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

Alvaro Albarracin, Cults, and Questionable Aftermarket Activities

I'm moving an anonymous comment to a post; this is fascinating stuff, to say the least, about Alvaro Albarracin, the buyer of music.mobi and other domains:

You need to read more into the story of these .mobi purchases. The person who bought them "Alvaro Albarracin" is an interesting person to say the least. Albarracin was named Creciendo en Gracia's Entrepreneur of Entrepreneurs. Creciendo en Gracia's is the cult that believes in the 666 $$$ De Jesus guy who believes he is the second coming. Here is a quote from the site:

"With more than 100,000 members and hundreds of congregations worldwide, the church’s message comes from De Jesus, who claims to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. And many people, including Albarracin, agree."

I just hope that these .mobi names will not be a an open promotion for this cult and it's beliefs.

Here are some referring links.

http://666noticias.com/en/estados-unidos/the-believer-former-dialtone-internet-ceo-alvaro-albarracin-www.thewhi.html

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2006-02-09/news/jesus-redux/3

http://www.rickross.com/reference/creciendo/creciendo3.html

Cults have a long tradition in the U.S.; those of us who have lived long enough remember the heyday of cults: Hare Krishna and the Moonies immediately come to mind.

Our First Amendment and Separation of Church and State (U.S.) allow these groups to flourish--as long as they pay their taxes and don't break any laws.

I worry more about the possibility of rampant shill bidding in the domain aftermarket and other questionable business practices, such as insider trading and sharp auction practices.

If anything, there seems to be a "cult" of silence surrounding the entire domain name aftermarket.

All you "Ethical Domainers" out there: why aren't you calling for an investigation of aftermarket sales? Will it only happen when YOU have been ripped off? And, then, will all your buddies turn away from you because no one wants to rock the boat?

Certainly, the recent Sedo auction involving music.mobi (and other .mobis) has raised some real concerns about the way domains are acquired and then auctioned.

I will tell you this: for the near future, I will not be buying domains in the auction aftermarket, not until I'm reasonably certain that I'm participating in an honest and legal process.

One can talk about TOS forever, but the bottom line: if a business TOS contains illegal acts, they are not binding, no matter how "airtight" the rules.

Perhaps it's time that ICANN "spank" the bad boy auction sites before the legal system kicks in and slaps 'em with huge fines and maybe even prison time for the CEO's. Think it can't happen? It takes just one brave whistle blower to bring down a Goliath.

It may already be too late for Sedo.

As for Alvaro Albarracin: it looks as though you were royally ripped off. If you're smart, you'll unload those domains ASAP.

Oh, wait. Don't you have to wait 60 days before transferring those domains?

Or does that rule just apply to small-time domainers like me?

Ms Domainer

LadyDomainer.com -- Lady Domainer

When I snagged MsDomainer.com (the name redirects to this blog), I was absolutely ecstatic because the domain name fits the identity I wish to project as a domainer: a bit of a feminist in a field where feminism is sorely lacking.

Call me silly, but blondes and body paint are not exactly my style. Even my 37-year-old son is past that drooling after female flesh stage (as opposed to being in love with a special someone and wanting to be with her)--at least I hope so.

I am hoping that as this field and CEOs mature and more women enter it, the sexist connotations and the objectifying of women will disappear, at least on some of the corporate websites that depict women as playthings. It makes this field look bad and may drive away some very smart women who don't want to be associated with such nonsense.

I am a bit too old to be deterred by such things, because I know that this Juvenilia shall soon pass, but I do want to make it known that both men and women are put off by a corporate model that demeans women, especially young women.

But this doesn't mean that one cannot be playful and assume whimsical identities, which is exactly what I did when I registered LadyDomainer.com (also directed to this blog). I see Lady Domainer as being an 18th century "lady," very feminine and comely, an aspect of my real personality that I don't show too much, but definitely no one's object. She's a cool Lady Domainer, and...

She's not for sale.

I have another purpose in registering this domain: I'm considering setting up a forum for, well, lady domainers. It won't be in the near future--I have way too much on my plate right now, and, besides, it's a little like the blind leading the blind. I need to get my own knowledge up to speed. I know that you female domainers are out there; I have seen your posts in various places. If any of you are interested, please email me or add a comment to this thread.

I have also registered LadyDomains.com, LadyDomainers.com, LadysDomain.com, and LadysDomains.com, all pointing to this blog (I couldn't get LadyDomain.com, so if you own it, don't bother getting in touch with me; I don't want it that much. My "gold nugget" is LadyDomainer.com--the others are just gravy).

None of these domains are "hot" terms, at least in a generic sense, but a time will soon come when they will create their own reputation, at least that's my hope.

Surprisingly, however, LadyDomainer.com has already become a bit organic, displayed on Google's search engine as its own website, which is surprising for a redirect; it's difficult to know what Google deems worthy of being crawled.

On another topic: like most domainers, I believe in capitalism and making money for my efforts, but I also want to conduct myself in an ethical manner--not always easy in this field. It's so easy to be drawn to the dark side of domaining.

Last summer, as I was getting started in this biz, I made some decisions re: registering domains that were a bit TM iffy, some out of ignorance and some via rationalization. I plan to address this issue in a future post.

For now, my best to all who have read this far.

Ms Domainer