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

Sedo Silence is Deafening...

Hmmmm,

The domaining community has been somewhat mum about the music.mobi fiasco.

I suppose both sides of this dispute are busy lawyering up.

Or are back room deals going on?

I'd love to see this issue be exposed to the light of day and not shoved under the rug. No matter what, a day of reckoning WILL come.

Ms Domainer

Is the Domain Aftermarket Corrupt? (Part 2)

The following is too compelling to remain buried the comment section. From Anonymous:

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I have one for you. I recently set a domain for backorder over at SnapNames, went and purchased the matching .net and .org just in case I did manage to grab it up (to complete my magical three for copyright [TM?]).

[Now, keep in mind, I set my email to NOT display in whois for any domains I purchase.]

A week later I receive an email from WebNameSolutions offering me said domain for 199 bucks (Try to follow me here, lol).

So, I look up there domain via whois to find out who owns WebNameSolutions and find out it's NS is on PCGLOBE.CA (a so called canadian company [I make note of phone #]).
I then go to Whois to look up PCGLOBE.CA and find out their phone #number is one digit off.
I call them.. hehe.

[Ms Domainer questions: Doesn't providing an incorrect phone number violate ICANN rules? Also, whatever happened to that rule about a registrar not being involved in registering deleting domains and selling them for extortionist prices?]

"Hey, I yada yada a domain over at SnapNames, do you also own that company besides WebNameSolution?"

He responds with, "Oh, no, but we do business with them."

Me: "How did you get my email address, and how did you know I am actually interested in this domain?"

Him: "Oh, well, uh.. I guess we did a whois?"

(Keep in mind, I don't release my email with my domains.)

So, I offer a lower amount, and he says price is firm. Fine, this is already wicked fishy so I decline and decide to do some more research.

(Stay with me here, lol.)

I'm really curious here and decide to look up PENDINGRENEWALDELETION.COM and find out this is registered by DomainDiscover (which is who I register my domains with??!) I then do a whois on the two domains I have already registered and see my email address has been released in the WHOIS!! I go back to my account and see that my settings are set to NOT release email address!

[Update: PENDINGRENEWALDELETION.com is registered and used by Network Solutions and not by DomainDiscover. Thank you, Frank, for the clarification.]

1) How can they sell me a domain they don't own?

2) How did they find out I'm interested in it at all?

3) Why is the company that holds the other two domains releasing my email address when I've requested they not?


I can't believe ICANN hasn't picked up on all this "insider trading" of information?

Racketeering at its finest!!

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I have been domaining since May 2007, I have observed a lot of ICANN "head turning" at questionable practices.

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I wonder: Is it even possible to be an ethical domainer?

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