Sellers Can't Sell Coronavirus Domain Names on Dan.com

In a pair of tweets this morning, Dan.com announced that sellers can no longer list or sell coronavirus related domain names on its platform. The company is also actively removing related domain names. CEO Reza Sardeha commented to me about the decision:

https://domaininvesting.com/dan-com-prohibits-coronavirus-domain-names/

 

Good decicion, many industries and companies have been criticized/shamed from trying to profit from this global pandemic, domain investors should be no different and i hope all other domain marketplaces (Sedo/GoDaddy/Fippa etc) follows suit.

 

Namecheap have also come out to support the idea.

 

Yes right, just read their message in the email.

 

Good news

 

Domain sellers are going to be "criticized/shamed" all the same.

First step to the price regulation?

 

Sedo started removing coronavirus-related names a while back - can see some owners complaining about it as far as ~2 weeks ago. Will be interesting to see what play GoDaddy makes here.

 

Agree
Agree
Agree

There are definitely some bad actors out there. You can just see with the blatant selling and marketing and promotion and PRICING of these domains.,

but I wonder where ambiguous "virus" domains fall under this category.

will new "virus" domain registrations fall under this crackdown? what about old ones?

Antivirus.com?
VirusDefender.com
VirusGuardian.com
VirusShield.com

There are currently 20,215 domain names containing the keyword "Virus". Many of those of course will be part of the "coronavirus" combos but many will be just "virus".

If an idea is viral then is it a virus? and therefore what about Viral+whatever.com?

If a recent post on here that means their domain CoronaDeTucson.com was delisted from Sedo just for being "similar" to coronavirus domains.

How will this end up?

 

I think the final sentence in your article is good advice @EJS. Rather than bother overburdened organizations by seeing if they want a domain name donated, it is probably most efficient to forward the name to a responsible information source.

I think DAN have made the right move, although implementing it will have many challenges.

I don't know but suspect not. This kind of name could even be applied to computer or other types of virus that are unrelated to health. But it demonstrates that the dividing line is difficult. For example, corona is a region of the sun. Supposedly domains might have meaning in that sense, or others. i think DAN intentions are good, but it will be difficult to do in practice.

It will be interesting to see if the other marketplaces follow (or have some already?).

Namecheap yesterday informed customers that they were banning the ability to register names involving covid, coronavirus. An organization, such as a research group, that feels it has a legitimate case, can request through support a registration. Does anyone know if other registrars are doing this?

Bob

PS Just after I posted this I see that @Rob Monster posted the position at Epik on the issue.

 

Good move by saying no to money from exploiting this epidemic.

 

This was even was noted on the NBCNews Blog -
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...-stimulus-n1169196/ncrd1169386#liveBlogHeader

 

All this is very interesting.
How does this policy of banning "corona" names work for this

https://www.coronausa.com/

or

https://www.corona.com/

 

I see a blank page

 

try another browser frank

 

Hypocritical of Dan.com, NameCheap, and posters on here to not also think that the same principle should be applied to all kinds of domains related to disease, illnesses, and various scams. Same goes for gambling for example, and racist terms.

I wonder if any posters ITT have any dubious domains like that?

For example FolioTeam called this "Good news" above but has hashdrugs.com in his/her portfolio. A narcotics-related domain is hardly ethical. Shouldn't they be banned from being sold as well?

And you've sold a domain called SlutCity.com. Shouldn't misogynistic slurs be banned from trading as well? Pornography also often furthers the sexual exploitation of women.

These moves are just PR. The companies don't actually care.
Same goes for most of the posters.

 

got it

was loading slowly ....


..filtering is an art, not a science...

 

great PR move

 

Good news.

 

Grandstanding at its finest.

Samer

 

@DAN.COM
I bet you didn't think of that:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1243196903581499397

 

Corona beer is grandfather claused.

Samer

 

I am 100% with Dan's decision.

 

I don’t care one way or the other because I did not register covid or corona names. To me, it looks like putting on a holier than thou front and total hypocrisy for any registrar/platform that does this while being ok about listing, registering and selling countless other harmful, disgusting, illegal, disturbed names. We have all seen them.

 

Honest question:

If someone were to want to create a website to provide a service that would help inform the public about the virus, or similar ...like help source PPEs for hospitals... how are the site developers supposed to acquire the name if the seller has no means to sell it?

Are we not just assuming a zero sum game where the domainer is exploiting a crisis and all other parties (including those who would visit the site once it were developed) stand only to lose from the transaction?

 

"Starting from today, we will be removing all Corona Virus related domains from http://DAN.COM .
We're seeing astronomical high prices being asked for these domains and find that unethical and unacceptable. We strongly encourage DAN sellers that own a Corona Virus oriented domain to donate the domain to a charity, government agency or non-profit organization that's involved in battling the virus and misinformation about it."​

While I support the decision by DAN, and others, as a good, timely, industry PR move. It also must be said that many charities are hampered, and complain, that the astronomical high prices the domain market puts on short, 3 and 4 letter, domains essentially eliminates them from the top acronym markets.

But nobody is suggesting 'DAN' donate their domain to the Disability Advocacy Network, or a non-profit battling a illness like Diabetic Autonomic Neuropathy... because we believe in the 'free market' when it comes to year-round epidemics like diabetes and disabilities. Not so much, when the spotlight is on a flash-in-the-pan emergent epidemic like COVID. Human nature, perhaps.

Personally, I don't own, and would not buy, any COVID or Coronavirus related domains... partly because of my ethics and partly because I don't see a long-term market... so I am not impacted by the decision(s).
The 'DAN' v COVID irony hit me... as a 'free market' supporter... when it comes to domain names.