information Brent Oxley Loses Access to Create.com, Plus Millions of Dollars Worth of His Domains

[James Iles]

Brent Oxley, the founder of HostGator, has been accruing a portfolio of ultra-premium domain names since he sold his hosting company for close to $300 million in 2013.

With purchases such as Give.com for $500,000, Broker.com for $375,000, and Texas.com for $1,007,500, Oxley has spent millions of dollars over the past few years accumulating this collection. According to his website, the portfolio is worth more than $25 million.

Oxley has now, however, lost access to a proportion of his portfolio

Read the full report on my blog

 

[lambo.com]

Grow up. Except for tom. He is making sense. Rover, point made you despise godaddy they are 100% blame. Hot rod lambo with his stolen 3L in trunk of his fast car just looking to troll. this entire thread has gone way off topic. Oldtimer wants to hug trees and join forces, none of this is helping come to a logical conclusion and legal decision. Rob knows his stuff, but most these posts are only making things worse and more complicated. Mainstream media is having a good laugh at us right now.
And at Brett’s expense. agreed to above post

Haha, cute little mouthy one engaging in slander and peddling lies. Reach for the master you wish you were and I'll write you a few lines.

 

[Samer]

Anyways, we are getting way off topic. I'm going to shut up now.

Tom, i have much respect for you and hope get resolved for all parties! Thx again

When think about it... Longer, the worse it gets.

 

[The Rover]

I really don't see how any business would see any benefit in inserting their ideology in conducting business with any client. Unless there is a significant public blow back that can have a detrimental effect on the overall brand. It just doesn't make sense. Help me out here if I am wrong.

Huh? People's corporate lives have been decimated over much less than this. Have you not been paying attention? Cancel culture is fueled by relentless ideological agendas. It's not necessarily fueled by common sense, and it happens daily within the largest of corporations. It only takes one or two people within a corporation to do something "nefarious" and then hide under the protection of corporate, ambiguous policy. Facebook and Twitter do this constantly. I really don't think you're taking that into the consideration.

You're also forgetting that cancel culture is currently the winning team. Corporations have been getting away with inserting their political ideology into business decisions for so long, that's it just routine at this point. I mean, look at your response above as an example. I find it very curious that without admittingly having the full story, you've already decided that there's just very little possibility that there could have been any political ideology involved here. You don't actually know that, and neither do I. I'm willing to accept that GoDaddy did nothing wrong. However, as I've stated multiple times, I'm also equally willing to accept the possibility that ideological bias did occur. Having the masses bindly refusing to accept such a thing as at least a possibility, is how many companies get away with ideological warfare to begin with. So, you sorta answered your own question there.

 

[DN Playbook]

Tom, i have much respect for you and hope get resolved for all parties! Thx again

When think about it... Longer, the worse it gets.

Indeed. Thank you for remembering my name, even though I changed the handle.

I have respect for you as well. We have had some lively banter which was in good spirits.

You are right. The longer this goes on the worse it will look. When the alleged parties stay silent we are only left to our imaginations. They need to make official statements. None of this schoolyard kicking of the sand. Serious stuff. Let's take it to the next level and be adults.

 

[The Rover]

Grow up. Except for tom. He is making sense. Rover, point made you despise godaddy they are 100% blame. Hot rod lambo with his stolen 3L in trunk of his fast car just looking to troll. this entire thread has gone way off topic. Oldtimer wants to hug trees and join forces, none of this is helping come to a logical conclusion and legal decision. Rob knows his stuff, but most these posts are only making things worse and more complicated. Mainstream media is having a good laugh at us right now.
And at Brett’s expense. agreed to above post

Dude, it's a public forum. People here discuss ideas and all of the possibilities, so get over it. 100% to blame? what are you talking about? You need to actually read what I've typed. You're clearly not doing that. If you have something to say that negates anything I've personally said, then by all means, be specific.

 

[Rob Monster]

I can't speak for @Rob Monster, but I'd imagine that he's chiming in on this thread because he's someone who truly understands the devastating effects of cancel culture and corporate "woke" ideology. He's hosting sites that were canceled by GoDaddy, where according to many sources, and even the owners of the sites themselves, that they were given very ambiguous reasons why they were canceled.

I got into this business for a very simple reason: I experienced Godaddy falling short in a very personal level. At the time, I had 5,000 domains there. I concluded then that there was no way that Godaddy would be the last word in the domain registrar business. That was in 2011. The tactical errors in 2019-21 are probably about as close as it gets to self-destruction when it comes to being a trusted custodian of valuable domains on behalf of people who are reasonably informed and/or accountable to other stakeholders.

I believe we will look back on this incident as historic for the industry -- it is a sort of digital "Gulf of Tonkin" event which changes sentiment by shocking people out of their normalcy bias. It is not a coincidence that in the same month that Godaddy executes an egregious violation of social contract with the industry, DAOs, NFTs and other blockchain tech is seeing a massive boom. Trustless networks thrive when there is no trust. In other words, the countermeasures against digital tyranny were already ready to go.

Again, before I commented on this thread, way back on page 3, I privately implored Aman to clean this up. It was a private appeal so I won't post the content of this email. Suffice it to say that it was written in the spirit of "do unto others". I can only conclude from the callous non-resolution that one of two things are going on: (1) Aman is not the decider but will be a well-paid scapegoat who presides over indefensible actions against digital property, or (2) his heart is hardened -- like on a Pharaoh level (see Exodus 9:12) -- that results in a literal exodus from Godaddy by domain investors who are actually paying attention. Tragic stuff.

 

[The Rover]

I believe we will look back on this incident as historic for the industry -- it is a sort of digital "Gulf of Tonkin" event which changes sentiment by shocking people out of their normalcy bias.

Well said. Although, I must say that each and every time I've merely even suggested that something dishonest may have happened at GoDaddy (even as just a possibility), that I'm immediately attacked for even bringing up the question. In other words, I suppose I'm still waiting for people to be shocked out of their normalcy bias.

 

[DN Playbook]

Indeed. Thank you for remembering my name, even though I changed the handle.

I have respect for you as well. We have had some lively banter which was in good spirits.

You are right. The longer this goes on the worse it will look. When the alleged parties stay silent we are only left to our imaginations. They need to make official statements. None of this schoolyard kicking of the sand. Serious stuff. Let's take it to the next level and be adults.

@create.com If you have the facts on your side, take it to the full limit. You must have all the resources. What is standing in your way?

 

[loredan]

The longer this goes on the worse it will look. When the alleged parties stay silent we are only left to our imaginations. They need to make official statements. None of this schoolyard kicking of the sand. Serious stuff. Let's take it to the next level and be adults.

Thing is big companies are usually quick to shut your mouth when they're right so I believe if GD had any kind of legal backing they would have told us to flock off by the 2nd or 3rd page of this thread.

I think they screwed up big time in this case and now are trying to find ways to justify their incompetence hence the prolonged silence and ambiguous crappy comments from their representatives on this forum ... imo

 

[oldtimer]

Oldtimer wants to hug trees and join forces, none of this is helping come to a logical conclusion and legal decision.

Although everyone is welcomed to express how they feel about this situation, but we all need to realize that this case is pending in the courts as we speak, so best to reserve any judgments until more facts come out.

It could very well be that Godaddy did the right thing if they followed the law as they were required to.

All sides to this dispute including the Plaintiff and the Accused have certain Rights that need to be respected despite any differences between what ideologies different people (or entities) prefer to follow both as far as those who are a party to this dispute and also when it comes to those who are giving their opinions here or making a judgement through the courts.

In another words what we do or believe in personally (like hugging trees) or our sympathy for one side as a domainer should not have any bearing on whom we ultimately think is guilty or innocent when it comes to this case and other similar cases.

Ultimately everyone would probably be happier if they could find a way to settle their differences out of court as the way that things are developing here none of the parties involved in this case might come out of this ordeal unscathed.

The other option for everyone involved is to be quiet and wait for the court rulings and let the chips fall where they may.

IMO

 

[Compassion]

Although everyone is welcomed to express how they feel about this situation, but we all need to realize that this case is pending in the courts as we speak, so best to reserve any judgments until more facts come out.

It could very well be that Godaddy did the right thing if they followed the law as they were required to.

All sides to this dispute including the Plaintiff and the Accused have certain Rights that need to be respected despite any differences between what ideologies different people (or entities) prefer to follow both as far as those who are a party to this dispute and also when it comes to those who are giving their opinions here or making a judgement through the courts.

In another words what we do or believe in personally (like hugging trees) or our sympathy for one side as a domainer should not have any bearing on whom we ultimately think is guilty or innocent when it comes to this case and other similar cases.

Ultimately everyone would probably be happier if they could find a way to settle their differences out of court as the way that things are developing here non of the parties involved in this case might come out of this ordeal unscathed.

The other option for everyone involved is to be quiet and wait for the court rullings and let the chips fall where they may.

IMO

It's good for the liver to hug trees! Ever feel stuck in that upper right quadrant? Go hug a tree and then see how you feel....
(Not medical advice, most MDs will tell you you are crazy if you do this, but it is simple science when you examine the facts )

Hint - A lot of it is about the OXYGEN and CARBON DIOXIDE exchange
And another hint - the wood element governs the liver, gallbladder and tendons . . .
And unprocessed ANGER gets stuck in the liver (remember the liver filters toxins, which includes emotions)

On the flip side of the anger - KINDNESS and COMPASSION are the virtues of the liver!


Yes ultimately the COURTS are for DEAD CORPORATE GOODS on BOATS and not for real live human beings.

When you go to "COURT" you enter the law of water (which is categorized as corporate business contracts) and no longer do you speak in the language of living humans on land if you comply with the legalese.....but I digress....


Those who burden the court systems with frivolous matters stagnate the flow of society.

There is enough information in this thread for an onlooker to see what is REALLY going on IMHO . . .

 

[branding]

It's good for the liver to hug trees! Ever feel stuck in that upper right quadrant? Go hug a tree and then see how you feel....
(Not medical advice, most MDs will tell you you are crazy if you do this, but it is simple science when you examine the facts )

Hint - A lot of it is about the OXYGEN and CARBON DIOXIDE exchange
And another hint - the wood element governs the liver, gallbladder and tendons . . .
And unprocessed ANGER gets stuck in the liver (remember the liver filters toxins, which includes emotions)

I'll skip on the hugging. How about chopping wood instead? It's great exercise, out in the open, fresh air. Makes you feel reborn afterwards.

 

[Compassion]

I'll skip on the hugging. How about chopping wood instead? It's great exercise, out in the open, fresh air. Makes you feel reborn afterwards.

I like this too...

Another healthy way to process the wood energy . . .

Just in case...If you ever feel extremely blocked in the liver or elsewhere (think nasty martial arts blow) the tree will work some alchemy for you that may be better than what any doctor could offer.

It's a little bit of a secret in the esoteric world of energetics.
As hippy dippy as it may sound

 

[The Rover]

Although everyone is welcomed to express how they feel about this situation, but we all need to realize that this case is pending in the courts as we speak, so best to reserve any judgments until more facts come out.

It could very well be that Godaddy did the right thing if they followed the law as they were required to.

All sides to this dispute including the Plaintiff and the Accused have certain Rights that need to be respected despite any differences between what ideologies different people (or entities) prefer to follow both as far as those who are a party to this dispute and also when it comes to those who are giving their opinions here or making a judgement through the courts.



IMO

Sure, if the world was a perfect utopia. The problem is that it isn't. In fact, what we have witnessed over the last few years in this society is exactly the opposite of putting aside ideologies within the corporate sphere. Is GoDaddy innocent here? Did they do the right thing? Sure, that's certainly a possibility. However, people have justification in at least suspecting and discussing that something may have went sideways here, considering everything that we have witnessed politically and socially, over the past few years.

I like this too...

Another way to process the wood energy . . .

Although if you ever feel extremely blocked in the liver or elsewhere (think nasty martial arts blow) the tree will work some alchemy for you that may be better than what any doctor could offer.

I find it curious that a few of my previous comments where deemed to be "off topic" (when in fact they weren't), when there are folks here literally discussing hugging trees on this thread.

 

[Compassion]

I find it curious that a few of my comments where deemed to be "off topic" (when in fact they weren't), when there are folks here literally discussing hugging trees on this thread.

Oh it happens to all of us here.

It was a response to oldtimer and his tree hugging comments.
I did tie it up to meet the original topic (without branching too far off into the nether) - that is the key to weave through the men and women behind the curtains of the moderation queue I have found . . .


We are at the cusp of WOOD season in the northern hemisphere. Spring is here.


Ultimately we will see where the seeds get scattered from this debacle at GD.

At which registrar will the fruits of domain investing be harvested in Autumn?

Rob Monster makes good points about the GD executive team and their motives.

I trust my domains at Epik.

 

[branding]

I find it curious that a few of my previous comments where deemed to be "off topic" (when in fact they weren't), when there are folks here literally discussing hugging trees on this thread.

Not as offtopic as some conspiracy in this thread. Aman is probably too busy hugging some trees as we speak, hence the lack in engagement. See? Not offtopic at all

 

[oldtimer]

Sure, if the world was a perfect utopia. The problem is that it isn't. In fact, what we have witnessed over the last few years in this society is exactly the opposite of putting aside ideologies within the corporate sphere. Is GoDaddy innocent here? Did they do the right thing? Sure, that's certainly a possibility. However, people have justification in at least suspecting and discussing that something may have went sideways here, considering everything that we have witnessed politically and socially, over the past few years.

Most likely we'll find a mix of several factors that are in play when it comes to most corporations:

- A little bit of ideology,

- Some tendency by the executives and the board members to want to adhere to the law just so that they won't jeopardies their company's future and their own positions.

- And a great motivation (greed) to take advantage of all loopholes to make more profits.

Although ideological agendas can play a big role in the direction that a company might go, but not all decisions are based purely on ideological matters.

To understand this better just consider the ideological differences amongst domainers here on this forum, but everyone is still engaging in buying and selling domains from one another and seem to be willing to forget about their ideological differences if a good deal comes up on a valuable domain name.

So although Ideological differences and agendas can certainty play a part in everyone's decisions and actions (corporations or domainers alike) but we should be careful not to take its role out of proportions.

If I were to assign a percentage to all these different factors I would (just as a personal guess) think that:

25% Ideology
25% greed
50% following the law

IMO

 

[barybadrinath]

A domainer started redirecting curve.com to an adult website just to create pressure on curve.io to buy .com , when curve.com was redirecting to adult websites ,it was not giving good publicity to curve.io !

This tactic was used to put pressure. Similarly lot of tactics were used on that innocent family to get that second hand tank for cheap price when the owner of tank died.

Brent sir you might have silenced a lot of people with your money , staff and pressure tactics but don't worry I won't bow down. You do what you want,you can put whole India behind me still I won't bow down until and unless I get justice. Once you only asked me to go to court ( I have evidence) and get justice. Now why are you crying like a baby when I have knocked the court doorsteps to get justice

 

[TheBaldOne]

A domainer started redirecting curve.com to an adult website just to create pressure on curve.io to buy .com , when curve.com was redirecting to adult websites ,it was not giving good publicity to curve.io !

This tactic was used to put pressure. Similarly lot of tactics were used on that innocent family to get that second hand tank for cheap price when the owner of tank died.

Brent sir you might have silenced a lot of people with your money , staff and pressure tactics but don't worry I won't bow down. You do what you want,you can put whole India behind me still I won't bow down until and unless I get justice. Once you only asked me to go to court ( I have evidence) and get justice. Now why are you crying like a baby when I have knocked the court doorsteps to get justice

............. and GoDaddy acted outside the law with this kind of rubbish (as well as numerous other examples throughout this thread) from their supposed complainant?

Absolutely beggars belief. No wonder the GoDaddy legal team are having trouble trying to find a defence for their company.

 

[barybadrinath]

I dont have such an impressive portfolio like Brent but I can feel the pain and agony. Over the period of time I have acquired some great domains and kept them in Godaddy thinking they will be the protector of my assets (I paid them money for the names and paid a lot of it- Sometime all my savings for a great name)

I look into this issue from 3 angles..

1. As a Domain investor: As a domain investor this is clear sign that Godaddy is not the right registrar for your premium domains. Some crook from far country will get any document in their court and GoDaddy will just lock domains. Over period of time I have put all my savings and investments in digital real estate, and this case seems something similar to having money in American bank but my bank saying your money is frozen because someone in Nigeria says its their money because they sent me those ponzy emails that ‘I won a million dollar in inheritance’. and because they sent those email they have the rights on my bank account. Godaddy should realize that how much credibility they are losing and what value they will provide to their stakeholders by doing this. THEY NEED TO TAKE STAND. I have lost my trust and would be moving my portfolio from Godaddy to a trusted registrar.

2. As a NamePros community member: I have seen his past posts and he is no broker or a domainer.I have never seen him putting anything constructive for community and always ruffling feathers with others. We don’t need such toxic people in our community. They don’t do any good for anyone.

3. As an Indian: I am ashamed that my country has people like Puneet AKA Badri and I am not sure how many such names he has. We are good hard-working people who invest wisely and don’t cheat others. It’s not in our culture and values to swindle and extort money from others .When I see someone doing it I feel ashamed and I apologies to Brent and everyone that some scrupulous guy from India is doing it. Hope this gets resolved and I fully support you and request Godaddy to take consent on the matter.

Lol. You seem to be in lot of pain. Can I take u out for coffee. Just 1 coffee and nothing else

 

[Lox]

So far ... a few blogs but no mainstream media houses stepped up. Only Crunchbase GD Signals & News timeline picked up TheDomains.com coverage. So, the question arises why - ?

 

[DN Playbook]

So far ... a few blogs but no mainstream media houses stepped up. Only Crunchbase GD Signals & News timeline picked up TheDomains.com coverage. So, the question arises why - ?

Very good question. That Crunchbase page is an aggregate of news that links to TheDomains. But DomainInvesting also posted something about this. I am refraining from writing anything. There are so many unanswered questions and very limited information offered. I would advise everyone with no invested interests to take a step back and let things play out in the courts. Sounds like charges have been filed in the US as well?

 

[The Rover]

sycophant brokers cum clowns

What the actual hell is even happening right now?!
(someone please register that domain)

launch a defamation artificial campaign against GoDaddy and ceo.

There's no "defamation campaign" on this thread. As a matter of fact, if there's a campaign at all on this thread, it's more of an effort to completely discredit legit concerns that are critical of GoDaddy. However, what you're witnessing are simply customers and shareholders who are concerned and pissed off that this entire spectacle even occurred. It's what happens when customers are concerned with a company potentially dropping the ball; you get immediate feedback. This entire debacle has inspired people to openly discuss many long-standing issues with GoDaddy. It also has sparked conversations on possible changes after Aman came aboard. Attempting to spin observational points as some kind of "defamation campaign", is laughable.

A few of the observations discussed on this thread include, but are not limited to:

- GoDaddy's obsession with social justice and virtue signalling on their social media accounts.

- Aman's own public statements regarding social justice, virtue and his corporate vision for the company, and whether any of that has the potential to spark conflict with customers (especially larger, well known domainers) who may not share the same ideology.

- GoDaddy's pattern of cancelling domains and websites they've deemed to be promoting "violence" or "hate" etc. but also curiously and overwhelmingly all lean towards only one side of the political spectrum.

- The frustration with the increasing issues with GoDaddy's customer service as evidenced by countless other posts on the internet

- Aman's lack of participation in this thread and/or offering any public statements in the interim.

These above points are not kooky conspiratorial, nor are they off the table in public discussion. They're simply legit concerns that are (imo) rather relevant to this particular thread. GoDaddy isn't immune to public criticism no different than any other company. GoDaddy has a responsibility to acknowledge the public's concerns, not to mock them or accuse shareholders as being "conspiracy theorists". As the largest registrar in the world, GoDaddy has a responsibility to put their customers at ease by being specific on what actually occurred here, and also WHY other concerns shouldn't actually be a concern.

So at the end of the day, all of this is fair and open discussion. If you have a problem with a particular statement on this thread that's been said about either GoDaddy or the CEO, then please be specific and elaborate (with evidence) that negates any statements that you disagree with.

As far as all of your other dramatic accusations towards @create.com I don't think anyone else here can really comment, since all of that is between you and Brent. Personally, my gut tells me that much of what you're accusing Brent of is likely bullshit. Regardless, it would be great to hear additional perspectives from both GoDaddy and Brent, instead of seeing things like "sycophant brokers cum clowns" posted here.

 

[Lox]

... I would advise everyone with no invested interests to take a step back ...

64,630 Views (ppl spend at least 10 minutes reading = 646300 minutes / 10772 hours x $ =)
1,098 Replies (ppl spend at least 10 minutes writing = 10980 minutes / 183 hours x $ = )

... a pretty big reason why all involved parties should donate to charity! incl. GD

 

[DN Playbook]

As far as all of your other dramatic accusations towards @create.com I don't think anyone else here can really comment, since all of that is between you and Brent. Personally, my gut tells me that much of what you're accusing Brent of is likely bullshit. Regardless, it would be great to hear additional perspectives from both GoDaddy and Brent, instead of seeing things like "sycophant brokers cum clowns" posted here.

It seems like dramatic accusations go both ways. As disturbing as they are, I think making that public is a mistake. I cannot take either side seriously if they go down that road. You have to be able to make a compelling argument in a professional way in public. Defamation, death threats, slander, etc, can be handled in the courts of law, not in the court of public opinion. This is dirty laundry. There is nothing we can do about it except suffer the stains.