AirFranceCrash.com - Why? Why? Why?

[Robbie]

I have been away on business for the past few days and have had limited access to the web, usual check my emails etc but thats about it.

So today upon my return on a flight home after hearing about all of this tragic news about the Air France Crash I instantly did a whois and Im not surprised to see someone has snapped up.

Airfrancecrash.com - Air France Crash

AirFranceCrash.com, .net, .org & .info through GD.

I dont know if the guy is a domainer or who he is but the question I have to ask is why?

What makes you want to own this type of domain?

What can you do with it?

Would Air France shut you down?

Is it morally correct to own or operate these names?

At present the names are sitting in GD parking but I just dont get why someone would register this?

Anyone got any thoughts?

Regards,

Rob

 

[hawkeye]

...If you squint just right this turkey looks like a "flame" retardant hat. _\|/_

OMG!! It Does!

 

[gazzip]

(stepping carefully past the flames starting to fly in this thread ...:D )



I'd be VERY surprised if they put up any kind of public website on any of those domains. Their business is about reputation management for their client (Air France) - they need to be sure that information about the incident widely available on the internet sticks to known facts and approved statements, is not damaging to their client, and is sensitive to the victims' families. This was a defensive move on their part.

Probably, it does look that way.

They also own - 1549down.com a320crash.com Us1549.com and a bunch of other ones

.

 

[copper]

Right.
Don't tell me the domain show godaddy parking page because
"Xenophon Strategies" don't know how to change Name Servers.

If they registered it in good faith, they can simply forward
the domain to appropriate site if they don't want to spend time.

That's much better use of domain than showing ads unless
their reason of registring that domain is monetary one.

 

[JayJay]

I dont see a problem with regging any domain whatsoever other than TMs. Its what you do with it that matters. I own a few names for a likely future tragic event and if I didnt, there are plenty of other people that would have regged them so I sleep perfectly fine at night.

 

[shane mac]

I think the only domain ive bought that "ambulance chases" is jackocancer.com

I still dont feel it was right to get it,even though I did,now I just feel like I will let it drop.

The only consilation is knowing that where there is muck there is money.The web shows everything from extreme adult "entertainment" to cartoons,so somewhere along the line,someone will want to buy domains that spell out world events or tragedies.Its just the way it is...although I do have a concience.

 

[Ms Domainer]

THE whole business of domaining is taking things you don't need so those who do will have to pay premium prices for them.

Don't kid yourself, most people in this field will do anything to make a buck.

*

Um, don't include me in the category of "doing anything" to make a buck.

I still believe that one can be an ethical domainer.


*

 

[richardyost]

I am Richard Yost and I work for Xenophon Strategies, a Washington, DC-based public affairs agency that has extensive experience in crisis and emergency response. We have worked many significant airline tragedies as well as assisted in hurricane disaster response – for instance we had a team on the ground in New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.

We noted this discussion board during our normal monitoring of news and Web activity regarding the Air France tragedy and we would like to explain why we registered airfrancecrash.com. We do this for the sole purpose of keeping these domains from being used for purposes that could potentially exploit the situation; we do not use these sites and have transferred registration of similar sites when asked to do so. These domains are not for sale at any price.

If you have any questions, please contact Xenophon Strategies directly. I’ll be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

 

[Robbie]

I am Richard Yost and I work for Xenophon Strategies, a Washington, DC-based public affairs agency that has extensive experience in crisis and emergency response. We have worked many significant airline tragedies as well as assisted in hurricane disaster response – for instance we had a team on the ground in New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.

We noted this discussion board during our normal monitoring of news and Web activity regarding the Air France tragedy and we would like to explain why we registered airfrancecrash.com. We do this for the sole purpose of keeping these domains from being used for purposes that could potentially exploit the situation; we do not use these sites and have transferred registration of similar sites when asked to do so. These domains are not for sale at any price.

If you have any questions, please contact Xenophon Strategies directly. I’ll be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you Richard for your reply.

I started this thread to find out why someone would register this name.

Im glad your company has done this for the correct reasons.

Should you wish to discuss this in more detail, I would like to offer you an opportunity to discuss your business in more detail on my blog. The choice is yours please email me [email protected] if you are interested.

Thank you once again for your reply to this thread.

Regards,

Robbie

 

[SeanPreston]

It's a shame it happened of course, but there will always be someone out there wanting to make a few bucks out of it. What do you think news programs, radios, Newspapers etc are doing? ... making money from the headline.

@richardyost: sounds like a nice comapany you work for, good luck and keep up the hard work.


Sean

 

[hawkeye]

Thanks for stopping in and clarifying things on this, Richard. :tu:

 

[FPForum]

A company hired them after 9/11, that is why they picked up the flight 587 domain. Couldn't it be possible air france hired them after this tragic event? Maybe that is why they picked up the name.

 

[enlytend]

Richard, thank you for your clarification.

(I rest my case!)

Um, don't include me in the category of "doing anything" to make a buck.

Likewise.

 

[dtagr]

I am Richard Yost and I work for Xenophon Strategies, a Washington, DC-based public affairs agency that has extensive experience in crisis and emergency response. We have worked many significant airline tragedies as well as assisted in hurricane disaster response – for instance we had a team on the ground in New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.

We noted this discussion board during our normal monitoring of news and Web activity regarding the Air France tragedy and we would like to explain why we registered airfrancecrash.com. We do this for the sole purpose of keeping these domains from being used for purposes that could potentially exploit the situation; we do not use these sites and have transferred registration of similar sites when asked to do so. These domains are not for sale at any price.

If you have any questions, please contact Xenophon Strategies directly. I’ll be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

I may have been mistaken when I assumed you had acquired a contract for managing PR and Media control, but it is clear based on your DN registrations that you are either actively seeking one or attempting to exploit the situation and earn parking revenue.

There is nothing illegal or immoral in either case, although I do not believe your altruistic motives. An altruist would have an under construction page or redirect to the relevant Air France page. We domainers simply know better.

Good luck with your endeavours.

 

[SeanPreston]

@dtagr: Good point.

Sean

 

[Blake]

The power and spread of information via namepros still amazes me. Good job on capturing the domain to keep it away from folks who would pass along false or bad information.

Props to your company

 

[movingconcierge]

I'm happy to learn that this reg may be a legit effort to help grieving families and to disseminate information about the tragedy of AF 447

Re: Ambulance chasers, it's been going on here for a long time.
http://www.namepros.com/domain-appraisals/121279-hurrikankatrina-com.html

that thread is from 3.5 human years ago. I'm not sure what the conversion is to douche bag years. maybe a defender of ambulance chasers can help out with that.

hacks that register tragic names for pennies in profit are the sour spot in the jowls of policy makers and why dumb shit like S.B. 2661 and CADNA live. if you want to keep your fly lifestyle of making legit money while you sleep, then chase these douche bags out of the business.

that's my longest post here in nearly 2 years. see you in another 2 years.

 

[copper]

I'm happy to learn that this reg
may be a legit effort to help grieving families and to disseminate
information about the tragedy of AF 447

Sorry, but, I don't believe it one bit as it currently shows ads
when they can show info regarding this tragic incident or at least
put relevant links for it.

What's so different between "Xenophon Strategies" and other people
who register such domains and park it?

They both serve ads = seeking monetary benefits.

What am I missing?

 

[bgmv]

I personally dont care if this company is representing Air France or not, registering this domain is in bad taste. They were fully aware that people would be searching for those terms and taht is why they chose to reg that domain. If they really were trying to protect squatters from registering this domain then there wouldnt be a GoDaddy parked page up, Im sure they are fully capable of changing the DNS

 

[enlytend]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but if someone registers a domain at Godaddy and leaves the default nameserver settings, doesn't it show a Godaddy parked page by default? With the revenue, if any, going to Godaddy, unless you've PAID for a domain parking account?

This is a PR company, I'm assuming they've been hired by Air France. They're not domainers, they deal in corporate communications, public relations and legal. Looks like they're a small company too - if they're covering this incident then I'm sure they have a LOT of things on their plate that take priority over changing some nameservers.

Move on folks - nothing to see here.

 

[copper]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but if someone registers a domain at Godaddy and leaves the default nameserver settings, doesn't it show a Godaddy parked page by default? With the revenue, if any, going to Godaddy, unless you've PAID for a domain parking account?

This is a PR company, I'm assuming they've been hired by Air France. They're not domainers, they deal in corporate communications, public relations and legal. Looks like they're a small company too - if they're covering this incident then I'm sure they have a LOT of things on their plate that take priority over changing some nameservers.

Move on folks - nothing to see here.

Ah.
You just may be right.
I never thought of it that way.

But, still, results are same.
Showing ads instead of showing relevant info/links.

Just showing link page and changing name server don't take much time.
I would say about 5 - 10 minutes?
So, "a LOT of things on their plate" do not work in this case