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This is exactly the discussion I expect from HN. It's taking a very methodological approach towards an industry and I approve. I've been in the domain industr

by ohashi 16y ago

This is exactly the discussion I expect from HN. It's taking a very methodological approach towards an industry and I approve. I've been in the domain industry for 7+ years now and it's a breath of fresh air to see more people coming to the table with ideas like this (sorry, you aren't the first to use these types of ideas, but I am happy to see more people trying these types of methods). As far as saying they are squatters and extortionists. I am going to have to call bullshit. Cybersquatting is infringing someone's trademark. Unless the author is buying something to infringe on a mark it is NOT CYBERSQUATTING. As far as the extortion claim, it's also bogus. You think you deserve some awesome domain for registration fee because you have some idea? Sorry. The internet isn't about that. We all have ideas and there is no objective way domains could be distributed other than a first-come, first-serve policy. Any sort of 'use' based case is far too big a slippery slope to ever be considered. This sort of attitude seems to be the exact opposite of the author's (which I admire) who has publicized an interesting way to try and find a good domain name on the cheap.

_delirium 16y ago
You "refute" his point with a non sequitur, essentially asserting that domain squatters/extortionists aren't scumbags, because there's no good way to ban the practice. But it could still be unsavory even if it's hard to ban. I wouldn't say that the internet is"about" people just grabbing names and doing nothing with them except demanding payments from people who do want to put up actual sites. That's not really having ideas or doing anything useful for anyone; it surely isn't innovative. It might be profitable, but I don't really see any way to argue it's in the hacker spirit or particularly laudable.
- ohashi 16y ago
  You connect the two extortion and cybersquatting. Again, different things. They can overlap sure, but cybersquatting has a narrow definition. Extortion also does. Buying domains really doesn't meet the definition. As far as doing nothing, they 'do' something. Most have nameservers and resolve to something. As far as demanding payments. That's funny, you want something but don't feel obligated to pay. Nobody is forcing you to buy any particular domain. You simply feel entitled for one reason or another. I think first-come, first-serve is the least worst option and also is in line with the spirit the internet was created. Allowing anyone to compete at minimal cost. Just because you don't get software.com doesn't limit you from selling software. If you really cannot come up with a name or put up some money and buy a decent name perhaps you need to rethink what you're doing.
  - gizmomagico 16y ago
    Implying that domain squatters are scumbags was this much of an assault on your ego? If you reserve lots of domains and wait for someone to want one of them so bad that he's willing to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars, that makes you a scumbag. It's that simple, and it doesn't matter if this specifically falls under whatever definition of "cybersquatting" you want to use. > As far as doing nothing, they 'do' something. Most have nameservers and resolve to something. You can't be talking about "parked" domains that resolve to a page full of shit, right? Please tell me that wasn't what you meant. > As far as demanding payments. That's funny, you want something but don't feel obligated to pay. Seriously? We do want to pay. We just want to pay the normal price for a domain, and not whatever outrageous amount you feel like demanding for it. Feel entitled?! What the.. Yes, most of us feel "entitled" to being able to buy a domain at market value. > I think first-come, first-serve is the least worst option and also is in line with the spirit the internet was created. Allowing anyone to compete at minimal cost. By "compete", do you mean allowing anyone to compete in an auction for a domain you have, and others want? > If you really cannot come up with a name or put up some money and buy a decent name perhaps you need to rethink what you're doing. As I said, it's really freaking difficult. An ideal domain name is a .com that's somehow related to your product/service and consists of one or two words in English, maybe with a clever twist. These are the ones that have practically all been taken by scumbags like you.
    - ohashi 16y ago
      Market Value. Price = what someone is willing to pay. Did you forget basic economics? Sounds like someone just didn't get their domain and wants to whine a lot. Lots of whiners, so few doers.
      - gizmomagico 16y ago
        You should have stopped embarrassing yourself already. Your price is not based on supply & demand or market value, but just how bad someone wants the domain you're holding, which happens to be a perfect fit for his product or service. I've actually managed to personally come up with, and get two perfectly fitting .com's for (two of) the products I'm going to make. Those two domains consist only of words in English too. One of them is cutesy, and the other is clever. I won't tell you the names, though, because that would reveal my real name. But it really was difficult to come up with the names, because of human scum like you. If you're a "doer", then I don't even want to be one. Thanks for playing.
prawn 16y ago
Probably being pedantic, but it's speculating rather than cybersquatting, IMO. Cybersquatting is grubby, but I think domain speculation is an interesting debate worth having.

by ohashi 16y ago

_delirium 16y ago

You "refute" his point with a non sequitur, essentially asserting that domain squatters/extortionists aren't scumbags, because there's no good way to ban the practice. But it could still be unsavory even if it's hard to ban. I wouldn't say that the internet is"about" people just grabbing names and doing nothing with them except demanding payments from people who do want to put up actual sites. That's not really having ideas or doing anything useful for anyone; it surely isn't innovative. It might be profitable, but I don't really see any way to argue it's in the hacker spirit or particularly laudable.

ohashi 16y ago
You connect the two extortion and cybersquatting. Again, different things. They can overlap sure, but cybersquatting has a narrow definition. Extortion also does. Buying domains really doesn't meet the definition. As far as doing nothing, they 'do' something. Most have nameservers and resolve to something. As far as demanding payments. That's funny, you want something but don't feel obligated to pay. Nobody is forcing you to buy any particular domain. You simply feel entitled for one reason or another. I think first-come, first-serve is the least worst option and also is in line with the spirit the internet was created. Allowing anyone to compete at minimal cost. Just because you don't get software.com doesn't limit you from selling software. If you really cannot come up with a name or put up some money and buy a decent name perhaps you need to rethink what you're doing.
- gizmomagico 16y ago
  Implying that domain squatters are scumbags was this much of an assault on your ego? If you reserve lots of domains and wait for someone to want one of them so bad that he's willing to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars, that makes you a scumbag. It's that simple, and it doesn't matter if this specifically falls under whatever definition of "cybersquatting" you want to use. > As far as doing nothing, they 'do' something. Most have nameservers and resolve to something. You can't be talking about "parked" domains that resolve to a page full of shit, right? Please tell me that wasn't what you meant. > As far as demanding payments. That's funny, you want something but don't feel obligated to pay. Seriously? We do want to pay. We just want to pay the normal price for a domain, and not whatever outrageous amount you feel like demanding for it. Feel entitled?! What the.. Yes, most of us feel "entitled" to being able to buy a domain at market value. > I think first-come, first-serve is the least worst option and also is in line with the spirit the internet was created. Allowing anyone to compete at minimal cost. By "compete", do you mean allowing anyone to compete in an auction for a domain you have, and others want? > If you really cannot come up with a name or put up some money and buy a decent name perhaps you need to rethink what you're doing. As I said, it's really freaking difficult. An ideal domain name is a .com that's somehow related to your product/service and consists of one or two words in English, maybe with a clever twist. These are the ones that have practically all been taken by scumbags like you.
  - ohashi 16y ago
    Market Value. Price = what someone is willing to pay. Did you forget basic economics? Sounds like someone just didn't get their domain and wants to whine a lot. Lots of whiners, so few doers.
    - gizmomagico 16y ago
      You should have stopped embarrassing yourself already. Your price is not based on supply & demand or market value, but just how bad someone wants the domain you're holding, which happens to be a perfect fit for his product or service. I've actually managed to personally come up with, and get two perfectly fitting .com's for (two of) the products I'm going to make. Those two domains consist only of words in English too. One of them is cutesy, and the other is clever. I won't tell you the names, though, because that would reveal my real name. But it really was difficult to come up with the names, because of human scum like you. If you're a "doer", then I don't even want to be one. Thanks for playing.

prawn 16y ago

Probably being pedantic, but it's speculating rather than cybersquatting, IMO. Cybersquatting is grubby, but I think domain speculation is an interesting debate worth having.