Devout Capitalist
I have often referred to myself as a “Devout Capitalist.”
It was therefore with very mixed emotions I read the following on Governing.Com.
Planning to run for governor in 2010? Or 2014? Or 2018? Get your domain name now. Don’t let a cybersquatter shake you down for the Web site name you’ve always dreamed of.
It happened to Meg Whitman, former chief executive of eBay, now California gubernatorial candidate. A Santa Monica man bought the rights to several Web sites, including WhitmanForGovernor.com and MegWhitman2010.com, according to a Washington Post op-ed piece.
Negotiations, Internet arbitration and litigation to get those sites back failed. Instead, she wrote a check to the cybersquatter for “an undisclosed sum,” which sounds like a lot of money might have been extracted from Whitman, a billionaire.
Whitman’s not the only one snagged by a political domain-name snatcher. Someone bought RudyForPresident.com eight days after 9/11. BarackObama2008.com was taken within hours of the then-senator’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
The op-ed writer, a political law attorney, suggests a “.pol” domain be created by the administrative body that runs the Web that only political candidates could register for. “A .pol domain would significantly reduce the extortion, confusion, fraud and reputation exploitation associated with political cybersquatting,” writes Matthew T. Sanderson.
Interesting idea. Will it happen?
I decided I’m against the .pol idea.
I like the idea someone with forsight and creativity has an opportunity to make a buck.
The Capitalist in me won out.
This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 8:27 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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April 20th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
I’m as Capitalist as one can get but domain squatters are just vultures. Boo-Hiss, I disagree but that’s what’s so great about this country
Still enjoying your blog!!!!