Morals?

[Morph]

Here's something we have been talking about in chat.

Here is the scenario

You find SBD.com (No idea why that domain) in your registrars account - there are no transfer or push logs nothing, no one has contacted you.

Do you A - Keep the domain - you have done nothing wrong, lets reap the rewards.

Do you B - Contact your registrar have to fax copies of your passport and various paperwork, have to ring them 3 times and finally they let you give the domain back to the owner. You get a nice thank you email.

Whatdo you do for Q 1?



Q2

You find SBD.com on ebay - no one else has bid on it and you get the domain for 0.99c. The seller pleas with you to let him/her keep the domain and they will give you a 100$ settlement for positive feedback.

Do you A - make them transfer the domain - you won fair and square
OR
Do you B - Accept the 100$ and leave pos feedback. you get thanked repeatedly by the seller and get a thank you card in the mail.

What would you do?

 

[BinderGang]

The first case: I would find out why. See if anyone contacts me about it, check old whois info, etc. If I find the owner, I'd expect a reward

Second case: Screw that! Too bad for them. It's fair and square. Push me that name!

 

[-AB-]

My first thought would be take it but then my morals would kick in...
I would ask for 50% of the fair market value since he will get double that. =|

-Michael

 

[Morph]

Personally - I'd take some screen shots and send it back :p

 

[Chicken]

First One:

I'd do all the stuff to get it back to original owner, it would suck to get a domain taken away from yourself. Why let it happen to another person

Second:

I'd take the $100 but say I'm not leaving positive feedback or any at all.

 

[Rom]

1. Wow! God is real!
(Would be too lazy to send all my info, I'd just look @ old whois records and contact)

2. make them transfer the domain

 

[Mark]

Q1

I'd have to contact the previous owner(s) on Whois History as well as the current or last Registrar (I'd contact the former owners first though) ... Even if you have done nothing wrong , You know full well it isn't yours and someone out there is going to take a loss otherwise. Even if you've done nothing wrong - Your reputation could be ruined in a matter of moments by just a few forum posts , Not even worth considering IMO ~


Q2

If it was a legit auction - I'd probably move forward with gaining possession of the domain .... We've all sold things way too cheap in auctions and I find it to be a Great learning experience. I don't recall anyone ever offering to allow me an "out" on a Auction where the price was low .... And I'd never ask for one. If I were the seller - I wouldn't be happy , But I'd take it like an adult and ask for their Push/Transfer info.
If no reserves are allowed - Don't take the risk on High End domains.
If reserves are allowed , Place it high enough that you feel comfortable selling at that price .... Simple as that. "REAL" Auctions are not for the faint of heart or the Inexperienced IMO ~

The 2nd question has little to do with Morals or Ethics really as far as I'm concerned , It's just plain Business - "Dog eat Dog"

 

[DnPresident]

I'd prob keep it, hoping Godaddy hooked me up for buying so many names.

As long as it didn't have a owner.

If it had an owner they would be contacted from me immediatly. I ask for nothing.

I have enough names I may not notice it for months.

 

[.X.]

The first one:I would contact the owner , and get the name back into thier account

The second one: Probably sounds stupid, But if they offered the settlement, I would accept it, and let them keep the name, If i took the name and sold it for 10K, It would be "Dirty" Money, And probably come back on me 3 fold, I have actually done it with auctions, Knowing the name is worth much more money, I have told the seller, They aren't obligated to sell it to me, If they wish to keep it.

 

[champ_rock]

1. i would return the domain

2. i think i would settle for a lot higher especially if it is a LLL.com name

 

[mis_chiff]

Q1 - I would try to find the owner, after the initial
shock of finding a nice LLL.com wears off :D

Q2 - Too bad, so sad, you start an auction - you finish it!
If you don't want it going to cheap - put it on a reserve!

BUT, I'd probably give in anyway and take the deal...

 

[SimpleDomaining]

putting morales a side. you are asking something like this: if you would find in your home a big and expencive jewlery, no idea how did it appeared in your home, would you try to find owner, or gladly think, that what is in your hands - yours.
in first example, i would think that this is nice registrars present and i would let it be there until somebody will finally contact and tell me whats going on.
in ebay auction, whats sold is sold. business is business. there is bunch of crazy sales going on. its like going to the casino, loosing bunch of money and wondering about casinos morale, why they ould not give back my money?

 

[briman1970]

Q1 - No way would I contact the registrar about it. I'd find out who the actual owner of SBD.com was and contact them directly. If I tried and tried but they were too difficult to locate, I'd keep the name for a couple of years then sell it. If I did get in touch with them, I'd let them know that I expect a nice reward. If they didn't want to give me a reward, I'd still transfer the name back to them.

Q2 - I'd laugh at the $100 offer then let the seller know I expect transfer of the name ASAP. I'd give the seller three options though... 1) I immediately auction the name at Sedo and we split the profit... 2) He gives me $5000 and I transfer the name back... 3) I keep the name and he takes it as a learning experience.

I'm such a saint.

 

[dgridley]

1. I'm generally too lazy and would most likely attribute the domain being in my account to a glitch.. I'd wait a few days to see if they caught on to their mistake, then I'd contact the registrar to report the mistake and have them put it back where it belongs.

2. Depending on what I wanted the name for and how badly, I might either resell it to the original owner or not.. an auction is an auction, after all.

 

[deleted984054565403]

1) I'd let it go until something was taken care of -- unless it was a bad push, mistakes undo themselves.

2) An auction's an auction. It ruins the point of an auction if something goes for lower than the seller expects -- normally, the point of an auction is to sell it for cheap.

 

[armstrong]

Q1. I'll retain whois info, except that I'll change the nameservers to mine, and email address to lostandfound-at-myowndomain-dot-com. Let the real owner contact and convince me; I have better things to do than go chasing after a negligent owner. And if no one contacts me before renew time? Maybe I'll pay for domain renewal; if the owner turns up, he can pay me back at netsol's $35 per year rate, plus interest. After several years of this, I would consider the domain mine. This concept has legal precedent in real estate, where someone who lives unchallenged on a piece of property for several years could end up owning the land:

http://www.londonluxuryproperty.co.uk/property_news/index.html

The feisty pensioner dug his heels in and consulted lawyers who provided evidence which showed that he had been living unchallenged on the plot for 21 years, and thus could claim the land as his own.

Q2. The domain is mine. Have a nice day!

 

[James]

Q1
i'd leave it and hope for the owner to contact me, not advertising the name but i think if they knew it was missing they would email the current whois owner, then i'd talk to them about it and such then i'd transfer it back if it seemed to be theres.

Q2
i'd keep it. as Mark was saying we've all sold stuff to cheap, put a reserve

 

[Kenny]

No Brainer

Q1) Find the owner, push it back.

Q2) No Reserve? And unlike NP, no buyout.
Thanks for the sale.

 

[Barrucadu]

1) Park it until I get contacted, if I don't get contacted, sell it at some point
2) Thanks for the domain.

 

[maximum]

I could argue either give or take on either question. But, this is a thread about morals. What really bothers me is how many would just take the domain (or variations of "taking it" - ie, the $100, other suggestions, ect.) on question #2. How many would take advantage of bad timing & bad luck on the seller's part, or a not-so-thinking (or maybe at time of original posting for sale, nieve to the domain market) seller who didn't think there was a need to set a reserve on a LLL.com assuming it would be flooded with bids (the question did not emply or otherwise address this as a relavent issue), is dissappointing to say the least OK, all is fair in love, war, and business, you say ???? Payback in life is a b**** too, I'd remind you. What we reap, we sow, one way or another. Here is to your next "Oh, why did I just do that?" mistake