General Domain Information

As much as I enjoy working within the domain industry, there are still plenty of things that annoy me on a daily basis. I want to share my top ten list of things in the domain industry that I find annoying.

There are probably plenty of others that I missed, so feel free to post a comment with some of the things that annoy you. These are in random order.

1. Scammy emails from companies offering “brand protection” if I just buy my keyword domain name in 10 ccTLDs at their registrar I’ve never heard about.

2. Domain appraisal scam emails that feign interest in a domain name I own, but are really trying to get me to buy a worthless appraisal from them for my domain name.

3. Mass inquiry emails sent to all domain owners who own a certain type of domain name (like LLL.com or geodomain names). I’ve never seen a remotely fair offer come from one of these (no, 3 letter .com names haven’t sold for $1,000 for many years).

4.Renewal letters sent to me in the mail trying to get me to agree to transfer my names for ridiculously high prices.

5. Non-buyer replies to a domain sales thread on a forum that triggers an email to me.

6. Seeing Domaining.com filled with the same news story written by five people. Sometimes it can’t be avoided when bloggers get the same exciting press release at the same time.

7. Getting information about an “exclusive” story, only to see it on four other blogs within an hour.

8. Non-paying bidders and offers that fall through while the aftermarket venue can’t or doesn’t help.

9.  People who post comments on blogs and on forums whose views of the domain industry are bearish. I don’t understand why someone would spend hours a week on a business they think is dying or dead. There are plenty of people who only work in this space and live extravagantly.

10. Reading forum posts or blog articles that are interesting, but commenters feel the need to take the discussion way off track.

I received a Google Alert about an article in a publication called Mother Jones, and it seems like a domain investor may be running for US Congress in the state of Florida. Trey Radel is a Republican candidate running for office in Florida’s 19th Congressional District.

According to reports, he is or was a domain investor, and the reason this seems to have made news is that some of the domain names allegedly owned by his company are adult in nature. Here’s what the News Press had to say about the situation:

“Congressional candidate Trey Radel faces another round of web-related controversy following disclosure that a now-defunct company he owned purchased several sexually explicit website domain names.

The domain names, mostly in Spanish, included “casadelasputas.com” (whorehouse), “cojoble.com”, a slang term defined as a woman who does not look good but is good enough to sleep with, and “mamadita.com” (hot babe), according to documents from a historical search service provided via the website Domain Tools.“

Nobody is accusing Mr. Radel of posting adult content. However, people seem to be coming out against him for allegedly owning adult themed domain names. If owning adult related domain names can be problematic for someone running for office, I guess you can rule out almost all professional domain investors, myself included.

Pretty crappy to rule out an Internet entrepreneur because his company may have purchased adult-related domain names.

You can learn more about Mr. Radel on his campaign’s website. Of course, he smartly owns TreyRadel.com.

The Charlotte Bobcats are a relatively new NBA franchise, having been established in 2004 as an expansion franchise after the Hornets moved to New Orleans. You can find information about the team at Bobcats.com, which was purchased for $50,000 in September of 2007.

If you visit CharlotteBobcats.com, you will not find any information about the NBA basketball team because it is not owned by the team. This afternoon on Grantland (founded by one of my all time favorite sports writers, Bill Simmons), there’s an article about the history of the CharlotteBobcats.com domain name.

As you might expect, the Bobcats reportedly attempted to purchase the domain name, offering incentives that ranged from season tickets to just under $100,000 cash. The owners of the domain name rejected all offers, and they have not heard back in several years.

The article is well worth a read, although I am wondering if the article could possibly lead to a UDRP filing against the owners of the domain name.

To win a UDRP, a complainant must provide evidence that meets three tenets:

1) The domain name is confusingly similar to a trademark
2) Owner lacks rights in the domain name
3) Domain name was registered and used in bad faith

In the article, the owner of the domain name admitted that the name was registered based on three potential team names for the Charlotte franchise. Further, the article mentioned that the owners receive quite a bit of emails intended for the Bobcats, so apparently some people are confusing their domain name with the team.

UDRP panels have been inconsistent when it comes to rulings, so this certainly wouldn’t be a cut and dry filing. However, if the Bobcats were willing to offer close to $100,000 to buy this domain name, an article like this might irritate them enough to file a UDRP.

It wouldn’t be the first time a NBA team used a UDRP to get a domain name it wanted. In fact, it seems that the NBA is proficient with its UDRP filings.

• ClevelandCavs.com UDRP  win
• TheClevelandCavaliers.com UDRP  win
• DenverNuggets.com UDRP  win
• NewJerseyNets.com UDRP  win
• HoustonRockets.com UDRP  win
• WashingtonWizards.com UDRP  win

The NBA did lose a UDRP for Knicks.com back in 2000, but since Knicks.com now forwards to the Knicks website, it looks like they were able to strike a deal eventually.

If I owned a domain name like CharlotteBobcats.com, I would feel very fortunate to have received offers to buy the domain name instead of legal threats. You have to wonder if the article will grab the attention of the NBA and/or the Bobcats and lead to a UDRP.