YorkReview.com -- York Review

About a month ago, I was trolling the aftermarket for some possible GeoDomains.

I didn't find much there, but I did stumble on YorkReview.com. Now the York Review is the literary magazine of York College of Pennsylvania, where I teach and where I did my undergraduate work. Also, in 1993, I founded the magazine and worked on three issues before turning it over to someone else.

I could scarcely believe my eyes; it was like a jewel had fallen from the sky. Best yet: it was a fire sale domain. Of course, I snagged it first and decided to ask questions letter.

After conferring with the department Chair, I'll be transferring the domain (as a donation) to the English and Humanities Department, probably in the fall. As part of my donation, I'll pay for 10 years of registration along with 10 years for TheYorkReview.com (which I regged about two weeks later, after a DUH moment.

I may do some training sessions (a scary thought) on managing the domains and keeping them safe. I ran two freebie appraisals ($1,700 - $30,000), but will get a professional appraisal for tax purposes, probably Sedo.

Meanwhile, I have done a mock up page on blogger so that the faculty advisor and student staff have an idea of where to start when developing their web presence. I purposely kept it simple so that the students can put their own unique stamp on it.

This is the kind of donation that feels really worthwhile. So often, we throw money at our alma maters and have no idea where the money goes. On the other hand, a domain donation with a donation of training time has the potential to pay off big time down the road; not only will the journal be able to expand its literary offerings but also its web presence, which, in turn, will enhance the college web presence.

In my opinion, this was one of the best acquisitions I have made to date.

;=)

Have a great day!

Ms Domainer

Poets.net to be Launched in Summer 2008

UPDATE!

I have already launched the site, but for now it's in blogger mode.

I have acquired Poets.net, which will be launched as a poetics forum.

Poets.net will offer a big voice for the serious anti-establishment poet and writer.

A construction page has been set up.

The current Post Foetry blog will remain active.

Ms Domainer

Good Advice from SevenMile (Frank Schilling)

On a whim, I decided to visit Frank Schilling's SevenMile blog and discovered this breath taking March 21, 2008, gem:

With 6+ billion would-be “sellers” on our planet and just 10 to 18 million “meaningful” domain names across “all extensions” good enough to do the selling, this might just be the right time to put your feet on your desk and triple your prices - or to not sell at all.

Actually the entire article is worth reading, although it's long and flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

But when a master domainer speaks, maybe one should listen.

I thought Frank had retired from blogging (?)

Ms Domainer

Is it my imagination, but are domainers dumping their inventory?

Ms Domainer

My Response to Rick Schwartz's Blog Going Dark

Rick's blog is going dark; In his post "What's Your Excuse Now?" Rick Schwartz laments the apparent apathy of the average domainer. I posted the following response on his blog (I don't know if my comment will be approved or just dismissed into cyberspace. Update: the post has been approved. Thanks, Rick):

I am a relatively new domainer (since May 2007), and I recognized early that this business was filled with self-serving people and organizations who just took care of #1 and didn't give two hoots about the questionable practices going on. (TM squatting, typo-squatting, hinky aftermarket auctions, to name a few).

As a new domainer, I tried to help other newbies by posting my experiences and the pitfalls I have experienced. For my efforts, I was called a name on my own blog, probably from someone who has forgotten what it's like being a green domainer.

Whenever I posted about practices that concerned me, I got nothing but a code of silence (with a few exceptions).

Now, all of sudden, these selfish people want me to join their organization so that they can save their expensive domains; these are the same people who ignored my questions or blew me off just because I was a silly newbie who dared to question the industry or even ask a silly question.

Well, I'm not buying into it. Those whiners can twist in the wind, for all I care.

Had anyone in a so-called power position paid a little heed to the newbie population, even those of us who dared to question, I think the ICA would have had support from more of us.

More importantly, had efforts been made to clean up this industry BEFORE the Snowe bill became a threat, ICA would have had better support. Last summer, I would have lined up to join an organization that promised to clean up the domaining mess. But now, the ICA comes across as being totally self-serving and concerned only because the status quo is threatened, not because there are some very real ethical gaps industry wide that need to be addressed and solved.

My question, then: why should I (and others like me) help people who were mostly unhelpful as I was learning the industry? Where were ICA members last summer when I posed my "dumb" questions, questions that were serious from a newbie point of view?

Maybe, Rick, this is why most domainers are apathetic toward ICA and the Snowe bill threat.

We know that if the bill is rewritten to be friendlier toward big money domainers, it will again be business as usual: the small domainer forgotten and slimy business practices continued.

Ms Domainer

Publishes.us

I own and maintain a small blog called Publishes.us (with the same domain name). I have owned the blog since late 2005, although I just recently regged the .us domain name. (It was formerly called "The Writer's Blog" with a very convoluted blogspot url--as a domainer, I wanted an "easy" address.)

Mostly, I publish the works of my literature students; occasionally I'll post some other work as well. It's really more of a public service kind of deal, to encourage my students to put some thought into their work. Also, I like offering a publishing opportunity for my students and maybe even encourage some of them to develop their talents. I enjoy doing this, although posting is sporadic, usually a flurry at the end of a semester.

The blog gets a few hits, mostly from the students whose work that appears in the blog. That's okay with me; it was never intended to take the world by storm.

Yesterday, I told my class to check out the blog, just to get a sense how my former students reacted to "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," by T.S. Eliot (yeah, yeah, your old college English teachers are still assigning this puzzling poem).

I said, "The url is PublishesUs.com." It just rolled right off my tongue. I corrected myself, but I was surprised at how easily the dot-com version popped into my head. I'm sure I confused some of my students.

Today, I decided to see if PublishesUs.com was available. It was, so I regged it and redirected the domain to the blog. While I was at it, I regged PublishedUs.com (also redirected).

These are not big deal domains, but for my purposes, they are necessary, for dot-com still seems to rule--at least it did the other day.

So now whenever I trip over my own tongue, PublishesUs.com will take my students to the right place.

Ms Domainer

Poetry Goes Mobile! (But no .mobi)

Percy Dovetonsils (Ernie Kovacs) and his iPhone
________________________________

Poetry has gone mobile! I have just received the following press release from Poets.org

Introducing Poets.org In Your Pocket

March 10, 2008—Today, the Academy of American Poets announced the launch of a mobile poetry archive which provides free and direct access to the entire collection of over 2,500 poems on Poets.org, as well as hundreds of biographies and essays, all in the palm of a hand.

On the web at: poets.org [NOTE: there is no dot.mobi in that url]

No Computers, No Books, No Wires

Designed using Web 2.0 Internet Standards and Apple's Developers Guidelines, the site is optimized for the iPhone, and formatted for effortless access on most mobile devices. Now, for the first time, mobile users have unlimited access to the rich resources of Poets.org, one of the largest poetry destinations on the web, a site which has steadily expanded and evolved since it was first launched over a decade ago.

Pioneering Poetry

"I have always believed that poetry has a necessary place in daily life," said Tree Swenson, executive director of the Academy of American Poets. "As the first arts organization to offer mobile content, the Academy of American Poets affirms its imperative to connect people to poetry by creating free and simple access for everyone. Ezra Pound said, 'Literature is news that stays news,' and now you can find poems while on the go, as easily as you can read the news, find a map, or check the weather report."

Woo or Woe on the Go

Poems can be browsed by author, title, occasion, or form, and searched easily by keyword. Visitors can read a poem, anytime, anywhere—whether to fill a spare moment, woo a darling, toast a friend, find solace, or recite a few immortal lines—verse is now at your fingertips.

Poetry in Your Pocket

This new mobile archive offers unlimited access to Poets.org just in time for National Poetry Month in April, a month long celebration of poetry and its vital place in American culture, which was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. On April 17, mobile users can instantly celebrate the first national Poem In Your Pocket Day by reading poems and sharing them with co-workers, family, friends, and even strangers.

Happy poetry reading!

Ms Domainer

Off-Topic: Supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton

As a Pennsylvania resident, I have decided to support Hillary Clinton.

I am NOT adamantly against Barack Obama, and if he is ultimately selected as the Democratic candidate, I will support him fully and enthusiastically. I like him, but I just feel it's Hillary's time.

To back up my support, I have set up a Hillary Clinton website: PresidentHC.com.

I hope to recruit 100 blog team members (explained on the site). I am not asking for money, nor will there be any advertising on this site. This is purely a grassroots effort. If you are interested, feel free to visit this site. It's still pretty much under construction, but I plan to work on it this weekend (along with updating the war dead for February on my It's JUST War! site).

If you're supporting Obama as the Democratic candidate, that's okay. I respect your right to support whoever you wish. But if you're on the fence, check out the site, and come back often.

From PresidentHC.com:

I am a registered Independent and have been for years.

I have decided to re-register as a Democrat; for me this is a momentous decision because I have prided myself on my lack of party affiliation, my free-wheeling political independence.

However, Pennsylvania may very well decide the Presidential Democratic primary, and, ultimately, the presidency. I would be very upset with myself if Hillary lost a delegate by one vote, so I'm doing something about it now.

If you live in Pennsylvania (or any other closed-election state that hasn't yet held its primary or caucus), please think about the difference you could make by changing your party affiliation.

I have downloaded the proper forms and printed them out; I will be filling them out TODAY.

Best,

Ms Domainer

A Reader Weighs in on the “Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act of 2008”

Whenever someone posts something in the comment section that is thoughtful and well-considered, I like to elevate it to an actual post; that way the message doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

I am still puzzled as to why the domaining community has waited so long to act; the warning signs were certainly there. It seems a bit late to declare war on a bill that is sure to be popular with constituents.

Still, in this articulate and well-written editorial, Darryl has opened an important door to a useful dialogue:

This is my first time posting on your blog although I do frequent your blog from time to time. I was compelled to share my thoughts here because of the obvious passion that you displayed on the Snowe Bill issue.

I think you have said perhaps what a lot of folks are thinking or asking themselves. . . who really are the threatened ones here? Who really has the most to lose? For me, I am still in my honeymoon phase of domaining. Although, I would hate to see this thing end right at the time that I decided to dive in at the deep end of the pool . . . ultimately, what can you do?

Nevertheless, for what it is worth, in my final analysis, I believe that the proposed legislation will not pass as presently written, especially if every domainer under the sun begins to shoot his/her opposition of the Bill to their respective congressmen and women in Washington ASAP.

I don't believe that the Snowe Bill will make it beyond the floors of Congress because it seems to me that in an already rocky and shaky economy, the Snowe Bill if it is ratified by Congress would have an effect so rippling and slippery that it would prove untenable for business, and the gains of trade.

Quite simply, it seems to me that the passage of the Snowe Bill would have the potential to rock the publicly-traded domain companies. The trickle-down effect bourne out of this would then reverberate into the public and financial community in a manner similar to the current mortgage crisis, although perhaps on a smaller scale--but still quite damaging.

Imagine if you will, "EveryDay Joe" who buys shares of Communicate.com, NameMedia, and other publicly-traded domain companies--not only would Domainers lose out, but also other stakeholders (i.e., Banks/financiers, etc) who are heavily invested. The passage of this ill-conceived and self-interested Bill would be almost Enronian in its effect and application, and I for one just don't see those Senators and Representatives ratifying a bill that will send the economy into further descent, and tailspin this time around. The impact would most likely put a lot of folks out of work and further disturb an already shaky economy.

In any case, I, too was also amazed at the costs involved in becoming a member of ICA, and have not joined because of the costs. However, I do plan to join the ICA when I start making some real money off of some domain sales.

Through my nine-month observation of the domain industry, I definitely can see a very developed domain caste system that exists between the "domain-haves" and the "domain-havenots." One can read about it almost everyday when a "have" says that any domain extension other than .Com is garbage. This socially constructed domain stratification, says you are only a player if you were blessed, fortunate or lucky enough to get into the domain game 10+ years ago. Ironically, its almost collusive by nature if one sits back and really observes the domain dynamics at play. And yet, isn't this the American way--free enterprise, etc., etc. We have to remember that this industry is just a microcosm of larger society--same ailments and the same rewards.

Nevertheless, to digress a bit: a few weeks ago, I suggested via email to an ICA Board Member that the organization consider offering membership through domain donation. Essentially, a domainer could join ICA by tendering a domain or domains equivalent to the relevant value of the membership interest.

At that time, I intimated that the cost factor to join the ICA might be more of an impediment to increasing the ICA membership numbers and coffers. I suggested that in lieu of the relevant membership fee, that a prospective member be afforded the opportunity joint ICA by donating a domain or domains equivalent to the level of membership sought by the individual. Subsequently, ICA could then pool the donated domains for auction to help generate the revenue necessary to support ICA membership in defending against institutional and public legal attacks. At the time, I thought this was a reasonable and feasible idea if not acceptable to the ICA Board . . . to date, I haven't heard a peep back about this in the domainersphere although I thought it might be discussed at the most recent ICA meeting.

Nonetheless, at this time, I don't think that Domainers should reinvent the wheel here, but rather I submit that serious domainers should at the very least try to form and present a very real and unified front regarding the Snowe Bill. However, if in fact, the chasm between the established, intermediate and upstart domainers is really too wide a gap to bridge, then perhaps a second organization may need to be formed. At present, I am warm to this idea, but if left with no other viable options, spambait's prior suggestion maybe right.

Finally, if the Snowe Bill did get passed, wouldn't big companies like GoDaddy, Oversee/Moniker, NameMedia, and all other domain stakeholders lose a small fortune because many registrars also hold their own private portfolios? I am definitely not an economist, but I just don't see this Domain Apocalypse happening--at least not on the scale that is being proffered. Is the threat real? Yes, very real, but everyone is dirty in this game from what I can see. Perhaps the "Haves" for resting on their laurels for too long; smaller stakeholders for sitting on their hands too; and the politicians for inadequately protecting the rights of domain registrants in the first place.

Anyway, as I said before--maybe I am just naive regarding these issues.

Dey

P.S. Daryl, if you would like full credit for your post, please let me know, and I will update this post. However, I understand why you might want to remain anonymous.

;=)

By the way, the above domain illustrated above could be available for a "havenot" domaining organization; I had planned to redirect it to my site It's JUST War! , but plans can change.

Best,

Ms. Domainer

Quill Distillery, an Imaginary Business

Back in May 2007, I decided to write a novel in which the main characters have a web presence.

Tentative title: And God Won. Yes, this domain is still on a parking page, but soon I will be setting up a site, which will contain fragments and notes.

Two of the characters have up and running sites, complete with disclaimers: Dr. Jane Q. Godwin and Dracula 911: Vampyre Girl.

I invented people and places that don't exist; I purposely chose names and places that were uncommon because I didn't want any confusion or TM issues; after I discovered a real Jane Godwin (a writer), I added a "Q" to my Dr. Godwin's name (I had already regged JaneGodwin.com, however); I did a careful search of several keywords, doing the exact opposite that domainers typically do: I looked for names that had a low Google presence (I didn't know about Overture back then). I wanted the names to be meaningful, yet not "popular" or used by actual businesses. I figured that if my book took off, it would make the domains popular, not the other way around.

So I selected Quill City as the setting, Quill College as the school where my main character teaches, and Quill Distillery as the business on which Quill College was founded. If these places exist, they were not listed on Google as of May 2007. Had a populous Quill City existed, I now realize that I would have never been able to reg QuillCity.com at the regular price, given the current Geo popularity. Sure, there may be a small town somewhere called "Quill City," but it's probably way off the beaten track. If so, please accept my apologies in advance, and if your leaders get in touch with me, I'll note (in my disclaimer) that your city has no connection with my novel. As for Quill, the place that manufactures pens and other office goods, my little project doesn't even go there.

I wasn't that concerned with having "popular" domain names because my main focus was writing a book, not making money off domain names. Also, one of my characters is a bit "off," so I didn't want to associate a real college or business with her. Fiction writers do walk a narrow path these days, so one has to be careful not to depict real people and real places (unless it's a big city like New York, where it wouldn't matter so much).

The project went on the back burner, and I parked the domains. I'm at the point now where I want to start getting this project off the ground and getting some of those pages up. I really don't like parking much, at least for the kind of domains that I own, but parking does help me keep track of statistics.

Besides, with the new climate in domaining, it will be important to get domains developed and/or sold.

In the past few weeks, I have noticed that overall my Quill stats have been picking up, especially Quill Distillery. Yesterday alone it received 15+ hits, which is puzzling because the term "Quill Distillery" (as of March 2) garners four Google entries, one of them a sponsored link from Quill (the pen people), two of them generated by my sites, and one an eBay site. Of course, once this entry is posted, the Quills will probably generate a few more Google entries.

I can't explain the sudden interest in the Quill Distillery name, unless there IS (or WAS) a Quill Distillery somewhere. If so, I assure the owner that this Quill Distillery is totally fictional--that no alcohol will be distilled using this domain name, at least under my watch. Also, I'd like the PLCB, the ATF, and the FBI, etc. to know this as well and that I have no stills running on my property or elsewhere.

Once the page is up, I will be adding a disclaimer to that effect. But for now, this entry will serve as notice that Quill Distillery is a fictional business.

I'd still like to know why the sudden interest in these domains.

Best,

Ms Domainer

“Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act of 2008” (APCPA): The Uncle Lyle and Aunt Colleen Test

"We may be middle America, but we aren't stupid!"
____________________________________

Yesterday's post was total snark--I admit it, but I don't apologize for it. ICA's motives are pretty transparent and not in a good way, either. And the power mongers should realize that not all domainers are going to follow the party line. I'm just more outspoken about it.

However, today I'm setting a different kind of tone by discussing "The Uncle Lyle and Aunt Colleen Test" as it relates to the “Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act of 2008” (APCPA).

Background

Uncle Lyle and Aunt Colleen are real people; however, they also represent a cross section of American folks who use computers in their everyday lives. They know nothing about domaining, parking, web design, web marketing, etc.; for them, computers are a necessary part of modern life, not something that comes naturally to them. They are grandparents, after all, and sometimes their grandchildren have to help them set up their hardware and download their software.

In other words, for the average user, using a computer is like driving a car; one can still drive a car or surf the net without having to know the inner workings of either.

Uncle Lyle loves playing around on the internet; he checks out various financial sites, and he also sells and buys on eBay; he's fairly savvy and knows how to work a search engine. He never does direct navigation in his searches and actually scoffs at the idea.

"I Google or Yahoo," he says. "I use keywords, and I would never type in a URL."

I believe that Uncle Lyle represents the beginning of the end of direct navigation, especially now that Yahoo has begun applying fuzzy logic to its searches. (Can Google be far behind?). Another post for another time.

Lyle also loves emailing the family--in fact, he is the glue that keeps the scattered branches together, although he is sometimes guilty of forwarding "cute" spam. Nothing dangerous, though. Had Uncle Lyle been born 40 years later, he might even be a domainer or involved in some kind of web development field. He has that kind of impulsive and curious personality, which can be both good and bad.

On the other hand, Aunt Colleen came to the Computer Age, kicking and screaming; she wanted nothing to do with the new technology. However, Aunt Colleen is a real estate agent (darn good at it, too), and if she wanted to retain her edge, she would need to learn and embrace technology, so she has learned just what she needs to know to conduct business. Even so, Uncle Lyle sometimes has to help her through minor glitches. But when she's not working, she's not on the computer. For her, the computer = business, not pleasure.

“Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act of 2008” (APCPA)

Both Uncle Lyle and Aunt Colleen will have a vested interest in seeing this bill passed. Every time they boot up and check their emails, they have to wade through a bunch of spam, much of it smutty and embarrassing. Moreover, they keep getting urgent messages from phishers pretending to be their bank, credit union, etc., thus wasting precious minutes trying to figure what is legit or not.

If a message does look legit, and they link onto the site, they may not see that the URL is a typo of an actual TM business and might inadvertently give out their password to a scammer. These phishers are getting more sophisticated, and actual businesses do email their customers and do provide links for their customers, which, of course, muddies the waters.

I don't know if Uncle Lyle has ever fallen for the El Gordo Lotto type of scheme, but judging from the number of Lotto scam emails I receive, I suspect that plenty of people still fall for this old con game.

Anyone who has lost a lot of money because of an internet scam would praise the “Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act of 2008,” busily writing to his or her legislators to pass the bill ASAP. People are just suffering from information overload and want it to stop; this bill seems to offer that possibility.

Here's another thing: Uncle Lyle hates parking pages. Landing on one p*sses him off. At first, he thought they were just an extension of Google or Yahoo!, but he soon discovered that some of the links in these pages led him to some pretty pushy sales sites, complete with pop-ups and pop-unders. When Lyle does a search, he is looking for (1) a company that he knows and trusts or (2) actual content from a reliable source. He is NOT looking for a parking page.

Uncle Lyle still equates domaining with cybersquatting, even after I tried explaining the difference. He gives me a "pass" because he knows and loves me, but I suspect he wonders if I, too, will end up on the dark side. Like it or not, this is the perception.

Uncle Lyle and Aunt Colleen are not even going going to be aware of "the establishment of a parallel domain name infringement enforcement scheme that is more expansive and more onerous than the existing, highly effective remedies available to trademark owners through ICANN’s UDRP process and U.S. trademark law" (ICA page) being slipped into the language of the bill. Even if they did know, their attitude might be, "So what?"

They won't care if you lose your million-dollar domains. Furthermore, they won't care if the value of your domains drops dramatically.

You want to know why? You never gave the Uncle Lyles and Aunt Colleens of the world a reason to care; you have spent the last 15-20 years working and lurking in the shadows. You have ignored obvious problems: the cybersquatters, the phishers, the scammers. Your auction houses continued to auction off TM typo domains, and ICANN has turned a blind eye to the way the domain deletion process has morphed into a cash cow for aftermarket sellers.

You have built your business model on pure greed, ethics be damned.

But now, when your cushy position has been threatened, you have decided to act for the greater good.

Really?

And you really expect support from the average computer user, who, by the way, includes your legislators?

What's more, YOU, yes, YOU have opened a notch for Big Business to sneak in through the legislative back door, and, so they have. They will probably succeed.

I doubt very much if middle America is going to buy into your plight.

Even a few months ago, you might have garnered some outside support for the goals of ICA, before the takeover threat was a reality to your own pricey cyber properties.

But now, ICA just looks like another huge lobbying group, looking out for its own special interests, not for the greater good of the internet.

Uncle Lyle and Aunt Colleen will be able to see through that.

And Big Business will win because the bill, as it stands, will have the support it needs, from both Big Business, who is richer and greedier than domainers, and from middle America who just wants the spam and scams to stop.

To whom do you think your legislators will listen?

Kumbaya.

Edmund Burke and the Triumph of Evil

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

--Edmund Burke

__________________________________________

A lot of good "men" did nothing while, spammers, scammers, and scrammers ran rampant through the internet.

"It's not MY problem," said the rich domainer raking in a thousand-plus a day. And he turned away and went back to his self interests, leaving the small domainer to struggle on his or her own.

God "men" did nothing as companies continued to auction off obvious TM and typo domains to spammers, scammers, and scrammers.

"It's perfectly legal, and you can't nail us," they said as they carried their bags of money to the bank. "We are untouchable."

And so they continued selling thousands of questionable domains, claiming that it would be "impossible" to develop the software to weed out the baddies and contact Apple when Apple look-alike domains come onto the auction block.

Yet these same naysayers know exactly when to grab expiring premium generic domains to be held hostage for the biggest buck.

Funny about that.

And now you want me and other small domainers to fork over a bunch of money to join ICA? To protect YOUR self-interests?

Really?

I think not.

The government and major companies won't be interested in my piddling domains; my domains are small potatoes--REALLY small potatoes. The most I ever paid for a domain is $205.00, and I have actually developed that one. It's not a dot-com, either.

The few TM infringement domains (bought when I was still a new domainer) I'll gladly hand over--consider it my tuition for the school of hard knocks.

Besides, I just don't give a flying f*ck anymore.

Go ahead. Organize. But I think you're too late. The congressional hounds have already been released, and the special interests of major companies are stronger than yours. MUCH stronger. And richer, too.

You had your chance to make a difference and still get rich. Instead of watching out for the general good of the internet, you were busy grabbing more and more for yourself. ICANN has turned a blind eye to your nefarious activities, because, guess what? YOU are ICANN.

The general public (including your legislators) doesn't give a flying f*ck either; just ask your average representative what he or she knows about domaining, and I'll bet you'll get a blank stare.

But, boy, those special interest groups know the drill and have the money to back it up. And now they will be able to grab your million-dollar domains willy-nilly, and the general public won't give a flying f*ck either.

Have a nice day.

Ms Domainer

Class Action Suit Against Network Solutions and ICANN

Let the games begin:

Net Work World reports that Kabateck Brown Kellner, a Los Angeles firm, has filed a class action suit against Network Solutions and ICANN regarding the registrar's front-running practices.

"Imagine if you asked a car dealer if they had a black convertible and were then forced to buy the car from them. Would you get a good deal?" said Brian Kabateck, lead counsel in the class action and Kabateck Brown Kellner's Managing Partner. "Each time someone asks Network Solutions about a domain name, the firm creates a monopoly for itself, forcing consumers to pay the price they demand."

Read the read of the story here here.

Best,

Ms Domainer

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

UPDATE! (2-15-2008)

I emailed Snapnames directly from a URL that was on my Snapname account to ask about this email. The suspect email I posted on 2/14 was legit. I received the following email from Snapnames:

Dear Jennifer,

Thank you for contacting Manage.SnapNames.com!

The email was sent to you by SnapNames.com, which is a separate company. I did, however, verify that they did send the email and that it is legit.

I have also forwarded a copy of your email to their marketing department so that they can be aware of your concerns.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.


Sincerely,


Dorothy Placencio
Manage.SnapNames.com Support
Manage@SnapNames.com

Again, thanks to Snapnames for clarifying this so that I could set the record straight here; I don't want to cast a dark cloud on a company doing a legitimate marketing campaign for a client.

Best,

Ms Domainer

BEWARE!

I have just received the following email from what I suspect takes a user to a scam site! Some of the links look real, but the link to make changes is not:

Your SnapNames Account Email Preferences

Dear SnapNames Client [Snapnames would know my name] :

As we continue to grow our services and provide important business tools for you, we continue to expand choices for email notifications.

We respect your privacy and understand that your time is valuable. Therefore, to ensure you receive only email notifications that interest you, please review the available email subscription lists below.

If you choose to be added or removed from a list, please modify your preferences from the email subscription center.

[This takes you to a strange URL, not at all related to Snapnames or Oversee.net. The domain URL is d.exct.net/--To protect readers of this blog, I have deleted the very lengthy subdirectory. exct.net is a marketing firm; the site shows as being "clear," but evidently someone is spamming and scamming from the site.]

Live and Silent Auction Alerts and Announcements.

The two pioneering leaders in domain name auctions, SnapNames and Moniker, have recently joined forces as subsidiaries of Oversee.net. As a result, you now have an unprecedented inside track in the buying and selling of premium domain names.

SnapNames Product and Service Announcements.

SnapNames is the largest daily resale marketplace for domain names, closing over 10,000 auctions a month at price points for all budgets. Search SnapNames inventory daily to find investment to business quality domains.

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Jennifur.com: A Woman with a Past

Poor Jennifur.

She's been bounced around cyberspace, used, and spit out.

She has touted porn, has hung out at construction sites, and, throughout 2007, passed around, from owner to owner.

It seems as though her various caretakers didn't know what to do with her. Unlike her high-performing sister Jennifer, she just couldn't cut it and so was routinely tossed out like yesterday's garbage.

She must have disappointed her owners greatly. Big expectations, major bombshell.

Perhaps as the centerpiece of a cyber story, she will find rehab and, ultimately, her niche in cyberspace.

I did a little snooping on the wayback machine and discovered the following history:

2001

3/31--"Big Boob" porn page

4/5--No record (syntax error)

5/19--Go Daddy Construction

7/23--Go Daddy Construction

12/5--Go Daddy Construction

2002

1/21--Go Daddy Construction

5/30--Go Daddy Construction

8/2--Go Daddy Construction

2003

8/31--Go Daddy Construction

9/25--Go Daddy Construction

9/29--Go Daddy Construction

21/1--Go Daddy Construction

12/4--Go Daddy Construction

12/19--Go Daddy Construction

12/21--Go Daddy Construction

2004

2/7--Go Daddy Construction

4/2--Go Daddy Construction

4/10--Go Daddy Construction

5/19--Go Daddy Construction

6/5--Go Daddy Construction

7/30--Go Daddy Construction

8/31--Go Daddy Construction

9/20--Go Daddy Construction

11/28--Go Daddy Construction

2005

2/13--Go Daddy Construction

10/25--Go Daddy Construction

2006

No records

2007: Domain Tasting (Kiting?)

Jennifur.com was dropped several times during 2007:

4/11

5/17

5/28

6/7

7/15

8/4

9/1

9/19

12/26

2008

Registered on 2/9

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that a few months ago I attempted to register this domain; I did do a search on several Jennifer typos and variations.

This spotty history suggests that Jennifur.com is NOT a direct navigation domain. As I pointed out in my last post, the difference between that "e" and "u" is astronomical.

Had all those domain tasters checked the Google and Overture numbers, they could have saved themselves some time; it takes longer to register a domain than it does to run some quick numbers.

Also, I have discovered that it takes more than five days before traffic starts trickling in, sometimes weeks and months. I'm not sure if that's just a reporting algorithm, or if it just takes that long for traffic to build, even on a parking page.

Google's new policy of not indexing newly registered pages until after the domain tasting period ends makes a lot of sense. I have noticed that Jennifur.com does not yet appear in the search engines.

I do hope that ICANN eliminates domain tasting as we currently know it; it's just highly abused and keeps promising domains, as they bounce around from taster to taster, off the market.

Ms Domainer