NBC news story on Domainers ("Squatters")

[-db-]

I saw this on my local new last night, and now it's on the web.

Watch the video. (after short commercial)

Mildly interesting and amusing.

 

[DN BROKER]

Domainers, you better watch this. The reporter recommends buyers dont pay us more then $500. If thats the case in your next offer. Then you know, you are a target. Dont sell for less then $5000 LOL :D

 

[canswift]

Wow, at this hour I figured I'd be the first responder to this. I watched it (sigh..). I find it difficult to believe that people who appear under 35 and work in computer oriented fields are still trotting out this sort of stuff. I do wish that mainstream media would at least interview someone who might actually know what they're talking about (this isn't the first "story" of this sort I've seen). Thanks for posting, now I'll think I'll head to bed...

 

[Jasdon]

Wow! How wrong can someone be in less than 2 minutes?

We're called "typo-squatters", "Godaddy are the biggest squatters and 'own' 30,000,000 names", we would all "sell for $500".....

 

[lzy]

:bah:

Thanks for sharing this amusing gem db.

 

[BinderGang]

The Godaddy piece of misinformation is by far the most ridiculous thing in this piece.

 

[Dave_Z]

Hmm, rather "interesting" the video mentioned speculators at first, then 0:37
(yup, I took note of the time) stated cybersquatters. I wonder what will a lot
of people think after watching that, even though it's not necessarily correct?

Don't be surprised if the guy suddenly says he's been misquoted or something.

 

[DotWeekly]

Sounded like a Newbie! :hehe:

 

[-db-]

Hmm, rather "interesting" the video mentioned speculators at first, then 0:37
(yup, I took note of the time) stated cybersquatters.

Yeah, and he managed to get the word "squatters" or "squatting" in 4 times in that short statement.

Their called typo-squatters or cyber-squatters, domain-squatters, their just squatting on these websites...

I really have to wonder if a guy from PC Magazine was the best person for NBC to consult for this story.

 

[Kate]

Pathetic. Talk about brainwashing of the American public

 

[Ben42]

It wasn't that bad, except when they said try a different extention... .Me? Come on, what about .pro! :lol:

 

[BinderGang]

I also like how they mention "you can buy back the domain you were looking to register for your site..."

"Buy back"? As if they have some sort of right to it for just searching if the name is available.

 

[jaydub]

The media does very little research unless it points to where they want their story to go...if it doesn't or cant, they don't run it.
News used to be a respected and trusted institution. Now, in most cases, it is nothing more than cloaked reality TV...

 

[taktikz]

I don't think it was as bad... they did make a few mistakes like calling domainers "squatters".

 

[Charley]

Sounded like a Newbie! :hehe:

Invite them to the domain forums. We'll teach them valuation. :D

 

[Jingles]

I like the way they mention a $2,000,000 sale, yet the advice given is "offer 'em 500 bucks, they'll probably take it"

I wonder if that works in other purchases.......

Me: "Hi Mr. Car Dealer, how much do you want for that sporty red convertible?"

Mr. Car Dealer: "The price tag is $48,000"

Me: "Will you take $500 for it?"

Mr. Car Dealer: "Yeah! Yeah!" :sold:

 

[Premiere]

Mr. Car Dealer: "The price tag is $48,000"
Me: "Will you take $500 for it?"

People like to hear they can get what they want cheap. And the media was more than happy to offer them incentive to do so.

However terrible this all seems just think of it this way - all your garbage domains you couldn't sell are now worth about $500 - because they just said don't offer more! Heck I'll take $250 for iDidntExpectaNickel.com

 

[Seabass]

The media does very little research unless it points to where they want their story to go...if it doesn't or cant, they don't run it.
News used to be a respected and trusted institution. Now, in most cases, it is nothing more than cloaked reality TV...

jaydub, you nailed that on the head. That really is the reality of news these days.

A shoddy report like this also teaches us another lesson: If they report this poorly about the domain market then they must be reporting equally poorly on other subjects like the economy, war, health issues, etc.....

It's so totally scary. We are not getting the real picture from news organizations anymore, and some of the stuff is not even news.

CNN today has these great reports today:

Britney reveals hot new body, diet secret
Woman jailed for keeping library books
A-student suspended for pink-dyed hair

Meanwhile, the U.S. has a war brewing with Russia and vise-versa and we are talking about this kind of crap.

Sorry to go on a tangent a bit..... but contemporary reporting gets under my skin.

 

[scandiman]

This is such BS but get used to it. Most business people loathe domainers. They wake up one day with this great idea and go to find the perfect domain for it and find it's been reged for years. Because it's not an active website they call it cybersquatting. It's as ridiculous as claiming that empty lot down the street is owned by a land squatter but for some reason most everyone wants to completely disregard the rights of domain speculators so that they can get the name they want for nothing. As if their new brilliant idea gives them rights over the current domain owner.

 

[whitebark]

Yeah those darn land-squatters buying up all the best plots of land and putting billboards on them or letting them overgrow. There is a nicely placed corner lot in a high-traffic location near my home, maybe I'll offer the owner $500.