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Why and how Epik allows CoronaVirus domains to be listed

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Rob Monster

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Epik has a history of standing for responsible free speech that is within the bounds of the law. As such, when it comes to the topic of Corona Virus domain names, I doubt there will be a large change on that position.

This is not a light matter, and we certainly will remain vigilant to acceptable use. However, to pre-judge that every Corona-related domain is to be used for evil is akin to Dystopian Minority Report pre-crime.

May rational heads prevail and may orderly free speech be used to accelerate progress and to encourage those who are suffering in one way or another.

For additional context, I posted a short video on Twitter:

 
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I saw and interview on TV tonight about this initiative:
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/03...r-food-supplies-to-new-yorkers-stuck-at-home/

They could use the exact match domain which seems to be registered at GoDaddy, probably by a domainer.

Would it be right for someone to make a profit selling the name to them, or a similar initiative? Profiting from people who voluntarily risk their own health for the greater good?

Guess not. It's not just black and white though. Both preventing it from having been registered nor preventing someone from selling it is gonna help them to obtain the domain.

I'm sure some marketplaces and registrars put restrictions in place with good intentions but ultimately there are multiple scenarios I can think of that will actually make it harder to get the right name to the right people under this kind of censorship.

The big difference is, in my opinion, had this domain been registered at Epik and listed there I'm 100% sure that I would be able to work with Epik to convince the owner to let it go for the greater good.

That being said, most people would probably think, crap it's taken and move on not even concidering reaching out to the owner or registrar.
 
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I saw and interview on TV tonight about this initiative:
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/03...r-food-supplies-to-new-yorkers-stuck-at-home/

They could use the exact match domain which seems to be registered at GoDaddy, probably by a domainer.

Would it be right for someone to make a profit selling the name to them, or a similar initiative? Profiting from people who voluntarily risk their own health for the greater good?

Guess not. It's not just black and white though. Both preventing it from having been registered nor preventing someone from selling it is gonna help them to obtain the domain.

I'm sure some marketplaces and registrars put restrictions in place with good intentions but ultimately there are multiple scenarios I can think of that will actually make it harder to get the right name to the right people under this kind of censorship.

The big difference is, in my opinion, had this domain been registered at Epik and listed there I'm 100% sure that I would be able to work with Epik to convince the owner to let it go for the greater good.

That being said, most people would probably think, crap it's taken and move on not even concidering reaching out to the owner or registrar.

Right on.

There are going to be a lot of stories about communities coming together. Here is a story about my wife's medical clinic:

https://www.facebook.com/robmonster/posts/10159501906699409

If someone wanted to use the domain CoronaMasks.com to locally source hand made masks, I think that would be fine. That domain is on Godaddy.

Anyway, you are right, it is not black and white. There is going to be a lot community co-creation in the coming months. The supply chains have only just barely begun to collapse.
 
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Case by case. It's called discernment. Mature adults have it but most are too lazy to use it.

What if you have hundreds or thousands of cases. Who is going to use discernment through all of them, especially since there is zero financial return? That’s a lot of investment in time. How would you go about it?
 
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What if you have hundreds or thousands of cases. Who is going to use discernment through all of them, especially since there is zero financial return? That’s a lot of investment in time. How would you go about it?

We crowdsource feedback. You obviously see it on NamePros, but also directly on our sites.

We have an abuse reporting model. Also, every domain lander and every marketplace listing has a live chat.

We might add a "Report this listing" on and individual marketplace listing like this one:

https://marketplace.epik.com/CoronaVirusSpray.com

To be clear, I don't have a problem with that listing, by the way. It is a useful domain with Make Offer pricing. It is exactly as I would like to see people list their Corona names.

There is no shortage of easy ways for people to tell us if a customer is abusing their liberties.
 
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Seems like the topic has strayed a little. I'll briefly bring it back around to how despicable Epik is for allowing corona names on their marketplace.

@TCK @.X. Epik is not alone.

Should we boycott SquadHelp? Looks like they're going to profit off of corona with a no-good, greedy corona contest.

https://www.squadhelp.com/app-name-ideas/25628/Name-for-an-Covid19-Tracing-Mobile-App

edit: @Ostrados I like you but I'm calling you out too. What do you think about this contest? Bad taste? Not good for society?
 
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We crowdsource feedback. You obviously see it on NamePros, but also directly on our sites.

We have an abuse reporting model. Also, every domain lander and every marketplace listing has a live chat.

We might add a "Report this listing" on and individual marketplace listing like this one:

https://marketplace.epik.com/CoronaVirusSpray.com

To be clear, I don't have a problem with that listing, by the way. It is a useful domain with Make Offer pricing. It is exactly as I would like to see people list their Corona names.

There is no shortage of easy ways for people to tell us if a customer is abusing their liberties.

This is basically the model that the Web functions on already. There are authority websites where you can report abusive sites, IP addresses, emails, etc. Browsers and email clients will then block them.

The issue is that people with nefarious intent, when reported and having their sites/IPs banned, will simply register a similar domain in another extension, or same extension but with a variant of the name, on a different IP and continue. It is a cycle. When we're dealing with a pandemic where people are affected by strong emotions such as fear and anxiety, it makes it that much worse.
 
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This is basically the model that the Web functions on already. There are authority websites where you can report abusive sites, IP addresses, emails, etc. Browsers and email clients will then block them.

The issue is that people with nefarious intent, when reported and having their sites/IPs banned, will simply register a similar domain in another extension, or same extension but with a variant of the name, on a different IP and continue. It is a cycle. When we're dealing with a pandemic where people are affected by strong emotions such as fear and anxiety, it makes it that much worse.


And that is precisely why Domainers did humanity a favor by taking all of those cheap domains off the market so that scammers will struggle who need DISPOSABLE domains will greatly struggle to find them. It is actually an unintended consequence of the free market!
 
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And that is precisely why Domainers did humanity a favor by taking all of those cheap domains off the market so that scammers will struggle who need DISPOSABLE domains will greatly struggle to find them. It is actually an unintended consequence of the free market!

no not really

coronavirus.dhsgt.com

will do
 
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And that is precisely why Domainers did humanity a favor by taking all of those cheap domains off the market so that scammers will struggle who need DISPOSABLE domains will greatly struggle to find them. It is actually an unintended consequence of the free market!

What stats are you going by? With hundreds of extensions and many millions of combinations, how do you know domainers took "all of those cheap domains off the market"? There are still many "disposable" coronavirus/covid-19 variant domains available at hand-reg. Even quite a few for 0.99 for the first year. And even if a domainer sells a domain for a few hundred then how does he know it is not going to be misused?
 
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Reading all of the wise replies by Rob in this thread convinced me to try Epik.com out. (y)
 
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