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Is Domain Speculation Bust?
The latest Netcraft survey is more interesting than usual, because it reports a drop in the total number of registered domain names, as well as a decreasing number of sites reachable overall by the survey. It's been a traumatic year in the tech world, but the drop in domain names goes back to domain name buy-ups of 1999 (and looks like it will accelerate the same way domain speculation did in 2000). All is not gloom, though, and the number of registered domain names is not the same as the number of active sites. The Netcraft site points out that "as domains bought for speculative reasons are abandoned, we can expect a higher proportion of sites to be active." Read the rest of the survey report for more interesting information on the state of the domain world.
I wish my host would keep my site up. its been unavailable since new year's. If they blame Y2K, I'm dropping them.
...All I can say is that my life is pretty strange...
To: Microsoft Lawyers, Inc.
From: Azathoth, Nyarlathotep and Hastur, Elder Attorneys
Sirs:
Our agents among the mortal herd have brought to Our attention your recent product entitled Windows '95. Therefore We now give you statutory notice of intent of proceedings to be taken against Microsoft by the Many-Angled Ones.
With this suit We will show that Windows '95, and to a lesser extent all of the Microsoft range of products, infringe upon the recognised "look-and-feel" of the Elder Gods, for the following reasons:
Windows '95 is a crawling abomination from the darkest pits of Hell; No man can be in its presence for too long without being driven into gibbering insanity; A cult who worship it exist in secret amongst the mortal herd; Those who associate with it for too long develop common physical characteristics, to wit: pale, clammy skin, bulging eyes, generally unkempt physical appearance, tendency towards nocturnal living, change in diet to that which normal men do not eat (in your case tacos, burgers and Jolt Coke; in Ours, human flesh, Fungi of Yuggoth and the blood of Alien Gods); Mysterious tomes that purport to explain this phenomenon are reputed to exist; they are bound in an unnatural substance and only available at a terrible cost to the user.The Microsoft range of products seek to utterly dominate the world, and force all who dwell there to live in eternal damnation.
As you can see, Our case is very strong, especially when you consider that most judges prefer not to have chittering things with tentacles for faces scoop out their brains and eat them.
We hope that you will consider these points carefully and settle out of court, since it is not Our intention to have your senior partners spend the rest of their mercifully short lives under heavy sedation in a maximum security psychiatric hospital. After all, it was the Lords of the Outer Planes who gave humanity lawyers in the first place.
Respectfully yours,
[Oddly disturbing squiggle in some sort of ichor]
pp. J. Arthur Hastur, LL.B., B.C.L, B.D
- Kaos games and encryption systems developer
Too late:
[g-clef@vampire g-clef]$ whois teenspanking.com
[whois.crsnic.net]
Whois Server Version 1.3
Domain names in the
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.
Domain Name: TEENSPANKING.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS, INC.
Whois Server: whois.opensrs.net
Referral URL: http://www.opensrs.org
Name Server: NS.ZF.NET
Name Server: DNS.ZF.NET
Updated Date: 05-nov-2001
>>> Last update of whois database: Tue, 1 Jan 2002 16:59:30 EST
The Registry database contains ONLY
Registrars.
[whois.opensrs.net]
Registrant:
NewPic.com Inc.
9 East Loockerman Street
Dover, DE 19901
US
He meant 400,000,000,000,000 Euros.
Is it really easier to get someone to lend you a million than is it to get them to lend you a thousand? Somewhere, in bussiness land, it must be nothing to spend $7.5 million dollars on something as hair brained as a search engine's name.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
This may be a bit off-topic, but if domain names are supposed to go back into the public domain after the original registrants?
Network Solutions lists an owner of a few domain names I've been eyeing as expiring over three months ago, but they are still not available to be registered? Anyone have any ideas on how long a registrar can hoard a lapsed/expired domain name? Is there any process that I can pursue with ICANN to get some satisfaction on the matter?
evanchik.net