eBay made the decision late Tuesday after it could not reach the bidder and following an examination of the bidder's history. The bid was placed last weekend, although it took officials several days to determine whether the bid was legitimate.

The company also said the second and third-place bids have also been rejected. Of those, one was ruled a hoax and the other was withdrawn. The next highest offer, which eBay currently believes is valid, was for $2.1 million.

The online auctioneer has not released any bidder's identity.

The domain is currently hosting a Web site containing detailed information on the millennium bug. Canadian computer consultants Peter de Jager and Cliff Kurtzman put the domain name up for sale after deciding it could be put to better use once the new year passed.

So far the record price for a domain is $7.5 million, established after eCompanies, a new venture headed by EarthLink Network Inc. (ELNK) founder Sky Dayton and former Disney (DIS) Internet executive Jake Winebaum, bought business.com.