Opposed to domain tasting??? Read this

[Peter]

ICANN have just released an announcement regarding domain tasting (the act of registering a domain name for a short period to check traffic stats, and dropping if too low).

In view of the increase in domain tasting (definitions below), the GNSO Council recently considered an Issues Report on Domain Tasting and resolved to form an ad hoc group for further fact-finding on the effects of this practice. The ad hoc group has prepared these questions to assist in gathering facts and opinions, while inviting both qualitative and quantitative input. The group would especially appreciate statistical and other empirical evidence to support your responses, or references to potential sources of information. To be considered by the group, information should be submitted no later than 15 September 2007 to [email protected]. Comments may be viewed at http://forum.icann.org/lists/rfi-domaintasting/

Original Announcement

If you are opposed to domain tasting (like most normal users are) be sure to have your say. Remember if you do submit a comment ensure that you base your comments on FACT and ensure to cite any sources of the information. Rash and derogatory comments will not help the cause.

 

[Dave_Z]

Let the barrage begin.

 

[onewordonly]

thanks for sharing and I will most definitely read this, I'm totally against this practice.. the only ones benefiting are ceo's of Registers & they are taking all the good names in thousands each day before anyone else gets them from what I understand.

 

[kev]

I'm all for domain tasting :kickass:

 

[-REECE-]

I'm all for domain tasting :kickass:

Same here

It makes even less good names available... Isn't that a good thing for anyone with names to sell

 

[happyhappy]

It will make the rich richer and poor pooer easy as that

 

[Ronald Regging]

It will make the rich richer and poor pooer easy as that

Thats called "business".

I dont mind tasters. Personally I'd rather see a taster grab a domain I want rather than someone else, because I know theres a good chance it'll be available to reg again in a few days I've gotten a few very nice names this way.

I don't necessarily see anything wrong with tasting, except possible problems if they register TM infringing names. They've analyzed the system and found a way to beat it, can't fault them for that.

On the other hand, if ICANN would eliminate the potential for tasting, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it either.

 

[onewordonly]

I can't see why anyone would want these tasters to take all the good names and leave everyone else with the leftovers... well leftovers still can bo ok but yes it is the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. in other words those that already have a finely developed portfolio built up over several years may think this is good for domain prices but for everyone else (the other 99% of the population) it is a bad thing....

 

[Ronald Regging]

I can't see why anyone would want these tasters to take all the good names and leave everyone else with the leftovers... well leftovers still can bo ok but yes it is the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. in other words those that already have a finely developed portfolio built up over several years may think this is good for domain prices but for everyone else (the other 99% of the population) it is a bad thing....

I'm of the other 99%, believe me...

Personally I enjoy having to go up against massively stacked odds (against my favor) and try to dig through the ashes to find a gem. When I do find one, it makes it all the more rewarding.

If you're of the other 99%, then you should already have had a lifetime to figure out that you need money to make money in anything that you do. This sucks, I know... But it's business. And it makes you smarter, because you have to work harder and find untapped resources to even make a buck. Once you have a few bucks and start coming into your own, these skills are invaluable.

 

[onewordonly]

I understand what you mean but domain prices will keep skyrocketing believe me with or without taster, especially now that most of the general population has got to know how to use a computer & the net, you watch over the next 2 years+ and the domain biz will be huge and there will be very few good domains left on any tld by the end of this decade.

 

[Peter]

I must admit I quite surprised by the acceptance and almost a liking of domain tasting that a few people have demonstrated in this thread.

The methods used sometimes for choosing which domains to try is in my opinion unethical. Monitoring what people search for when choosing a domain and registering them to see if they make money should not be allowed. It is all good and well telling people to use x to search but what percentage of general public or business owners are savvy with domain names and why should they and us be exploited in such a way.

Year after year domain registry fees etc tend to go up. Part of the reason this happens is because that the cost of running the systems increases. In February this year (according to Bob Parsons) 55,000,000 domains were registered, out of those domains 51,000,000 were dropped. Admittedly not all of these drops would have been due to domain tasting but I would bet at least 90% were (and that is a conservative estimate). Surely this is putting a strain on the infrastructure.

How much value to the industry as a whole does domain tasting give? I personally am against long term parking (I am not against parking as a whole just not a fan of parking without the view of developing). Ultimately when a domain name is bought it should in all sense and purpose be done with the view of building upon the domain name and developing it. How many domains that domain tasters register get developed. Obviously due to the sheer amount of domains involved it will be close to if not 0%.

Regarding trademark issues. Domain tasters do register trademark infringements, not necessarily on purpose but they do get registered. How many of these companies give up the domain name once they have been informed. The people who this will make a huge difference too are the ones that cannot necessarily afford to seek a wipo action (even tho it is only a couple of thousand $ not all business can afford that and why should they).

I personally believe that mandatory fees should be imposed so that domain tasting becomes less of an attractive option. The fees would not necessarily stop the practice but it would help to pay for the resources being used. Granted some registrars do actually impose a fee at present but I believe it should be an industry wide thing imposed by the registries.

 

[-REECE-]

I must admit I quite surprised by the acceptance and almost a liking of domain tasting that a few people have demonstrated in this thread.

The methods used sometimes for choosing which domains to try is in my opinion unethical. Monitoring what people search for when choosing a domain and registering them to see if they make money should not be allowed. It is all good and well telling people to use x to search but what percentage of general public or business owners are savvy with domain names and why should they and us be exploited in such a way.

Year after year domain registry fees etc tend to go up. Part of the reason this happens is because that the cost of running the systems increases. In February this year (according to Bob Parsons) 55,000,000 domains were registered, out of those domains 51,000,000 were dropped. Admittedly not all of these drops would have been due to domain tasting but I would bet at least 90% were (and that is a conservative estimate). Surely this is putting a strain on the infrastructure.

How much value to the industry as a whole does domain tasting give? I personally am against long term parking (I am not against parking as a whole just not a fan of parking without the view of developing). Ultimately when a domain name is bought it should in all sense and purpose be done with the view of building upon the domain name and developing it. How many domains that domain tasters register get developed. Obviously due to the sheer amount of domains involved it will be close to if not 0%.

Regarding trademark issues. Domain tasters do register trademark infringements, not necessarily on purpose but they do get registered. How many of these companies give up the domain name once they have been informed. The people who this will make a huge difference too are the ones that cannot necessarily afford to seek a wipo action (even tho it is only a couple of thousand $ not all business can afford that and why should they).

I personally believe that mandatory fees should be imposed so that domain tasting becomes less of an attractive option. The fees would not necessarily stop the practice but it would help to pay for the resources being used. Granted some registrars do actually impose a fee at present but I believe it should be an industry wide thing imposed by the registries.

Believe it or not, tasting really isn't all that expensive to the registries -- tasters reg more than enough names to keep it a viable option. This is just one of the many tactics you'll hear used by Verisign to justify increasing the wholesale prices of domain names.

 

[Dave_Z]

the poor getting poorer.

Haven't the poor continued getting poorer even before domain tasting came
into existence? Sorry, but I've seen that excuse time and again, and I haven't
seen anyone logically justify how domain tasting has caused this.

Or maybe it's because I'm expecting too much?

 

[NameCharger]

my .02

Contracts should have a right of recission and agreements we enter into with registrars are no exception.

If I had to choose sides, I'm for domain tasting, but I would like to see a mandatory $0.25 cancellation fee per domain.

Kiting 1000s of domains at a time to see which ones bring in the most profit should cost something.

 

[Peter]

Contracts should have a right of recission and agreements we enter into with registrars are no exception.

Unfortunately in this type of case it is being thoroughly abused.

If I had to choose sides, I'm for domain tasting, but I would like to see a mandatory $0.25 cancellation fee per domain.

Kiting 1000s of domains at a time to see which ones bring in the most profit should cost something.

Thats the sort of thing I was getting at in my post. If a mandatory fee even $0.25 was introduced to drop a domain name it would discourage the practice. The fee is big enough to make a difference when ,000s of domains are at stake but small enough for the casual user to absorb no problem.

 

[onewordonly]

How much value to the industry as a whole does domain tasting give? I personally am against long term parking (I am not against parking as a whole just not a fan of parking without the view of developing). Ultimately when a domain name is bought it should in all sense and purpose be done with the view of building upon the domain name and developing it. How many domains that domain tasters register get developed. Obviously due to the sheer amount of domains involved it will be close to if not 0%.
.

that is a very good point, it is really bad for the Internet & industry with all these domains been scooped up by the tasters & left to park for the next 10 years or more by the hundreds of thousands & it is getting worse each day... my friends who are not that internet savy recently asked me why many websites all look the same lately so even the general public are getting tired of all the long term parked sites

 

[dnk]

Domain tasters drop domains randomly throughout the day, so others have a chance to get a decent domain name. It is difficult to catch some domains when deleted from the registry.

 

[ehoez.com]

does all registras allow tasteing?

 

[Peter]

no some registrars do not. Some registrars apply a fee already (not 100% sure but I think godaddy currently do). Some registrars will not allow you to delete a domain without contacting support (such as enom) and they will only do this a couple of times (I doubt they would be willing to sift through thousands of domains canceling them.

Although not sure I would imagine a lot of the big domain tasters are in partnership with some of the registrars. The registrar gets a boost in domain under its account and the domain taster gets someone o work with who will be willing to help along the way.

 

[-REECE-]

Although not sure I would imagine a lot of the big domain tasters are in partnership with some of the registrars. The registrar gets a boost in domain under its account and the domain taster gets someone o work with who will be willing to help along the way.

No doubt about that in my mind...