Partial agreement is better than none. ;)
So ...
I register a domain "walshclothes.com" in the hope that maybe it'll be
worth something someday. Some guy in Fresno starts a clothing company,
and without knowing anything about the Internet, calls it Walsh Clothes.
Years/Months/Weeks later, he realizes he'd better have a domain name,
but walshclothes.com is "taken", and points to a page that invites him
to place a bid to get control over his own name.
This guy in Fresno is just a simple fashion designer. An artist. He
doesn't have the hundreds or thousands to spend to get the domain. He
was hoping (nay, expecting) to give $35 to Network Solutions. He
offers to pay for any existing time on the registration along with
transfer fees that might be imposed by the registrar....
Notwithstanding the fact that I wouldn't do this in the first place,
what should my response be? *I* certainly don't own "Walshes Clothes",
and my use of the domain is exclusive. If I have it, he can't.
People have called this "domain prospecting". As if there are domain
mines (or oil fields) and they have as much right as anyone to "get a
piece of the action" by staking a claim on a piece of electronic land.
I disagree with this completely. If you register and hold a domain,
you make it unavailable for use elsewhere. If I want to buy a car and
keep it 50 years then sell it as an antique, I'm not taking anything
away from anyone else. But domains are unique keys in a big indexing
system we use to keep track of resources on the Internet. We refer to
information by associating it with symbols like domain names; the keys
are the symbols and the index lives in our heads. If we assign value to
the keys instead of the data they lead to, we risk making the Internet a
vehicle for opportunists whose ethical standards are dictated solely by
their profit margin.
That's not the Internet I grew up in.
On Tue, Aug 21, 2001 at 12:02:27AM -0700, William X Walsh wrote:
>
> Monday, Monday, August 20, 2001, 11:24:29 PM, Paul Chvostek wrote:
>
>
> > Squatting, like spam, devalues the resource by making it
> > more difficult and expensive to operate.
>
> If by squatting, you mean registering a domain name that is actually
> an infringement of a trademark, and holding on to it in the hopes of
> extracting extortion from the trademark holder, than I will agree with
> you.
>
> If you mean speculation, registering domain names for future value
> increase and resell, then I will have to disagree. that is a
> legitimate use of and reason to register a domain name. Just like it
> is a legitimate use of and reason to purchase real estate,
> automobiles, and sundry collectibles.
>
> --
> Best regards,
> William X Walsh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Userfriendly.com Domains
> The most advanced domain lookup tool on the net
> DNS Services from $1.65/mo
--
Paul Chvostek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Operations / Development / Abuse / Whatever vox: +1 416 598-0000
IT Canada http://www.it.ca/
