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

[EJS]

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/

 

[Ostrados]

I am 100% with Dan's decision.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

Why?

Let's say a domainer hands a corona name to a developer for free. That domain becomes ubiquitous. Millions of people visit daily, and they benefit from it. Will the developers not reward themselves financially? Is it immoral for them to put ads on the website, to profit from it? Do you not think they would?

Ok, what value do domain investors provide when it comes to registering coronavirus related names? The public does not need CoronaFacts.com the beer company might come a calling for this name via UDRP if it's ever parked and shows ads for their product, but either way CDC.gov WHO.int Coronavirus.com cover what the public "NEEDS" There is not a need for 1,000 different sites giving different and conflicting information.

And we can try to backdoor all these, (oh what if the domainer does good) but no one listing on DAN was looking to make a charitable act.

Whether DAN should have done that? That's their call, it can be a slippery slope.

Bernard, I will just let you get the answer from Ray's post which I quoted. I hope then you will understand where I am going with this.

 

[Bernard Wright]

Bernard, I will just let you get the answer from Ray's post which I quoted. I hope then you will understand where I am going with this.

I don't think you can answer my post yourself.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

Exactly. You're dodging it. I'll paste it again.

Let's say a domainer hands a corona name to a developer for free. That domain becomes ubiquitous. Millions of people visit daily, and they benefit from it. Will the developers not reward themselves financially? Is it immoral for them to put ads on the website, to profit from it? Do you not think they would?

Again, you start with lets say it, I say show me such domain, forget about it already being ubiquitous, just show one developed and which is providing information that is not already available to the public and is from the more trusted and reliable sources like who.int and cdc.gov. @DAN.COM already removed many many domains which were listed for sale, I repeat...for SALE, for thousands, hell even @equity78 said "And we can try to backdoor all these, (oh what if the domainer does good) but no one listing on DAN was looking to make a charitable act."

Now please understand that.

 

[Bernard Wright]

That is DAN's position, I am sure it is the position of some domainers, I don't believe there is a real value add, I believe it's legal, it should be allowed but if there is it's some sliver that only those in this industry would agree. If you walked into another industry or walk of life I doubt they would say there is a value add, I think many would see what you said in your first post, it's rent seeking. And I have seen some nasty REDDIT battles over rent seeking.

I don't believe a doctor is going to pay $10,000 for a corona related name, the doctor might use their own name, if it's their own individual research. Just my opinion.

The $10k is just a hypothetical.

Agreed that domaining is mostly rent-seeking. But I do think there's a case to be made that this corona situation changes the landscape a bit and does afford those with strong corona names perhaps a chance to actually add more value than they otherwise would.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

Well, there must be motives behind a domain purchase. It would be irrational for anyone to buy a corona name on the aftermarket and not seek to at least cover their costs. Developing sites is not cheap. There would be few instances where a buyer would spend more than reg on a name without plans to develop it into a site that people would want to visit.

And inherently, when people want to visit it, it is a site that must provide value to the user, otherwise they wouldn't be visiting.

But by your rationale, though the developer has spent time and resources, and ongoing time and resources, developing a site and maintaining it, they cannot profit from it if it pertains to the corona virus, correct?

Basically a drawn-out reiteration of my previous post.

You keep taking the issue to a developer. Here, we are talking about domainers. Lets get that straight. A domainer who just registered these names and slaps prices, regardless of what amount, and is not giving out or developing it. The two are basically different. I asked you a domain that was developed by a domainer and is providing information, even if that information is already available from the more reputable, trusted and more reliable sites like who.int ? You were not able to provide it and you wont; because of all those who registered the names of this fatal and epidemic virus - which has costed the lives of thousands of humans, humans who were the loved ones of humans like us, humans who themselves had loved ones and people they care about - did not register to provide a vital source of information to the public.

 

[frank-germany]

@Dan announced to have blocked those names
as many of these names have a ridiculously high price tag, as they say
and their intention as far as I read it
is to protect the domain industry from receiving a bad reputation.
- simply block the price, @Dan .....

 

[Corey]

No official notification received, domains are still listed!

Cheers
Corey

 

[targetpro]

Dan.com sucks

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

why is there a fuss about domain names that aren't worth anything:

GoDaddy the owner of coronavirus.com ( as far as I understood .. )
values his domain name only at about $3K USD

so "greed" maybe not the right term


Show attachment 148834


and even the more trustworthy estibot tool,
-though they claim its a great extension and highly searched for-
show a similar price tag

- so it must be true
and we all can calm down...

Show attachment 148836

ummmmm............

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-n...crative-profiteering-website-domains-n1170411

Coronavirus.com

That domain name, more attractive with .com than .org, is reportedly owned by the domain registrar GoDaddy, which acquired it as part of a deal unrelated to the current outbreak and which currently forward visitors to the World Health Organization’s website.

https://domaininvesting.com/coronavirus-com-is-owned-by-godaddy/

 

[Zagalee]

Hmmmm !! , Interesting

 

[bulkdomainz]

"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."

-------

One question! WHO WERE THESE THREE PEOPLE WHO PUT Offers IN FOR MY TWO NAMES ON DAN? I ask purely because of the arrogance of the 3rd bidder who wanted the name for £150 and resorted to calling me names instead of making a counter-offer!

Why is it okay for people like Mike Mann or Godaddy to ask for 500k for a name they own but not okay for other 'little' domainers to 'shoot for the moon'?

@DAN.COM
Perhaps DAN.COM would like to show us evidence of the "astronomical high prices" being asked by these registrants!

 

[MA000]

all respect to that

 

[satsdifference.com]

have any children claimed to have died or not? 0?

 

[frank-germany]

have any children claimed to have died or not? 0?

a baby died in the US

 

[satsdifference.com]

no funerals?

 

[bulkdomainz]

@LaszloSchenk
@DAN.COM

WHY was DAN making an announcement on Twitter instead of sending email to their customers that they would be removing all Corona names? You also did not send any emails to say you had deleted certain names, like you do when customers delete names from folios.

Not emailing your customers about your planned actions and final action (like other marketplaces do when they remove a name) mean that visitors will arrive at a 'DOMAIN DELETED' landing page.

WHY do it this way?

 

[namezest]

Do a trademark search on tess for coronafree. Not mine but they allowed it to go live super fast!

 

[LaszloSchenk]

Good afternoon all,

Thank you for all the responses.

At the moment, DAN.COM and team is extremely busy trying to cope with the turbulent times while still operating our day to day businesses. The traffic and engagement increased the past weeks but we want to ensure all enjoy the same service we always provide.. Due to this we did not have the time to be as active as we would like to be on Namepros.

Like all major changes have been communicated before, the decision to remove the 1500 Corona/Covid-19 related names from the platform was communicated through Namepros and Twitter. We have found that some overlooked these statements and discovered their domains were missing and understand this came as a surprise. We understand the responses leading accordingly.

As indicated in our initial statement, we are currently experiencing a global pandemic which is new to us all. A large portion of above mentioned names were listed for sale with exorbitant prices imposed on them. The need for many of these domains is high and they could serve a great purpose during these turbulent times.

We are sorry to hear many of you feel this way. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to take measures that could not please all. However, we have always treated our sellers with the utmost respect and a vested interested to do good and will continue to do so.

 

[mobilespecialists]

Good decision IMHO! Thumbs up DAN.com

Should just not affect domains registered before the crisis, since coronavirus is generally a bigger group where CoV-SARS-19 is just one of them.

 

[capybara]

However, when we see domains for sale with over 6 figure asking prices while newly registered we prefer not to assist in the selling of these domains

You basically say the buyers get service quality depending on Dan.com staff's perception whether the domain "deserves" its asking price or not?

 

[Bernard Wright]

@LaszloSchenk I'm guessing you missed my post above.

Why is it DAN's policy to communicate major changes via Twitter and NamePros, and not to notify the domain owners directly? Is it not negligent to render a name unsellable, and not notify the seller?

You say "“The need for many of these domains is high and they could serve a great purpose during these turbulent times.”

And, if high prices were the problem, as you say, then why not impose price caps, whereby the domain might still reach its potential with a new owner, instead of shutting down the possibility for a sale entirely?

 

[lock]

If people ACTUALLY want to do some good at this time, here are some ideas:

- DON'T register covid domains, but instead DONATE those funds to a reputable charity. Charity Navigator is good resource for making sure your funds will actually be put to good use. (My charity of choice for covid is Matthew 25 Ministries, a local charity with a rare 100/100 score.)

- Donate food to your local food bank

- Donate supplies to proper organizations and hospitals (items like face masks, exam gloves, etc)

- Have a domain sale and donate the funds to charity (please provide details and proof of your donations!)

If cbd became the cure for some form of eg cancer should you not profit and if these covid names prove to be a waste to 99% of owners should we care or just a lesson learned. I personally think it would be a liability to try register any but i am all for what freedom there is left to erode.

 

[Pandemic]

I sold coronaviruspandemic.com on the GoDaddy "premium listings", but not the auction. You can still sell on their using their Premium Listings. I also currently have coronavirushelp.com coronavirusinfo.com, covid19news.com, etc... on their premium listing if you want to verify it. Flippa and Epik also allow sales of corona domains.

 

[Pandemic]

What's crazy is that the NY attorney general came across one scam site related to a coronavirus domain, and so suddenly anyone who owns a corona domain is a scammer? And because of one case, all of the registrars stop listing coronavirus domains because of one idiot AG? Seems a little extreme, lol. Hard to believe the registrars hurt so many people, including buys who could put the names to good use, all over one AG? Talk about cowards kissing some butt, lol. And is if an AG is an expert in domains. Give me a break. I have the best corona domains around of coronavirushelp.com, coronavirusinfo, covid19pandemic, covid19help, covid19info, covid19news, etc.... Those names could be very useful to the right people and used as a great resource in the pandemic. Like I said, that one rogue idiot attorney general hurt a lot of people by complaining, and the registrars all doing a knee jerk reaction afterwards was reckless and almost bizarre. Out of spite, a part of me wants to sell my domains now on the dark web. See, this whole thing could do a lot more harm than good in many ways.