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.mobi I bid $611,000 for music.mobi - Lawsuit Pending

NameSilo
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Hello everyone,

I have been a part of this SEDO .mobi auction auction and I am the one responsible for the bid $611,000 for music.mobi.

However I stopped bidding at the point where I realised that the NEW auction was a scam because the two bidders that were bidding me up were NEW bidders who were not even involved in the initial auction.

The initial auction closed with me winning the last bid at $66,000.

I received an invoice and 2 emails regarding the winning bid.

Let me ask everything this key question? If you are bidding on eBay and you have a 7 day auction and you take a chance and wait til the last second to bid what if your DSL line or connection or even your computer crashes? I think many of us had this experience in the past. I know I had this happen last week on eBay when my computer froze and in essence lost the bid. Did eBay care? NO! Does SEDO care if you WERE going to bid and failed to do so if your computer crashed or had a slow connection? NO! Well, wait a second in this case they do.

They proclaimed me winner send me 2 emails, sent me an invoice. I considered the bid finished and was ready to go and play guitar and record this new song I was working on in the studio. By chance, I get an email by whom? BOTH the .mobi MTLD who started INVITING people via a bulk message hyping them up that the servers have crashed and that there is huge demand for the .mobi auction. Then Sedo followed. So 2 bulk messages sent to the world inviting them to attend a NEW auction. Not only that, they extended the auction to 2.5 hrs NOT 5 minutes.

Anyhow, I seriously have been negotiating with .mobi since 2006 about music.mobi but they seem to want money and to rob everyone of money than have someone develop a super site like I am. So the whole RFP was bogus. I tried fir over a year and they just said "you will have to bid for it".

So, I am really upset, they caused me to miss my jam session and on top of that they allowed NEW bidders to the new auction. I say I have NO PROBLEM with old bidders that were active in the original auction bidding their maximum. Even though I was invoiced $66,000 I emailed SEDO and MTLD letting them know that I would pay them $81,000 because bidder 9 (I was the last bidder 12 to bid for the name in the original auction) rebid his maximum at $80k.

So there comes along NEW bidders 13 and 14 who did not even attend the initial, legal auction. They probably got the bulk email fro both SEDO and MTLD and invited themselves to the dance. HOW can an auction that has ended have NEW bidders? I have no problems bidding with the 12 bidders that have bid against me in the initial auction but NEW bidders who were enticed by HYPE emails? Have you ever heard of a closed auction then an hour later having a new bidder say I will outbid the winner even though i was not even in the auction? NO!

Anyhow, the bid to $616,000 is illegal. I sent the MTLD and SEDO an email and let them know that they should retract all my bids ($611,000) that were automatically placed by SEDO as a result of NEW bidders who were not even active in the original auction. In the new auction, the only legal bidder was bidder 9 who was also in the original auction. The bidder bid for $80k and i outbid him.

How can I be declared a winner then told that I am not the winner then they invite new bidders? Also how can they say that their terms of services states that they can redo the auction and there is no legal agreement? REALLY? I checked it and i saw no section that related to servers crashing and technology interruptions.Tough luck, you had 7 days to bid and you didnt. You cant be bidding after. You take a chance, then be brave enough to live by it and acknowledge that you had considerable time to bid. And the new bidders 13 and 14 and dont care who you are but you had no place bidding in an auction with the old active bidders.

Sedo I have bought numerous domains for tens of thousands of dollars and I refuse to park them and make money off parking (Domain King you can do that and **** the internet up for all of us). I will NEVER do business again with thieves especially the MTLD. They are making bank and playing everyone.

OK my story is not done yet. I stop bidding at $611k because in my mind I should not be bidding against NEW bidders (yes I did realise it at the end) who had no place in the auction since they did not attend the original one. So i stop and half an hour later I get a message from SEDO asking me if I was interested to buy mp3s.mobi for $500,000? So let me get this straight. because I bid up to $611,000 (yes I am retracting this bid and every other bid made against NEW, illegal bidders), does that mean you think I should buy another music domain? I told them I would not buy mp3s.mobi for $300 and basically told them that they will hear from my lawyers if this mess is not solved.

I suggest a class lawsuit and I seriously will BOYCOTT both SEDO and MTLD. I loved SEDO and have been a client for years but this money hungry, sleazy, unethical tactics are unacceptable. For all of you complaining that you did not get a bid in the last 5 minutes tough luck, you had 7 days (considerable time that is). I took a chance and won. I would have bid higher but I am not going to fill SEDO and MTLD's pockets with my hard earned money because they screwed up royally.

What can I say? I am ready to kick some serious butt here. And sue these guys for emotional distress. SEDO seriously, you lost one of your top clients and super domainers. Lost my respect and you have robbed me and others in all fairness. I seriously will NOT let this go. If justice is not served, I will sue, I will go to the press, I will tell my story, I will post all the emails I got, invoices and screenshots of my winning bid and I am sure it will reflect future SEDO=MOBI auctions. Did anyone say sex.mobi? Yes, the MTLD is greedy and so is SEDO. This is bad business. REALLY bad. Not sure I can trust them. i will not be surprised if Bidder 13 and 14 were internal just to bid up my proxy of $611,000.

The world record is not real people. It would have been if other original bidders bid me up to $615k. The new bidders in my mind either are internal fake bidders or new, illegal bidders who came in after being sent bulk emails by both SEDO/MTLD full of hype.

If they do not accept my winning auction and fair win versus the original bidders even in the new auction, then I WILL pursue this since I do have some spare change here now.

Costa

MusicMusic.com
Music.us
Music.pro
Music.im
Music.fm
MP3.fm

Blog: Entrepreneur.pro


PS After 3 years of development, I will be launching the biggest music site in the beginning of 2008, so if anyone knows any bands who would be interested, let them know to sign up their email at music.us. So much for the .mobi implementation on my site.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
keithmt said:
Spot on! It certainly was'nt fair for the people that could not place a bid. At least those that lost in the first round got to bid.

Sedo did the right thing by re-starting the auction they just should have set up another day and time to resume. Thus everyone would have a fair chance to bid as much as they chose.
i agree
but the point is what the OP stated in the first post... he would bid against the old bidders but not against new ones as it happened (new bidders came bid until the end)
besides the legal issue (the name in a non-attorney opinion) was owned by the OP should go to him because of the plans to develop it... music.mobi would be very very good to .mobi be news for enough time to be known and used by people that dont know it yet... good and free publicity
 
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bricio said:
should go to him because of the plans to develop it... music.mobi would be very very good to .mobi be news for enough time to be known and used by people that dont know it yet... good and free publicity

I don't see why it should matter, both buyers would have to abide by mtld policies, so exact development plans are a non issue in my view.
 
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snoop said:
I don't see why it should matter, both buyers would have to abide by mtld policies, so exact development plans are a non issue in my view.
There is development and there is development.

Costas (the first winner) has, according to what he says, been working for three years on a music site. It sounds like he lives for music and is pouring his soul and his resources into his dream. He apparently tried hard to get music.mobi by RFP.

Of course there is no way to know for sure, but it seems that he is the type that can bring fresh ideas and passion to this new realm of mobile music and could create a tremendous viral buzz with Music.mobi, greatly helping publicize the extension as he does it.

Perhaps Alvaro will sell to someone with equal pasion, but the odds do not favor it.
 
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accentnepal said:
Perhaps Alvaro will sell to someone with equal pasion, but the odds do not favor it.

Alvaro's in a very tricky position, isn't he?....I mean, does he move to try to take ownership of those 6 domains (including music.mobi)?

If I was Alvaro, I'd be very reluctant to pay over $1.2m (for the 6 names he 'won') whilst they are 'In Dispute'...

If he did, that money may get locked up until all litigation is settled - and, anyway, would mTLD agree to transfer the names whilst in dispute...?...I doubt it...May be a long time.

And, I doubt he could sell the name to musicdotmobi, for example, for anything like he bid at the auction, 'cos musicdotmobi claims to have the right to music.mobi for what he bid - ie $66,000.

From everything that musicdotmobi has said, he's a music man....and he'd do great things for .mobi with that name....I hope he gets it....

.
 
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SEDO Auction Error on Music.mobi domain or contrived business model?

DomainTalker: No question there is legal and practical ammunition here. Legalities aside, SEDO's success is tied up in their credibility as service provider. Because they make more money if the price is higher on their 10% commission, they have incentive to play games and drive the price higher. What happened here may be technical error and bad judgment or, worse, part of a business model which understands that there are ways to fan the flames once the fire is burning.

I started a thread on my blog concerning this issue here http://tcattorney.typepad.com/techlaw/
 
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Anyone know what happened with this? I see that music.us has control over music.mobi now...
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Update:
I found the answer here:
http://www.entrepreneur.pro/
 
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nameimprove.com said:
Anyone know what happened with this? I see that music.us has control over music.mobi now...
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Update:
I found the answer here:
http://www.entrepreneur.pro/
A settlement was reached and the name went to the
initial bidder.
 
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