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A Scientist Is Selling the Right To Name His Newly-Discovered Moth On eBay (vice.com)
sarahnaomi writes: An entomologist has decided to use eBay to auction off the naming rights for a newly-discovered species of moth. When a new species is discovered, the honor of naming it goes to whoever found it. However, Eric H. Metzler, an entomologist from the Wedge Entomological Foundation, decided to ask Western National Parks Association—who funded some of his research—to start an online auction and take the proceeds. “It’s getting harder and harder to get funding to do this research because it’s not seen as a priority in the way it used to be, even though it’s fundamental to our understanding of biodiversity,” says Paolo Viscardi, a curator at University College London’s Grant Museum. “Any mechanism where you can raise more funds to continue your work is taken—so I guess [auctioning of the naming rights] is another way to fund your research.”
You don't want some idiot's surname on a species just because he had money considering we'll be stuck with that name for centuries.
If he had sold the name rights for a "limited time" (and slashdotters do love that particular phrase) of say life+100 years, no one would mind. But naming rights for perpetuity is a really bad idea because the public will be stuck using a stupid name that had nothing to do with the characteristics of the insect but rather the greed of the scientist discovering it.
Imagine every newly discovered animal, insect and tree named after a wealthy individual or corp... that's truly disgusting. I would rather the govt reward the scientist for his discovery or at least fund his research somehow.