Okay, I can't just sit idly by and allow the lunacy plastered
on this board to go unchallenged. ICANN opened this board so that the public could
comment, and I find it disheartening that the discussion has been largely shallow,
the proclamations against .web registrants unsubstantiated and baseless, and the
motivations of those calling for a .web database wash so transparent.Okay, here
goes. . .
1) NO SHAME:
Hear this loud and clear: I own a few generic .web domains
through Image Online Design.
There are those among us who think that this is a
dark, dirty secret that the .web registrants try to--or need to--obscure beneath
a two-dimensional defense of Image Online.
This is hardly the case. There is no
more of a stigma to being an IOD registrant than there is to owning a store on a
famous, bustling commercial avenue. There is nothing embarrassing about being the
registrant of a strong domain in an attractive TLD, and I resent those who imply
that we defend our domains and IOD's claim on the .web TLD because we are selfish
pigs. Quite frankly--how dare you!
Of course we have personal self-interest, though.
All humans value things that are of interest to their respective realities. We guide
our stock portfolios towards growth; we choose neighborhoods with the better schools
if we have children of applicable age; we build an extension to our house in part
because it will increase the market value; If you are a business owner, you hope
to choose the location that will most benefit you, even though there are others who
would love to own YOUR piece of brick & mortar real estate. Who would call you a
selfish swine because of this? Would you not find any such claim against you to be
shoddy, heinous, offensive, and libelous?
I would. . . and I DO with all of you
who denounce my registrations by inclusion.
Putting my self-interest aside though.
. . I can tell you this: I objectively KNOW that my registrations are valid, moral,
ethical, and legally binding. Who here does not understand this concept? Does anyone
here have a problem putting their covetous feelings aside in an attempt to grasp
the rational, logical defense of IOD's registrants, and IOD's very claim to having
an active database? Well, maybe I can spell it out for you.
2) THE VALIDITY
OF IOD's REGISTRANTS:
In 1996, IOD brought their .web TLD to IANA and received
approval to open their databases to the public in order to take REAL--not SIMULATED
registrations. They did this in large part to iron the wrinkles out of databases,
and to make sure their mainframes were stable. Those who registered with IOD were
a part of this pioneering process--but NOT in some make-believe enrollment system.
IANA knew the registrants were true registrants--not a pretense. Imagine yourself
enrolled in a college, having gone through the 4 years.....only to be told by the
college at the end, "Oh, we were just testing out the curriculum, the professors,
the computers in the library, and the alarm systems. . . And you really don't get
a diploma."
So to now tell these registrants that their registrations (which they
secured in good faith and which they paid for) were only part of an elaborate simulation,
is fraudulent. IOD is not doing this. Yet third parties…Individuals more than agencies….are
DEMANDING that the registrants simply be wiped away, eradicated, buried and forgotten
because OTHERS would love a crack at their domains. I BEG your pardon, but are you
crazy? Again, how DARE you.
Imagine being forced out of your house--oceanfront
or otherwise--because there are those who want another chance at owning your piece
of real estate. You found your home IN AN OPEN MARKET, bought it in good faith, signed
the deed and paid for it in full. Yet somebody likes what you have and is calling
for it to be taken from you. Do you realize the PRECEDENT this would set? In governmental
terms, this is totalitarianism. It is oppressive and flies in the face of human rights.
The right to ownership is the most basic freedom-even more fundamental than the freedom
of speech, in my book.
No, these are not platitudes. Pull generic domains from
registrants today simply because others deem them valuable and want to personally
claim them or redistribute them…..and it could happen 5 years from now, after registrants
have branded their domains, marketed them, and built a life and career on them. Frightening
prospect.
And kindly don't make the assertion that domains are rented, not owned,
by individuals. The principle applies to renters of properties who have a lease and
are paying their rent on time.
Likewise, do not make the claim that because the
.web TLD is not yet online, that these principles do not apply. My parents recently
inquired about a townhouse that they wanted to buy for retirement--but found that
even before the first shovel struck the soil to build the foundation, the coming
townhouse had been sold. This is commerce in the world of brick & mortar, and is
as valid on the Internet.
My parents knew they had no basis to whine, and it would
have been outrageously improper of them to have tried to steal the townhouse from
those it rightfully belonged to. Yet this is what so many people are doing with regard
to the .web TLD. My parents recognized that they couldn't get what they wanted, had
no moral or legal CLAIM on what they wanted, and went looking for alternate real
estate. These are the grown up facts of life.
Get the picture? If you refuse to,
your obstinacy is your own problem, your own character flaw, your own toxic, misguided
sense of self-importance--having no bearing on my reality or Reality at large.
3)
DOMAIN NUMBERS:
There are those who are grieving that many .web registrants own
too many .web domains. Define "too many." Too many under what criteria? At last count,
Proctor & Gamble owned between 1,000 and 2,000 domains. Take theirs. Go ahead. Go
for it. Defend it in a court of law.
There are no restrictions on the number of
domains that a person can own. I would never want there to be such a restriction,
because 1) it is oppressive; 2) it is impossible to monitor, and 3) not,
in my opinion, justifiably in ICANN's mission.
And if they DO put a cap on the
number of domains a person can own, that law-like any other--would have to be proactive,
not retroactive. You cannot haul a person off to jail who committed a legal act yesterday,
simply because you deem that action illegal tomorrow. Can you imagine your mayor
making it illegal for anyone to imbibe more than 20 ounces of alcohol in one evening,
and then imprisoning everyone who exceeded that quota PRIOR TO that piece of legislation?
I know we are not talking about imprisonment. See the metaphor for what it is.
Furthermore,
there are those who make the claim that too many of the BEST domains are owned by
the same individuals. Pardon me, but there is no policy that makes this illegal,
nor is it feasible to establish one. Barnes & Noble not only owns several domains;
they own several WONDERFUL domains, including Book.com, Books.com, HistoryBooks.net,
ScienceFiction.net, Novels.net, MysteryBook.com, GeographyBooks.net, BiographyBooks.com,
Literature.net, Poems.net, ComputerBooks.net, PictureBooks.net, etc., etc.
.....Forget
it. No one should EVER tell a company or an individual, "Okay, you have too many
good ones. We are going to take them away from you now." Remember that totalitarianism
thing I mentioned earlier?
Now contrary to what you must think........I don't have
the most or the best .webs,......But your proposed siege is extraordinarily disturbing
to hear. It's like a bunch of people wishing they had electronics, calling for a
looting party in which they break windows and burn stores along a popular avenue.
I don't have to be a prominent shop-owner on the street to know it is wrong of you.
Hell, I don't even have to have ANY real estate on that street to know it is wrong.
If
you want to take my domains from me, I want you out of your house. Make sure there
is no trace of you when my moving van pulls up in your driveway. Just leave the key
to your safe deposit box, and your account numbers. Oh, and while you are at it,
leave your pretty daughter behind. And why? Well, because I WANT them. . . that's
why.
Shall I buy each of you a club so you can pummel people who have things that
you want?
Are you getting the picture yet?
4) WHO WILL DETERMINE
THE INTENTIONS OF THE REGISTRANTS?:
I have also grown a bit weary of claims that
every .web domain owner is a speculator. While I would never preclude the possibility
of accepting a decent offer for my own domain(s), I have no intention to market them,
and every intention to develop them. In fact, I know at least one other .web registrant
who some might consider a heavy buyer. And yet he likewise intends to develop his
domains, and plans some interesting noncommercial public-interest things with them.
Yet many people want him to hand over his domains because THEY have determined--devoid
of the facts--that he is a speculator. Damned arrogant and presumptuous of these
people. And again, heinous.
In my universe, innocence is presumed in the absence
of evidence……Which leads me to my next point:
5) SPECULATING:
Speculating
is not illegal. Don't treat it as such. I am not a speculator, but I don't find domain
speculation any more unethical than comic book speculation, real estate speculation,
coin speculation, automotive speculation, stock speculation. No more diatribes please,
on how EVIL domain speculation is. Has no one ever sold something--a car, as house,
a stock--at a higher price than that which you purchased it at. If you have, kindly
shut up about domain speculating.
6) WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF
THEY WIPED THE DATABASE?:
What would happen? The same exact thing, to be certain.
With one difference: many people complaining here about the current .web registrants
would themselves be revving up to grab as many .webs as THEY could. Suddenly--and
oh, so miraculously--their moral platitudes would be shelved in lieu of building
a stockpile of .web domains. Gee, do you think they would be speculating? Rest assured:
most of those who denounce the current .web domains registrants, know which of the
.webs have already been registered because these ranters sought to grab these domains
themselves. Transparent, transparent, transparent. Spare us your insincere spew.
Oh,
and you can expect that a precious handful of people---corporations included---would
have scripts prepared to get the best and the most .webs in seconds flat, if the
database was reset and reopened. The servers would be overburdened, and you would
get fewer decent domains than are CURRENTLY available.
7)
REGISTRATIONS ADDED TO THE DATABASE OVER TIME
IOD's database has been accepting
registrations for years. Get it. For years. I have 2 or 3 very nice domains through
IOD even though I came along about 7 months ago. The world had 5 or so years to stumble
onto (or discover through research) the .web registry. I am a testament to the fact
that not all the great .webs were registered at once, many years ago. Seems to me
that it is far more valid a procedure to have domains gradually added to the database,
than to have people descend upon the database in a single instant.
IOD's registrants
number in the thousands, and represent over 75 different countries.
Furthermore,
I am not a tech-savvy person. I was just curious about new TLDs, did some basic research
on Yahoo and other search engines, and found IOD. Imagine that. Doing research in
one's self interest. It makes me sick when I hear people say, "but I didn't know
about the .web! It's not fair!"
It IS fair. You and I and everyone else had an
equal opportunity. Registrations were not restricted to individuals or to companies.
The marketplace was open to all. You just needed to have the foresight to find it,
or even the blind luck. And I am sorry: I am not for legislation that adjusts for
all bad luck in the universe, or for people who simply didn't know things. The log
sheet would be infinitely long. Luck is never distributed across the masses evenly.
Ascribe it to whatever philosophical principle you choose. But there you have it.
To
put it plainly, if you TRULY cared to know the status of upcoming TLDs, you WOULD
have discovered Image Online Design. It was all a matter of public record.
There
are people who know the trends in real estate beyond anything I know. That does not
mean I can demand that their purchases be taken from them because they had "an unfair
advantage." They might have had an advantage. . . but it was hardly unfair.
In
the 1980's Microsoft stock was relatively low. Can I now demand that all those early
buyers of Microsoft stock renounce everything that grew out of it? Can I demand that
Microsoft return their stock to the early prices because I didn't have the good timing
or fair sense in the 1980s to have purchased it?
Come on, folks. This is life.
Jump in when you can, get what you would enjoy having, and move on. I didn't get
a chance to own Business.com. Too bad for me. I don't get to live in your house.
Too bad for me.
8) WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF PEOPLE MADE MILLIONS
OF DOLLARS FROM .WEB SALES?:
They would make millions of dollars. That's what would
happen. And so what? Get out of their business. Consider this: their tax dollars
from the sale would help the society you live in. Move on. Conduct your own life
& business affairs. . . kick back and eat a pizza. Worry about the proliferation
of drugs in your community; worry about child abuse and the sale of semiautomatic
weapon. Don't stick your nose in a business transaction between a seller who wants
to sell, and a buyer who wants to buy, which is none of your concern. Or else I will
come to your place of business and stand between you and your customer because I
consider it unfair that you are holding something--the sale item--over his head,
and expect money for it.
It's called commerce. Get it yet?
If I owned a store,
and someone came along and wanted to buy it from me, would I be expected TO GIVE
IT to him instead?
Real estate--ANYWHERE--is a commodity.
And learn the psychology
of covetousness and jealousy. Admit that if you were the seller, you would be telling
all those admonishing YOU for profiting, to go eat a pizza and shut up.
I actually
saw a post somewhere in which the author said, "This is an outrage! If .web is approved,
and the registrants are allowed to keep what they own, they will make millions! This
shouldn't be allowed to happen!"
I BEG his pardon.......WHAT?!
For those who
don't understand, this is what the author of that post was really saying: "This is
an outrage! It won't be ME selling the domain for millions!"
Just a little bit
of honesty.
9. A RANDOM FACT OF LIFE:
Your hate for a person
does not grant you the right to strike him, to steal his wallet, to move into his
home, or to take over the deed on his store. The same rule applies if you covet him.
10.
A QUOTE EXPRESSING A STUPID PRINCIPLE OF LIFE:
"I wish I had a ham sandwich. I
REALLY wish I had a ham sandwich. No one told me they were handing out ham sandwiches.
Now I am going to break into your home, go into your refrigerator, and take YOUR
ham sandwich......Because how dare you have it."
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If
there is any of this that needs further explaining, kindly let me know. I would be
more than happy to spell out the rest of the universe for you. And as Elvis Presley
once sang: "Stay off of them blue suede shoes". . . and ham sandwiches. . . and
generic SLDs everywhere.