On Monday in the United States, it was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (MLK Day), a federal holiday that honors the slain Civil Rights leader. When you search Google for “Martin Luther King, Jr,” The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change website is the top result, allowing people to learn more about Dr. King, his life work, and his legacy.
According to its website, The King Center was “established in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, The King Center is the official, living memorial dedicated to advancing the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” The non-profit organization “has been a global destination, resource center and community institution for over a quarter century. Nearly a million people each year make pilgrimage to the National Historic Site to learn, be inspired and pay their respects to Dr. King’s legacy.”
Frank Schilling, whose Name Administration company owns hundreds of thousands of domain names, owns MartinLutherKingJr.com. Although the domain name could likely earn significant revenue on this day (and probably even February’s Black History Month) if it was parked, Schilling has it forwarding to The King Center website.
Schilling doesn’t have to do this, since Dr. King is a historical figure and Schilling could likely create his own website, but I think it’s a classy move. **Update** As someone pointed out in the comment section, this is something that is done by Schilling year-round, not just on the one day the US honors Dr. King.
There’s a little known section on InternetTraffic.com that Frank has shared some of his thoughts on that I wanted to draw attention to. It can be found on the “Outlook” tab.
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@ Tony
Thanks for sharing the link. I’ve seen a few of the updates/reports before, and they are worth re-reading.
That mlk name has been pointed at the king center for years and years. Frank has a great deal of respect for Dr. King’s work and legacy.
@ MLK LINK
I have no doubt about that. I just noticed it last night. I updated the article to add that this isn’t a one day or one week thing.
What possible purpose could schilling have for owning this domain. If he has so much admiration and respect for MLK and is intent on forwarding the traffic then why not simply DONATE the name?
@ RESPECT
I can’t speak for Frank, but in my own experience it’s not that easy.
I bought a domain name at auction that would have importance to a Holocaust museum and donated it to a large one. It took months for them to take control of the name and then it defaulted to the registrar’s DNS, so there were ads on it. It took several emails and phone calls to get them to fix this error.
From my vantage point, it’s easier just to forward it.
That makes sense, hold the domain until the day comes when the Center realizes they can use it. It’s possible they aren’t even aware of the domain and any traffic it’s sending, but chances are one day they will be. I’ve heard other stories of people trying to donate domains to charities where they aren’t ready or just don’t get it yet.