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| | THREAD STARTER #51 (permalink) |
| Names for Commerce Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Iron City
Posts: 194
![]() ![]() ![]() | The public comment period for the Registration Accreditation Agreement (RAA) ends August 4th. Domainers that don't think registrars should be allowed to appropriate expired domains for themselves should let ICANN know it ASAP. I can tell you that personally, I'm not too worried about Google, Amazon, Microsoft or Name Administration. I'm pretty sure they can take care of themselves, but they must surely appreciate all that love flowing from you and central, LOL. The argument that registrars should be able to rig the game because "historically" someone always does is both laughable and defeatist. Fortunately for the average domainer ICANN makes the rules, and they ask for public comment. A lot of people screamed about the 60 day rule, and guess what? It's gone. Registrars may be slow to implement the change, but if they don't, they'll get their accreditation pulled. ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/487472-expired-domain-skimming-by-registrars.html And yeah, that does make me feel better. |
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| | #52 (permalink) |
| Name Seller Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: NYC
Posts: 1,047
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Personally I think that the current set of violations exceed reasonability. Okay so registrars used to let domains drop, then companies found this drop game to be profitable so they grabbed them. Then registrars said "well let's not lose that revenue", so they put them on hold and used a 3rd part to auction them off, splitting the revenue with the dropcatchers, so to speak. So now we decide, hey screw that, these domains are worth alot. Let's just keep them and enjoy the PPC. Well now that doesn't have anything to do with ICANN or TOS or even remotely trying to seperate yourself from the registration. It is blatant and outright violation IMHO. Now obviously there are alot of people here who feel differently so I am guessing I am against the crowd here. But you have to draw a line in the sand and I say this is it. I am not interested in Google is a registrar and buys their own names - let them buy their own names! ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 If you are the real estate broker for an old house and the owner abandons it, you don't own the property, the government does. In fact, there are terribly few things in this world that you can keep when you find them. Just about everything must go through a government agency. If you abandon your 15 year old domain name, the registrar keeps it and doesn't tell anyone? To redundantly claim that the line is muddled or unclear is not reasonable. From the perspective of the US Civil Courts, brokers own nothing and can hold claim on nothing but their commissions - which they are lucky to get in most abandonment cases. This is likely to become an issue sooner than later, no matter how many people try to negate this whole thread. I cheer YayNames for bringing it to our attention, even if it quietly vanishes from view for some indeterminate amount of time. It will come back though. I am sure by then many will have made millions. Yaynames will have made, uhm, nothing. Before you think of replying, think of how much will you make and how much motivation is that for you to counter every statement? |
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| | #53 (permalink) | ||||||||
| Electrifying Guy ![]() Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,825
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and Network Solutions (last I heard) reduced their hold period to 30 days but can be removed. And no one ever said registrars should be able to "rig the game" just because history has shown examples of others looking for an edge over others. Aren't many of us trying to get one over another in some way?
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 decisions indicating domain names as "creatures of contract", and that same contract with your registrar defines your responsibilities and relationships. (And before anyone brings up that sex.com decision saying domain names are property, it was only decided as such for what it stated. It doesn't say that domain names are property regardless of circumstances, it doesn't apply to all jurisdictions, and it's been discussed before why they shouldn't be property.) Last I checked, it's been an "issue" ever since Network Solutions started the auction bandwagon. I guess it'll remain an issue, just that it's not given all the top priority since other priorities are competing. And I make enough to afford to reply whenever I choose, thank you. While it's fine for people to feel this or that, it doesn't always mean it's true or correct, especially if/when certain facts indicate otherwise. | ||||||||
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| | #54 (permalink) | ||||
| Name Seller Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: NYC
Posts: 1,047
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????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 Rewards for kicking a title holder off their property will become so high that there is no way it won't happen a hundred fold. It is government which time and time again sees this happen throughout history and eventually changes laws to prevent such actions. Every time something ordinary and slightly valuable improves to the point of becoming a massive generator of wealth, ordinary people lose their property or lives. In this case I doubt lives are being lost which is a good thing. But livelyhoods can easily be wiped out, and just the fact that you will be kicked off your property because someone else wants it should cause you concern. Oddly enough, since we have little protection against such actions they will be commonplace in a queerily brief time frame. Those of us who can see the light at the end of the tunnel agree that domainng may be weak now, and PPC may be near dead, but big changes are due in the years forward. Domains may be the gold mines of the future. Would you like to spend 90% of your time fighting for your domain's life and your right to property when your ship finally comes in? This is my personal theory and the way I look at this situation. I don't expect the rest of the world to see history the way I do, and I could care less. But I am holding the "I told you so" stick. It will be years before I can shake it at anyone. | ||||
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| | #55 (permalink) | ||||
| Electrifying Guy ![]() Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,825
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????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 with your registrar. You won't have rights to it the moment it expires and you don't renew your registrar's agreement, even if you believe otherwise. If you don't want to lose your rights to it, then don't let it expire and do your best to stay in compliance with your registration agreement. And that's not a theory as that's been tested in a court of law: http://davezan.com/sizevsnsi.txt Read sections II & III of that decision. And feel free to lookup the Umbro case as well. | ||||
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| | THREAD STARTER #56 (permalink) | ||||||||
| Names for Commerce Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Iron City
Posts: 194
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If nobody speaks up when ICANN publishes requests for comment. Nothing changes.
All those in favor of a competitive marketplace, speak up and tell ICANN you want a crack at those 6000 to 8000 domains per month that are being tasted and appropriated by Tucows alone (who knows how many expired names other registrars are appropriating). Send your emails here: raa-consultation@icann.org You can see what others have posted here: http://forum.icann.org/lists/raa-consultation/ Only 4 days left!
Last edited by YAYnames.com; 07-30-2008 at 06:19 AM.
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| | #57 (permalink) | ||||
| Name Seller Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: NYC
Posts: 1,047
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????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 Award it to the registrar? Why? Didn't they agree in 1995 not to take domains? Do you really think that if one registrar gets away with it that it's okay? That soon everyone will have tons of registry traffic and thousands of billion dollar domains will be dropping in the registrars laps every day and they'll be madly rich? No, this is about rights to property. When you went to court to fight off Ford for Ford.com did the registrar pay your legal fees? No, because they have a clear and material line that they never crossed. Now if they suddenly "Own" the rights to domains, then they should be sued for every infraction, regardless of whether it is PPC or TM or anything else. Make registrars responsible for the litany and litigation and you have a deal. Else they should own and be responsible for nothing except the keeping of the records. | ||||
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| | #58 (permalink) | ||||
| Electrifying Guy ![]() Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,825
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so dues, renew your agreement, and try to be compliant to its terms. I know a lot of people love to believe they have so-called "rights" to the domain names they register even after they expire, but your registrar's agreement does not maintain your rights to it if/when that happens. I suggest you read it if you haven't done so yet. It doesn't help anyone if they insist on having such unrealistic expectations, more so if they tell others about it which isn't actually true. And no, there was never an agreement not to take domain names back if they expired. It's been that way since day one. Besides, Pat's thread is about expired domain names registrars renew and put into their portfolio without giving others a chance to take a shot at. This isn't about property rights for expired domains no one else has rights to other than its sponsoring and paying registrar. BTW read the ones sent by Danny Younger and Pat Quinn. That'll give you an ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 idea how to "better" proceed.
Last edited by Dave Zan; 07-30-2008 at 05:42 PM.
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| | #59 (permalink) |
| Name Seller Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: NYC
Posts: 1,047
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Why the registrar? What "rights" do they have? Why not the public? How did I give up my rights when you forgot to renew repetitive.com? Did I ever have rights? Before the name existed? After creation? After expiration? You must delineate when public rights exist and when they suddenly fail to. |
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| | #60 (permalink) | ||||||||
| Electrifying Guy ![]() Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,825
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????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 possibly confusing two issues that apparently aren't considered separate, I'll say one more time that's defined or dictated by your registrar's contract. You may go ahead and read it if you haven't done so yet. But just to try to narrow it down, look for something like this in your contract with your registrar: http://www.networksolutions.com/lega...nt.jsp#general
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 using from whatever they're offering, and you agree not to claim any interest or ownership whatsoever in any of them. You may not personally agree with that, but some courts have upheld such terms in similarly-worded contracts. (like Network Solutions' agreement was upheld in that decision I linked here in my previous post...) And since you mentioned the real estate broker analogy that's popularly used when trying to explain how domain names work, I'll use a similar one. Let's say I rented one of YAYnames' apartment units (and that's what we are really doing towards domain names). I don't renew my lease agreement, I've taken out all my things, and YAYnames locks out "my" apartment unit. At that point, it ought to be obvious I no longer have rights (and enforceable ones at that) towards that apartment unit, and YAYnames can do whatever he wants with it. But I kid you not that I've read in a legal forum where soooo many people complained of something similar, and those idiots wanted to sue to get those apartment units back when they didn't even renew it! Then you come along, you see YAYnames' apartment unit, become interested in it, but you find that YAYnames isn't selling or renting it out. Should he then be forced to lease or sell it to someone? OTOH, I recently read one lawyer's take about property rights. If I understood it correctly, nowadays it isn't an issue of who owns what, but what rights are assigned to all parties concerned. In this case, one last time, those rights are defined by your contract with the registrar you're doing business with. Currently there are hardly any laws that'll maybe define what domain names are or "should" be, but I guarantee you that enacting such laws will create a host of issues many people won't be prepared to deal with. Heck, many people still don't know what domain names are! | ||||||||
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| | #61 (permalink) |
| Name Seller Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: NYC
Posts: 1,047
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Hey I won't even claim that any of us know what domains are. They do not exist. Right now UsedAgain.ME is a statement without meaning because no one has ever registered it. Perhaps no one ever will. But as soon as someone does, it exists and becomes "property" of the "registrar" who has an "agreement" about how they treat this registration. Yet the registrar can't be sued for allowing this property to be created, nor for renting it even if its rat-infested, nor for closing it down and kicking out the tenant. And oddly enough that's where I am having some problem. Because in America it's almost bloody impossible to absolve yourself of all legal responsibilities regarding trademark and copyright and yet claim title and ownership of something you didn't even pay for! I understand how courts and ICANN have handled these claims in the past. The problem is you can't have your cake and eat it too. So eventually the hammer comes down one way or another. Obviously it will have no real impact on my life as far as I can tell. But as soon as some lobby fighting for public ownership rights decides to sue Netsol or Tucows or whoever over some infraction, years from now it will end up in Supreme Court with all registrars having to be responsible for whatever is registered on their sites. Similar to the way Ebay and YouTube have been held accountable (even if let off), for property they also do not hold but earn money from. My whole point is that it's best if we put a line in the sand now rather than have the whole industry dragged into higher courts down the road. Either way it's their game to play and I've never known ICANN to listen to me personally. My guess is things will plod along as they always do, and then one day they'll be the usual over-reaction. But that seems to be what America breeds on at times. |
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| | #62 (permalink) |
| NamePros Member Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 123
![]() | If someone drops a name at a Registrar it makes some sense that the Registrars can keep it if they want. After a domain expires you can still renew it. A Registrar may charge you an extra fee. The Registrar controls that domain for a while after it expires so it makes sense that they can re-new it for themselves, they can then sell it how they want. When a domain really expires and wasnt renewed there should be a fair way that everyone should have a chance to get it at reg fee with no one having an advantage. No one should have control of it to auction it. Anyone should be able to put in a buy at reg fee at any Registrar and the winner should be picked randomly. The only other fair way is the first to put in a buy should get it. If a domain expires and you put in a buy first and pay for it and the Registrar doesnt re-new it themself then you get it. Thats a fair way.
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| | THREAD STARTER #63 (permalink) |
| Names for Commerce Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Iron City
Posts: 194
![]() ![]() ![]() | I have to post this great quote/observation directly related to this thread, by Rick Schwartz from the most recent DN Journal newsletter: "I have not even mentioned registrars that are abusing domainers in ways that I just can’t believe. Now they want to grab your expiring domains and keep them for themselves instead of releasing them to the market place. Does anyone in this industry know what conflict of interest is? Maybe they will conveniently forget to send you all those reminders to renew. If they can get your prize domains, is there a reason for them to go out of their way to notify you over and over again to renew a $7 product that may be earning thousands or worth millions? All I can say is it is time for domainers to grow some ***** and stop remaining silent. In my life I have watched pilots lose control of the airline industry and look what we have. I have watched doctors lose control of the medical industry and look what we have. I have watched teachers lose control of the education system and look what we have. Domainers are about to lose control of the domain industry and look at what you HAD!" ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 ... another great interview from Ron Jackson at the Domain Name Journal, well worth a read, check it out! http://www.dnjournal.com/newsletters/2008/august.htm |
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| | THREAD STARTER #64 (permalink) |
| Names for Commerce Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Iron City
Posts: 194
![]() ![]() ![]() | I got an email last night from Tim Cole, Chief Registrar Liaison for ICANN, regarding the summary of comments on the RAA. The most encouraging item comes in the At Large Advisory Committe taking the stand that "warehousing should be addressed", specifically, from the ALAC document: http://forum.icann.org/lists/raa-con...RrL9jVXNEN.pdf "Other general issues: Since the consultation period, several members of the user community (and the business constituency in the ICANN community) have raised concern about domain name warehousing. At the moment there ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=487472 appears to be no contractual or compliance language that prevents registrars from “warehousing” expired domain names. We believe this creates an unfair situation for members of the public who might wish to own a particular domain name. A number of ICANN-accredited registrars have admitted to engaging in this practice and the user community has made clear its objections." The "user community" -- that's you guys and gals who spoke up and posted comments during the open comment period. This battle is far from over, but to the naysayers and defeatists who said domainers couldn't have an impact on the process - You were wrong. Cheers to the folks who piped up and made a difference, and kudos also to Michael Berkens for highlighting this issue on his blog: http://www.thedomains.com/2008/10/21...-be-addressed/ |
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