Return to New TLD Agreements Forum - Message Thread - FAQ

Username: Paul Gill
Date/Time: Thu, September 6, 2001 at 8:18 AM GMT
Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer V5.01 using Windows 98
Subject: You Are Right

Message: 		 

 
       
That I would be correcting you. Since you're so curious, I'll tell you. I am a domain name speculator and have been for the past couple of years. I have made a good living at it but not enough to retire:-) I spent several hundred dollars pre-registering .info names with ICANN registrars (but not resellers like Tucows or CORE because that becomes a lottery within a lottery) that only take one submission per name and also some of the ones that are free (but not if they charge you first and then refund if unsuccessful) back in May. After I seen that most of my names had been taken during Sunrise, I was also angry. I almost became a late Sunrise fraudster (#3 on your list) but some of the posts on this forum talked of the penalty for doing such (criminal prosecution) and I decided it wasn't worth it even if the chances of getting caught and prosecuted were low. So I waited to near the close of Sunrise and had a list of about 150 names ready for Land Rush which were not yet taken. These names in my estimation were all each worth a minimum of $25,000 if all went well with .info. By the time Sunrise was almost over , I started pre-registering these names. About 120 were available at the close of Sunrise and, because of the Sunrise extension, 110 are available today. I have already spent a couple of thousand dollars pre-registering these names (some money was wasted because of the one day Sunrise extension which I'm trying to get credit for without getting the registrars upset in case they don't submit my lists if I get them mad at me). The way I see it, I should walk away with at least 10 of these names for a total value of $250,000 next week. Not bad for a few thousand dollars invested (legitimately) and a few weeks work.

The reason main I did not like all the negativity on this board about what Afilias/ICANN (I was guilty of this also) is that .info needs to come out strong out of the gate because it is competing with .biz and will get better publicity with this almost simultaneous launch. I do not want anything to slow down its takeoff. This is what would have happened if you have tens of thousands of unique challenges to Sunrise registered names. It would have been an administrative nightmare that would take a long time to straighten out and result in the slowdown of acceptance of .info. The long term viability of .info was being threatened. I know some people will get away with fraudulent registrations (most of the best names would have went to the registrars anyway), but the best couple of thousand at least will be challenged. So now you know my story. I also want to apologize if I offended anyone on this forum.

I know Afilias and ICANN are not going to do anything as a result of whats said here. Only a handful of people are really speaking out here and some of you may recall how Image Online Design had hundreds of supporters rallying together last year and Afilias still almost got .web (but Vint Cerf saved us). Since the window has now closed on any changes being made, my advice is to redirect your efforts to pre-registering some .info's for yourselfs for the next few days. Good luck.
 

Message Thread:

Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Cookies Policy