around $5.2 million. iCloud.co.uk also appears to be the last iCloud holdout, a domain that Apple is yet to acquire.

We’ve never used iCloud.net ourselves, but TechCrunch describes it as a “cross between a pared-down blogging platform and a pared-down Facebook.” The number of active users or registered users on the platform is unknown.

To those of you who do operate an account on iCloud.net, the previous owners issued the following statement:

Hi all users of iCloud.net:

You may find an announcement showing on the homepage of iCloud.net, yes, we decide to close iCloud.net and stop all its services.

We offer social service since 2011, but now, iCloud.net finished his mission, it is time for him to retire.

So, you have a chance to delete your account if you have registered an account on iCloud.net.

Finally we have two suggestions：

Do not send any email to **@icloud.net.

Do not use **@icloud.net as your email address.

All the data will be destroyed at March 1, 2017.

iCloud.net Tong Lei Feb 14, 2017

The owner doesn’t say what will happen to the social network, but he does mention that he’ll be starting up a new site that will provide online coupon codes to Chinese users. He also operates a number of other sites, including a Bitcoin site and a search engine.