Slashdot Mirror
The Man Who Owns the Internet
Tefen writes "CNN Money posted this story about Kevin Ham, who has made a fortune gobbling up lapsed domain names and has recently launched a lucrative business partnership with Cameroon, the country which controls the .cm TLD. Since 2000 he has quietly cobbled together a portfolio of some 300,000 domains that, combined with several other ventures, generate an estimated $70 million a year in revenue."
Sensational much?
Fraud? Yes. Tolerated? Well, yes. And therein lies the real problem.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Having been on the wrong side of 'cybersquatters' this is an issue close to my heart. I wouldn't mind if these people took a domain and did something useful with it, but instead they just plaster it with advertising and watch the cash roll in.
Am not even that bitter (it wasn't even me that lost the domain but the previous owner of my site), what makes me angry is the way these people just leech ad views without giving anything back. Scummy blighters, the lot of them!
Problem is what should be done about these people? It's not as if the government(s) of the world are competent enough to deal with problems like these (tubes anyone). ICANN is the organisation we should turn to: perhaps make a rule that the owner of a domain has to actually do something with it within a set period of time (say 6 months to a year). If all they've done in that time is plaster it in advertising (or have done nothing) it should return to the pool, perhaps with a bar disallowing the ghastly spammer from buying it again for a year.
This is pretty controversial and I suppose if someone pays for something they have a right to do what they like with it. That doesn't detract from the fact that these people are like parasites, filling the Internet with rubbish and getting in the way of those of us who just want to provide a service.
I'm going to transform myself into a mighty hawk. Either that or I'll just go and work at Dixons, haven't decided yet.
Mixed amongst these junk domains are some great names that deserve to be developed, and will be if they are available. Unfortunately, the bottom-feeders of the online world have control of this vast assortment of names, which they are essentially holding largely for ransom purposes. I think that's a scummy way to make a living. But it's possible so long as annual registration fees are less than the small amounts of revenue that can be generated through generic google adsense programs and their ilk.
I would love to see the price of annual registration hit the point where, say, the guy who owns "waterfalls.com" would have to develop it in a meaningful way or surrender it. Sitting on a domain and putting up generic ads should be a losing proposition financially, and an increased annual fee would correct this situation and work to the public good.
I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
It's a reality of the internet.. the same ease of registration and freedom of use that enables EVERYONE to have domains also enables a secondary market in domain squatting. That's life.. the business world is no different.
The kind of controls necessary to prevent this are exactly the kind of controls we should be scared of, and not want.
Terrorists can't threaten a country's freedom and democracy. Only lawmakers and voters can do that.
That's the catch 22. People want to be able to instantly pick up a domain name when it becomes available, yet they want it to be impossible for a script to automatically grab a domain name as soon as it becomes available. I think either way they should verify that there is an actual person registering each domain. You should also be able to put your name on a list so that you can buy it when the domain expires. I think that a 1 month period is enough lead time to put your name on the list. So 1 month before it expires you can put your name on the list (verified through picture codes) that you want to buy the domain. When it expires, it is automatically transfered to you.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
"generate an estimated $70 million a year in revenue" although the actual numbers are more like a couple hundred grand AT MOST. This is a market fluff piece blathering on about how it could be a goldmine but nobody can prove it other than he has a nice flat. Next article was about how someone invented cold fusion but couldnt show it to the public for fear of the power companies killing them. Yawn.
Often wrong but never in doubt.
I am Jack9.
Everyone knows me.
On the Karmic scale this guy is marginally above Nigerian Investment scammers, and about par with spammers, which I guess makes him like people reselling essays to students. The good news is he's definitely above cigarette companies and pedophiles. Way to go Kevin! And for all his 'I'm a devout Christian' PR, what a waste of a life. This guy adds nothing to life on this planet. If he disappeared tomorrow, life for everyone else would be the same or better.
The people who used to sell used cars or deal drugs have all moved onto the Internet.
I've seen a lot of constructive solutions on here for dealing with these bottom-feeders. So here's my $.02 Maybe it would make sense to make domain names non-transferable. When you're done with it, it goes back in the pool, period. No transfer to another entity allowed. Wouldn't do much for typosquatters or ad farms, but It would make it pointless to buy a bunch of domains and sit on them, knowing you have no way of transferring them to a buyer.