[Moogs]

These "web professionals" have taken domain squatting to an all time low, corporatizing it into a seemingly legitimate business venture. Like they had you in mind all the time, and wanted to pluck that great domain name, just to save it for you... and then turn around and charge you $2000+ for it!! Fucking dirtbags.

Here's a nice little excerpt from their about page:

Whether you are looking for the perfect domain name for a new web site or simply trying to increase traffic to your existing web site, you will find it at BuyDomains. With our exclusive selection of over 600,000 of the world's finest domain names, you are bound to find more than one domain name that you will not want to pass up. We have been the world's leading domain market since 1999, because of the quality of our exclusive collection and service to our customers. Our portfolio of domain names is the world's largest and grows every day.

These assholes deserve to be beaten with a rusty pitch-fork. Repeatedly.

[Brad]

C'mon. You're just jealous you didn't think to do it first.

[murbot]

Well, if some guy named Pete opens up a night club and casino, he can easily buy PetesNightClubAndCasino.net for only $248!!

But if he goes for the more general BluBar.com or ClubAddicts.com, he's up into the $2500 range. Poor Pete.

These fuckers need to have their skin peeled off.

[Wickers]

600,000 parked domain names eh?

Well, if they are paying just under 10 bucks a pop that's not your grandmother's pocket change.

Even if they have a direct relationship with various registrars and wholesale agreements... that's still a lot of cash.

Somewhere in the single digit millions at least.

So put bluntly... what kind of evil bastard gives up millions in venture capital for a business plan like this?

I bet they are twisting their curly moustache and belting out evil laughs right now.

[Moogs]

Originally Posted by Brad C'mon. You're just jealous you didn't think to do it first.

Are you kidding me? I thought of this very thing around 97 when the web really started to get legs. I knew someone would do it, I just didn't have the start-up funds for a serious campaign. Not to mention a little thing I like to call being human. As twisted as I can be, I do have a conscience and so would have a hard time sleeping if I charged some poor schmuck $2000 for a web name he could've had for $20 the week before.

These people are swine.

[alcimedes]

Hmm, anyone want to buy appleinsider.org or appleinsider.net?



oink oink baby.

[Maciej]

Didn't some little british boy pay his way through college, and then have enough money left over to be rich by doing this real early on?

People have been doing this forever, I would have done it, but I was too young to be smart back then...

[DMBand0026]

There's really only one domain you need:

www.appleinsideher.com

It appears to be free, the first lucky person to jump on that will get not only an awesome doman, but Murbot's sloppy seconds.

[Moogs]

It's one thing to buy up domains and repackage them with a real service (by default) such as hosting or design, and only charge a small premium for the domain. $50 at most depending on what the situation is. To boost up a premium too hundreds of dollars, let alone thousands is pretty pathetic.

Would I feel as bad about selling a $2000 domain to some huge corporation? No, but it's still unethical IMO and pretty much negates any right that company has to complain about anything it has to pay out the nose for. Reap what you sew and all that. Business is business, but you can still have some semblance of ethics when making a profit. This practice is bordering on extortion. "Buy it now before big corporate does...."

[Artap99]

I didn't want to start a new thread, so I searched and stumbled upon this one.

I've been looking to start a website, and every domain I try is taken. About 80% of that is from domain squatters. Is there anything I can do? I don't want to pay thousands of dollars to buy something someone isn't using that on top of that I'll have to put more money into for hosting and annual fees.
Even words I make up are taken. Is there some sort of way to get back at the soulless jerks who do this? The cheapest site I found was sadf.com at $990. And that's not even a domain I really want.

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by Artap99 I've been looking to start a website, and every domain I try is taken. About 80% of that is from domain squatters. Is there anything I can do?

You could always try alternatives... depends on the content and the titles you're trying.

Does it have to be literal? Could it be literary? Or mythological? etc...

Or try it as a .org or non-.com variant.

[Artap99]

I'd rather have the .com. I'm dealing with people who would put that in over something like .org, even if I told them to. It's a natural reflex.
I thought I was really clever and tried to register www.yahoogle.com, but it was taken. I guess that was lucky, as Yahoo is coming down on him right now. I just wish that I could think of something first for once.

[Moogs]

Originally Posted by Artap99 I didn't want to start a new thread, so I searched and stumbled upon this one. I've been looking to start a website, and every domain I try is taken. About 80% of that is from domain squatters. Is there anything I can do?

Do some recon on Google Maps and then start fire-bombing.

[atomicbartbeans]

Is domain squatting not illegal these days?

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by Artap99 Even words I make up are taken.

Why not start going through a good collegiate dictionary, page by page, to see if you can unearth a cool name?

Just look through a few pages each day so you don't get sick of it.

Go where the words are.

Just a thought.

[AsLan^]

www.artap99.com is not taken, there are plenty of good domain names left

[Moogs]

I was thinking of buying domainsquaterkillcount.com...

[alcimedes]

I think I own close to a dozen domains at least. Half of which belong to or are directly related to AN. The others are side projects.

[ghoti]

I believe ICANN has a domain name dispute resolution process where they can take a domain away from a squatter. But that may only work if you own a trademark or something that's used in the name, or can show that you have some kind of business interest.

I registered my last name as a .net domain many years ago. Some domain squatting asshole then registered the corresponding .com. My name is very uncommon, so that guy will never be able to sell it. And I'm not going to pay him a single cent. Asshole.

[Artap99]

Originally Posted by Windswept Why not start going through a good collegiate dictionary, page by page, to see if you can unearth a cool name? Just look through a few pages each day so you don't get sick of it. Go where the words are. Just a thought.

I was doing that, but the only ones I liked that weren't taken weren't very user friendly. I wanted something that I could say to someone and they would be able to put it in when they arrived safely home. But alas, I was just getting frustrated and stopped

Originally Posted by AsLan^ www.artap99.com is not taken, there are plenty of good domain names left

That's exactly what my girlfriend said. She told me I was going to end up with it, so I might as well just register it now. I'm starting to agree with her.

Originally Posted by ghoti I registered my last name as a .net domain many years ago. Some domain squatting asshole then registered the corresponding .com. My name is very uncommon, so that guy will never be able to sell it. And I'm not going to pay him a single cent. Asshole.

Speaking of infuriating. I made the mistake of trying to find an untaken domain on a website that pretty much registered them as I put them in. I found a domain name I liked, the next day it was gone. Along with a few odd ones that weren't taken the day before C'est la vie.

[intlplby]

the company names don't bother me, but when they squat on last names it pisses me off..... i wanted to register www.deandrade.com just for a personal page for me and my family.... but lo and behold it is being squated.......

it's my freaking last name, not even a common one at that...... that's low, really low....

[alcimedes]

I know, i wanted www.smith.com but some FUCKER already had it. what are the odds?!?!

[ghoti]

When registering hundreds of thousands of domains, they can't look at those names in much detail. They probably use some word lists, or simply look at lists of domains and if there's a .org where the .com is not yet taken, they'll register it. There is no other way they could have come up with my last name otherwise.

[Artap99]

Well hey, www.fishsticks.com only costs $7200. There's a light at the end of this tunnel.

[AsLan^]

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that ISPs went through their DNS lookup logs and registered the names that people had looked up but were not yet registered.

Perhaps a lot of these squatting companies are just fronts for ISPs ?

[ironlung]

Originally Posted by alcimedes I know, i wanted www.smith.com but some FUCKER already had it. what are the odds?!?!

[Moogs]

try jones.com or perhaps nelson.com...

In general, the only way to win at this point -at least for business and serious content purposes - is to coin several names that are not common words or compound words and go through the list at NSI until you find one. Then buy both .com and .net so some hosebag doesn't copy your idea and misdirect traffic away from your site.


PS

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that ISPs went through their DNS lookup logs and registered the names that people had looked up but were not yet registered.

Even *worse* than a company whose purpose is to squat on domains (didn't think it was possible)! This ^^ should be a felony and the ISPs should get prosecuted for it, if they are jacking up the original price. Totally unethical and shows a premeditated attempt to gouge someone who may have looked but was say, a few days away from making the decision. There's no rational justification for a service provider to do this. They're the people we're supposed to trust with our sites, our data and our security online. I don't know if it's true / there's proof of this, but if there is, there's something we should send to the FBI's attention. Or the FTC more appropriately. Total BS.

[Robo]

BuyDomains has a URL I want. They want $3288 for it. And it's waaay better than FishSticks.com.

They're not just evil, they're stupid.

[Moogs]

Not to mention, deserving of a free weekend pass to the new CIA Waterboarding Amusement Park and Camp Ground.

[Artap99]

Originally Posted by Roboman BuyDomains has a URL I want. They want $3288 for it. And it's waaay better than FishSticks.com. They're not just evil, they're stupid.

Nothing is better than fishsticks.com. Except maybe betterthanfishsticks.com. But that's only better in name, not in spirit.