Bank of America Buying Abusive Domain Names

Nite_Hawk writes "Bank of America has snapped up hundreds of abusive domain names for its senior executives and board members in what is being perceived as a defensive strategy against the future publication of damaging insider info from whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. According to Domain Name Wire, the US bank has been aggressively registering domain names including its board of directors' and senior executives' names followed by 'sucks' and 'blows.'"

Comments

Good luck with that

[oldspewey]

Good luck grabbing every possible abusive word and all variations. "Sucks" is hardly the only word in existence that can be used to mean you smoke cock or gobble knob.

Re:Good luck with that

[Monkeedude1212]

I don't even think it matters.

Honestly, if people can't start up "xSucks.com" they'll go and register something like "truthX" and spew their hate there.

By trying to keep from them from abusive and probably discreditable domain names, you're probably just going to push them into ones that will cause wider contraversy.

Let's start a nice slow golf clap for the Bank of America.

Re:Good luck with that

[Anonymous Coward]

bankofamericameetstreisandeffect.com appears to be available ... and possibly quite relevant

Re:Good luck with that

[sakdoctor]

The really insidious strategy would be to register , and actually run your *sucks site, allowing user generated content, but with subtle manipulation and censorship, making it the number one destination for haters.

Er, hope I didn't just give anyone ideas.

Re:Good luck with that

[EdIII]

Considering their motive is indirect censorship and their target market that they wish would not see the offending material is amongst the veritable hordes of Facebook/Twitter/MySpace zombies out there this is incredibly stupid.

URL shortener exist for a reason. It makes posting to Facebook and Twitter that much easier. Not to mention, it would be pretty hard for BoFA to prevent people from forming Facebook groups.

Domain names are just one of the ways we use to communicate locations, and find them, on the Internet now.

Foolish and a waste of money.

Re:Good luck with that

[KublaiKhan]

It would be an interesting sort of crowd-sourced protest, if a lot of aggrieved people bought abusive domains and pointed them at a protest site existing pretty much specifically to collect them.

Domain registrars would make a mint off of such a protest...and it would be much more 'socially acceptable' than your typical DDoSing.

First registrar to announce splitting the proceeds of such actions with, say, Child's Play or the Red Cross could gain instant credibility with a large segment of the abusive-domain-buying public.

Further, it would sap the banks' resources as their PR people frantically attempt to mitigate the consequences of the protests. Now that we know they'll preemptively buy domains, too, it provides interesting opportunities for cybersquatting...

OTOH...

[msauve]

Maybe they're just preparing themselves for some future "truth in lending" legislation.

They can't afford them all

[garcia]

Yesterday it was noted that they can do this but getting all of those available will exceed their available cash. Seems like a waste of time and energy.

Re:They can't afford them all

[Daniel Dvorkin]

I'm proud to report that a friend of mine grabbed http://www.bankofamericasucks.org/ before BoA got to it. Currently it's just a redirect to an IT World article, but oh, the possibilities ... especially since she works for a hosting company.

Pointless

[Angst Badger]

The nearly endless variety of insulting phrases that begin with [name] [verb] [...] makes it impractical to register more than a tiny proportion of them, and no matter how extensive, it's easy to think of alternatives.

[name]stealsyourmoney.com comes to mind in the context of BoA long before it would occur to me to register [name]sucks.com, much less [name]sucksass.com, [name]sucksthebigone.com, and -- in the spirit of Bill Hicks -- [name]suckssatansscalycock.com.

Re:Pointless

[Beerdood]

Exactly.. People aren't going to type in "bankofamericasucks.com" or "BOA-blows.com" into their URL. They're going to google for scam related information, making this domain buying completely useless. The exact URL is completely meaningless.

Go google "scientology" as an example. The 3rd result is "xenu.net" - a site who's sole purpose is to bring down the COS. Didn't need the word "scientology" anywhere in that URL.

Re:Everyone does it

[oldspewey]

Well, the first sentence of the two-sentence summary suggests that what makes this newsworthy is the fact it's being done defensively ahead of a major wikileak.

"Sucks" and "blows" not the only pejoratives

[a Flatbed Darkly]

There's astounding variety in dyslogistics; humanity's capacity to insult extends far beyond the simple "x sucks", "y blows", and often enters far more explicit territory. What makes them think that "sucks" and "blows" are the preferred verbal weapon of the domain-registering masses? If anything, this will only cause a rise in popularity of other insulting verbs.

Re:Everyone does it

[Fluffeh]

Well, the first sentence of the two-sentence summary suggests that what makes this newsworthy is the fact it's being done defensively ahead of a major wikileak.

Yes, but I wonder if they are buying domains like: Wewentbroke.com, bankgobyebye.com, Wetookyourmoney.com and my personal favorite: Wethoughtboombutwentbust.com

Unless...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

BOA is a bunch of angels compared to the rest of the financial community, they should probably be investing in security rather than PR...

There is a steady stream of "$PERSON$ loses job/house, kills family, self, occasionally neighbors and/or a cop or two" stories in the US. Given the number of dodgy forclosures BOA is believed to be involved in, including some cases where they didn't even own the loan, or where there was no loan, I could easily imagine some of their more visible people becoming part of dissatisfied customers' blood drenched exits.

The really high level guys probably already take precautions; but a bank the size of BOA probably has a lot of fat around the middle...

Just Making Themselves Look Worse

[mikeb39]

This seems to be pretty close to admitting that their senior execs have done things that would cause public outrage. Seems like a smarter strategy would have been just to shut up completely about it until seeing what these leaks actually contain. But, I suppose if you know beyond a doubt you will be proven guilty and held to account for something, you might as well prepare for it.

Re:Just Making Themselves Look Worse

[causality]

This seems to be pretty close to admitting that their senior execs have done things that would cause public outrage. Seems like a smarter strategy would have been just to shut up completely about it until seeing what these leaks actually contain. But, I suppose if you know beyond a doubt you will be proven guilty and held to account for something, you might as well prepare for it.

There is one prepatory step that will apparently never occur to them: admit they have done wrong, identify the people they have wronged, make it right by giving them full compensation, and document that they have done so.

Re:Just Making Themselves Look Worse

[ring-eldest]

There is one prepatory step that will apparently never occur to them: admit they have done wrong, identify the people they have wronged, make it right by giving them full compensation, and document that they have done so.

That's a sucker's bet. These people are PROFESSIONALS. They'll go with the tried-and-true method and round up some scapegoats, of course.

Re:Just Making Themselves Look Worse

[cdrguru]

Listening to folks like the commenters here, it is clearly impossible for BofA to do this - everyone who owns a home has been impacted by Countrywide. If their home wasn't financed through Countrywide their neighbor's was and the drop in value of their neighbor's home tanked their home's value.

Roughly, according to National Association of Realtors, there are about 80 million single-family homes in the US today. The average value of all of these homes was around $170,000 and is now more like $100,000. Just having BofA pay every homeowner in the US $70,000 - all 80 million of them - would be 5.6 trillion dollars. If you blame banks for this mess, that is about what it would take. They don't have it.

One flaw with this is the banks may have participated, but the real problem is the bond rating agencies like Moody's. They are the ones that rated bonds backing subprime mortgages as AAA investment-grade bonds. Those bonds were then invested in by pension funds, municipalities and school districts. We haven't seen all of these bonds default yet, but they are going to - because the underlying mortgages are valueless and the rating agencies knew it. That pretty much means a lot of bankrupt pension funds, municipalities and school districts. Anyone that invested in AAA bonds exclusively is likely to get hit with this.

We haven't even seen the beginning of the collapse yet, but it is coming.

Re:Clean slate...

[vux984]

The only thing I have with bank of america is credit card debt. I hope that disappears in the whole wikileakageddon bank of americassplosion.

don't bet on it, your debt might be one of their few assets when this is over. :p

Re:Everyone does it

[zotz]

Indeed.

Or:

reallysucks.com

reallytrulysucks.com

reallytrulysucksbigtime.com

superreallytrulysucksbigtime.com

and so on....

Lots of buying to do there... I don't see how such defensive strategies can work... Am I missing something?

Why is it necessary?

[Compaqt]

What I don't understand is why they think this is even necessary in the new world we just entered a month or so ago.

Why should they have to buy up domain names?

Why not just have their friends at Visa/Mastercard deny the ability of anyone to buy a domain name which could (potentially) be used to engage in "illegal activities"?

Or have their friends in Obama's office of imaginary rights enforcement seize the domains for trafficking in stolen property?

Or have the host (Amazon or whoever) drop the websites? Paypal refuse service? EveryDNS drop the domain records?

Re:Everyone does it

[ultranova]

Is that why they registered "bankofamericasupportstyrants.com"

It's nice of Bank of America to provide an index to the coming revelations ahead of time. It should make the first pieces of dirt hit the headlines faster, since you know what to look for.

Also, I wonder if you could get another major organization to reveal their shady actions in this way simply by spreading a rumour that Wikileaks is onto them?

Finally, this is interesting from purely psychological point of view: It proves that the leadership of BoA understands that their actions would be considered evil by common people; thus it seems unlikely that they are psychopaths, as common theories hold, but rather simply evil.

Re:Cheaper?

[drew30319]

IANAL (I'm currently on semester break from my last year of law school) but these types of websites are generally protected from many lawsuits due to their treatment as a form of free speech. Additionally under the CDA ( Communications Decency Act) ISPs are generally not considered the publishers of content posted by their users which provides them some degree of immunity.

Check out this Wired article for some highlights of the legal issues related to a "sucks" / "gripe" site: Legal Tips For Your 'Sucks' Site. Although it was written in 2000 and so might be a little outdated, it's worth reading for some interesting info.

Two important points: (1) The site operator should avoid any commercial activity (at all) on the gripe site and; (2) The site operator should ensure that visitors would never think that the site is in any way associated with the entity that is the focus of the gripe site. While a properly designed gripe site is generally safe from losing a lawsuit it's definitely best to check with an attorney to make sure that you're doing everything properly before heading down a potentially expensive road.

Re:Everyone does it

[pipatron]

Actually it could be the PR department trying to cover *their* ass. The board of directors may or may not still be psychopaths.

Re:Everyone does it

[bussdriver]

bankofamericasextrade.com
bankofamericaxxx.com
bankofamericalaundering.com
bankofamericadrugs.com
bankofamericadruglaundering.com
bankofamericaspies.com
bankofamericabribes.com
banksters.com

Re:Everyone does it

[imac.usr]

> bankofamericaspies.com

How *are* Bank of America's pies, anyway?

Re:Clean slate...

[IonOtter]

That's possible, but it's certainly NOT "free and clear".

Here's how you do it, in a VERY simplified form.

1. Open an escrow account and place your monthly mortgage payment, plus interest, into that account.
2. File a small claims suit with your local county, against the mortgage company holding your mortgage. Make it for the monthly amount of the mortgage, plus interest. You are filing suit for them to provide a signed and notarized copy of the deed, as well as any copies of the bill of sale for ALL of the transactions they made with the property.
3. Pay a process server to serve the holder the papers, or at least try.
4. Hire a court recorder. Chances are good that the court will try to simply dump you once it becomes apparent what you're doing. The court reporter will keep them honest.
5. Keep EXCELLENT records of every penny spent, as well as all transactions and communications with the process server and the court.
6. Show up in court on the appointed day.

Now here's where it gets tricky.

The mortgage holder, if they can even be found, probably won't bother to send a lawyer for such a small sum. They'll simply ignore it, and you win by default. If they DO show up, they have to produce the paperwork. Again, chances are good they can't. If they produce a robo-signed copy, they'll be charged with forgery. The odds are stacked in your favor.

If the unlikely event happens that they can prove that the debt is valid, simply resume paying the mortgage and carry on as normal. That's what the escrow account is for.

If nobody shows up, take the money you won in the small claims suit and place THAT into the escrow account too. This shows good faith on your part.

7. File a new small-claims suit again for the next month. Follow steps 1-7, for six months or more. Six months is probably best.
8. On the sixth court appearance, ask the court to nullify the debt. You can...

a. Show you fully intend to pay all debts if the paperwork is provided. (The escrow account again)
b. Show you can cover all interest, penalties and fees if the paperwork is provided and you have to resume paying.
c. Show that you can cover all costs of the court.
d. Show that you paid the process server.
e. Show you followed due process and due diligence.

And the mortgage holder has shown nothing but negligence and dereliction of their obligations.

The court will hand you the property with a clean deed.

BUT WAIT!!!!!

Remember that escrow account? DO NOT SPEND IT!!!

You're going to need that money to pay CAPITAL GAINS TAXES, because a new house will constitute a huge jump in your income, and that mortgage payment write-off is going bye-bye too.

You can tack this on as Step 8f: You can show ability to pay all federal, state and local taxes once the house is yours.

Bonus: If the mortgage holder sends your debt to collections while the court cases are pending, they're in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and can be slapped with a heavy fine on top of losing the mortgage.

You can spend that.