Generic Domain Names

President Donald Trump has been referring to US Senator Elizabeth Warren (my Senator) as “Pocahontas” for quite some time. In an event honoring Navajo veterans on Monday, the President once again referred to Senator Warren as Pocahontas:

“I just want to thank you because you are very, very special people. You were here long before any of us were here,” Trump said. “Although, we have a representative in Congress who has been here a long time … longer than you — they call her Pocahontas!”

Since mid-2016, Pocahontas.com has been forwarding to Senator Warren’s website, ElizabethWarren.com. The Whois information on Pocahontas.com is private, so the owner of the domain name remains publicly unknown. When I wrote about the forward last year, I was unsure whether it was being done as a prank on Senator Warren or done in support of her. I am

TechCrunch reported on a $19 million funding round for a startup called Less, “a ride-sharing service for commuters and other short distance rides.” The company was founded by Jean-Baptiste Rudelle, who reportedly founded “one of the most successful French startups,” Criteo. Smartly, Less is using the perfect domain name for this venture: Less.com.

When I noticed the url for Less, it rung a bell. I searched through my email, and I see that it had been offered for sale via several brokers. In 2015, Less.com was offered for sale via Brannans for $325,000. In 2016, I see an email from Mark Daniel of Domain Holdings who offered the domain name for sale without a price. In December of 2016, Brannans was once again offering the domain name for sale in its newsletter with a $160,000 price. Most recently, in August of this year, Brannans had Less.com in its newsletter as a “make offer” listing.

Based on Whois records, it appears that