Supporting Cybersquatters
We domainers like to distance ourselves from cybersquatters, however how on Earth would anyone see us in a different light when most of the big players in our industry are profiting from cybersquatting in one way or another?
I was just browsing Sedo this morning and see that ToyotaHybrid.com is at $20,000. Over on NameJet, chuckiecheeses.com (Chuck E Cheese’s) is proudly displayed on their homepage as a pre-release domain, with bidding already at $325 and pre-release backorder bids still being taken until July 4th. Nothing on the SnapNames homepage strikes me as TM-infringing, however I didn’t need to look far through their pre-release lists to find plenty of them. GoDaddy currently has Michael-Phelps.com and PresedentHillaryClinton.com listed on their GoDaddy Auctions homepage, I see Pool has JamieFoxx.net listed on their homepage, and DomainTools has a typo generator which has no doubt helped countless domainers in their cybersquatting efforts…
These are supposed to be leaders in our industry? Be sure to send them a thank you note for all they’ve done for the industry when the URS gets passed…
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July 4th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Afternic has taken steps to ensure trademark domains are not offered in its marketplace (not sure how effective but at least they have made an effort). But I’ll agree that the practice of allowing trademark-infringing names to be sold in a marketplace and washing their hands by saying, “this is the responsability of the buyer” certainly does nothing to enhance the image of the industry or the goodwill of buyers. Some domains aren’t so obvious and yet if you buy one without realizing it (at least at Namejet), you are out of luck - no refund. Your problem. How’s that for customer service?
July 4th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Great post.
July 4th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Although I agree with most of your points, especially the one about how obvious TM infringement is prevalent on just about every site that auctions/sells domains, I have to disagree with the DomainTools typo-generator being in this argument.
I don’t think that any DomainTools apps shed negative light on our industry. The typo-generator is very useful in protecting your brand when used properly as a tool for this purpose. Just wait until the .CM registry opens up.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Leonard,
Thank you for taking the time to let us all know about Afternic’s stance on trademark-infringing domains. Obviously no marketplace can catch every questionable domain and there’s often disagreement between domainers about whether a domain infringes on a trademark, however it’s nice to know there are big players in this industry doing what they can to discourage cybersquatting.
Donny from Parked.com also made it pretty clear on Namepros that trademark-infringing domains weren’t welcome there.
————
Bryan,
I completely agree with you about .CM — it’s going to be a complete disaster. The typo-generator has no doubt helped many brands, however it does unfortunately provide a useful tool for typosuatters as well. I certainly wouldn’t put DomainTools in the same league as say, NameJet, seeing as they’re not profiting from the tool, which would suggest it was set up with good intentions and it’s unfortunate some domainers would abuse something like that.
Some domainers honestly seem to have the mental capacity of a 5 year old — they think of what will make them money today without thinking of the consequences of their actions tomorrow.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
See, these fuckers don’t care. They get their money. Buyers have their dreams on monetizing TM names. Owners will then get their names.
All happy.
July 4th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I think every time we see a cybersquatter that we should now start informing the trademark holders. If we did this enough this behavior would diminish very significantly.
Truthfully, they are destroying our reputation and income.
July 4th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Johnny,
I completely agree with you and plan on doing just that with .CM registrations. Reporting them to trademark holders so they can take legal action is in my opinion the only way this behavior will decrease.
July 5th, 2009 at 6:18 am
@ Johnny…. Yeah, I’m with you and Reece… f*ck that “don’t snitch” chicken bitch slogan from the “ganstas”. I say snitch when it screws up our industry image. These infringers aren’t in our group. Tell the companies to go wail on the obvious TMers… help point out the idiots who are too weak to make domaining real, like, with hard work and effort and investment.
The only problem is where do we draw the line? When does a generic domain cross into TM territory? So we have to be careful in this area, but my heart is where this article is… I wrote an article on my blog about GoDaddy’s lame aftermarket site (that proves they have no idea how to sell domain values where they weakly settled for “THE DOMAIN NAME AFTER MARKET” -TDNAM.com), but that’s not the point, I digress. The point was, I found plenty of Microsoft TM infringing domains on TDNAM by just doing a simple search on their auctions. I was blown away, I blogged about it, nothing changed. I should have logged the domains to see what happened to them…
The sick part of this is once they sell the domain, the companies whose TM’s have been infringed on don’t usually come back to the seller, they go after the current owner. That means, these big domain companies sell TM domain, collect their profits, and without a warning, or a care, let the idiots who buy the TM domains to suffer the loss, legal fees, problems. Additionally, they hurt the domain industry’s image.
That brings up another point: Do you ever get the feeling that some of the domainer old schoolers don’t give a crap about the “domain industry” image, because they’ve nabbed enough killer premiums to take them out of the so-called domain industry? A few million dollars in sales, and who cares about the rest of the domainers and their “image”? I can name 10 domainers who have sold (or could sell) five of their top domains, and walk away from domaining, in comfort, with a lifetime of financial security. Do they really care about the domain industry? Really? I’m not saying they don’t, I’m just asking, logically, would they? And if they did, what are they doing about it? Which millionaire domainer or top domaining company is doing the most for the progression of this industry as a legitimate marketing investment source? Anyone care to submit a name? Nominate someone?
So, a question for all domainers: Why do we leave our future in the hands of power domainers who’ve already made millions, and are still making millions each year on their domains, TM’s, Typos, and all? Do they really care about the “industry”? Maybe it’s not an “industry” to them, it’s just a happy little fairy kiss on their forehead when they go to bed at night, with the fairy note saying “forget about leaving a tooth under your pillow, you have enough domains that will keep your grandchildren in mansions and fast cars for their whole lives”.
Is there really a domain industry? If there is, it’s going to be formed by the “middle class” and “novice” domainers who have everything to lose and everything to gain by having rules to follow, an image to form that sells to the business sector, educating them of the reliable, dependable and believable MARKETING ASSETS of domains.
Sorry for the digress again…
All domainers who aren’t yet looking at seven figure financial statements on their quarterly assets need to understand we have a responsibility and a goal to represent ourselves as a viable marketing investment industry for ALL BUSINESSES ONLINE.
thx Reece
Stephen Douglas
http://www.SuccessClick.com
Successful Domain Management™
July 5th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I like the question of is it really an industry Stephen, a lot of times I think its not, and I have never believed in the theme we are all on the same side. I know so many people in Domaining that hate not dislike HATE other people in domaining that its naive to think everyone on the same side. First off IMO there needs to be more transparency everywhere, secondly everyone needs to stop allowing TM sales,parking etc… Thirdly it needs more involvement of the middle class like you say. I posted a thread about the ICA on Namepros and the majority had no interest with most voting they would never support the ICA. You have some excellent bloggers say support the ICA its only $295 but a lot of people are not going to pay that, and the ICA needs numbers too, so I said make another level at $20 or $50, “OH no but you can send them money but you will not be a member” Really ? to that I say FUCK YOU, and really what these people miss out on is that someone smaller knows the big members are still going to pay they need the ICA they are the ones with big money at stake. The small domain owner who owns no TM’s or even close with 300 domains mostly short LLLL and some longtail 3 word .com has no worry and if they lost one of these semi mediocre domains it would mean nothing. So maybe someone should understand give everyone a voice and maybe they would support you. Again IMO
July 5th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Ray,
I also think it makes sense to have a cheaper ICA membership for new domainers, part-time domainers, or even everyone who’s been affected by the recession. Any money raised by doing this is more money than they’d otherwise have, so long as it doesn’t encourage exisiting members who aren’t in the best financial shape to downgrade their memberships.
There are plenty of people who enjoy domaining as a hobby rather than a job. I’m sure many of them would be willing to pay $20/year, however $295 per year will be a hard sell to someone like this.
Stephen,
As always — very well said. We all need to think about what we stand to lose and take appropriate action. Expecting top domainers to do this for everyone is in my opinion naive and unlikely to happen.