The bidding for the web domain name year2000.com has closed at $10m.

But the sellers of the domain name fear the bid may be a practical joke.

Internet auctioneer eBay received 13 bids for the name by close of business on 1 January. It usually takes three business days to check whether a bid is legitimate.

If the bid is real, it topples the record $7.5m paid for the domain name Business.com in November. The cost of domain names has soared as more and companies seek a place on the internet.

Joint owners of the year2000.com domain name are Canadian computer consultant Peter de Jager, one of the first to sound the alarm over the millennium bug, and internet marketing company Tenagra Corporation.

The two partners created year2000.com in 1995 to build awareness about the millennium bug problem.

Now that the millennium has passed without incident, they want to sell the name.

"I hope we can find it a good home," Mr de Jager said in a statement

But he is sceptical about the $10m bid.

"I don't even believe it is real. I have too many people hating me, who want to see me with egg on my face," said Mr de Jager, who received hate mail when he first warned of the millennium bug problem.

What's in a name?

The new owner will get the domain name and address. The content will be transferred to another web address if the sale is completed.

Some say that the price is excessive, considering that after this year, the domain name will be of little interest.

One of the selling points is the fact that it has about 25,000 links pointing to it. This guarantees the new owner a lot of traffic.

The minimum bid requirement of $1m was based on previous offers for the domain name.

If the offer proves to be legitimate, $1m will go to charity, while the rest will be split between Mr de Jager and Tenagra.