Appalling, Just appalling.

[amplify]

I’ve asked the question myself: setting morals aside, are natural disasters profitable? Well, they may just be that for the person who hops on board to register the domain once they happen.

Yesterday, I fortunately lived through the largest (and hopefully last) quake of my life. It first measured 7.3 but was eventually downgraded to 7.0 and was expected to have a 1 meter tsunami for outer lying costal cities (where I reside).

All variations of OkinawaQuake/Tsunami etc were taken and put on GoDaddy cash parking directly after the quake. The person who did this was not only bidding on my life, but the lives of others to be lost to create a profit (1 million+ residents on this island).

Just today the devastating 8.8 quake hit Chile and a tsunami warning was issued. Guess what? All variations were taken as well.

I now understand that this is a lucrative thing to do, but now that I’ve asked for it (and lived it)… when I know it happens around the world, I will try to immediately register the domain and redirect it to a non-profit organization in charge of collecting the appropriate funds for the region instead of letting it get in the hands of a greedy scumbag domainer not caring about the lives of others but their own.

Who is with me?

To anyone who registered Chile or Okinawa domains and collected revenue for the few minutes that it had its’ fame but not devastation and disaster like you’ve expected: YOU MAKE ME SICK!

---------- Post added at 09:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 PM ----------

Seconds after this post: ANOTHER QUAKE!

Smaller and probably an aftershock.

REGISTER THAT ASSH*LES!

[Gramma]

personally - i don't see the difference between this and registering any other type of domain. The whole market is based on who gets there first. For elections - lost children - office supplies - new trends - ... it's the way it goes

Just curious ...... Why were you checking on the domain variations 'directly' after the quake? So you could direct them to the charities that will come later (hopefully) ? (giving you the benefit of the doubt here)

I live near the New Madrid fault, and it's just a matter of time before the "BIG ONE" hits us.
Sorry for your situation - I hope your family and friends are all okay.

[stewie]

I agree its not good when people squat on these disasters etc... but I would think without proper written permission you would be taking a risk of a TM issues, even though your intentioins might be good you still probably do not have a legal right to this.

I think you mentioned you have done this before and never had a problem...but it still doesn't make it legal. Be careful, hope it works out for you. JMO

Sorry to hear about the quake. Hope your family and friends are okay.

[amplify]

Actually, I was at an izakaya ($1.00 beer restaurant) with my wife and thought to myself-- who speculated on the domains and for what reason?

This was 12+ hours after the initial quake in Okinawa and 2 hours after the quake in Chilie.

---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 PM ----------

I think you mentioned you have done this before and never had a problem...but still doesn't make it legal. Be careful, hope it works out for you. JMO

No, I simply requested information on this type of domain before. Never did I register a natural disaster domain and profit upon.

At the time, I was asking others "setting morals aside" what would they do. Living a situation; I can answer that now, but couldn't get one then.

[katherine]

That might be a dumb question but: is there any real benefit in registering a domain like assholehearthquakedisaster.com ?
I mean, does it really get any traffic and even make a few bucks for at least a few days to make that dubious reg worthwhile ?

[amplify]

That might be a dumb question but: is there any real benefit in registering a domain like assholehearthquakedisaster.com ?
I mean, does it really get any traffic and even make a few bucks for at least a few days to make that dubious reg worthwhile ?

No, I was just giving the domainer (who may have a profile on here) a second to the update of how the Ryuku Island region is. It was up to him after my post (it was only a 1.0 "feel") to register even more variations.

[stewie]

Hey Amplify, For the record ...I wasn't saying you squatted,,, I thought you had said you were buying domains to redirect them to non-profit organizations etc... I think your intentions are good.

What I am saying is... I do not think you have the rights to register these domains, and could get caught up in something.. If you think these companies would not mind or would appreciate this you should contact them and get permission first to use their business or companies in advance...

I would think or at these hope these companies need to be Registered and have a special licence/licenses, I do remember another thread during Haiti's quake and someone registering RedCross names and Haiti names related to the earth quake....Im not judging their intentions they seem good, but I would be careful about registering domains without permission. JMO

I understand your intentions. I understand you are not trying to profilt.

I'm not a lawyer but I would think this would not be advisable without permission.

JMO

[Gramma]

i dunno - my husband got prostate cancer - and i registered - aggressiveprostatecancer.com - am I profiting on his misfortune? I guess I am - am I &Xshole for doing it? I don't think so. Same with taking care of my dad - he has dementia - i set up a blog - both make a little money.. I can see situations where profiting off another's misfortune would be wrong - someone dying of thirst and you buy up all the water ... things like that - but not buying a domain name.

Just my opinions - not saying yours is wrong - it's just yours

[rakesh777]

There has been a lot of talk about making a profit through natural disasters. The problem is that you are making wide-reaching assumptions without knowing the facts.

1. For the situation you are describing, nobody is profiting from direct donations. Rather the person can only profit if someone clicks on an ad. (The advertiser is the only one who willingly is paying for traffic.. assuming the consumer is looking for a charity (which is not always the case) he loses only a few seconds before he googles the right keywords.

2. The assumption is that none of the proceeds (in most cases paltry) are not be directed back into NGO's. The counter-argument is that the consumer who clicks on the links have no interest in donating. In fact, the owner may donate any revs that wouldn't have existed otherwise back to charity.

3. The real scumbags are the ones who accept charity, and then squander the money on operational costs such as salaries, etc. If you google the red cross, there are numerous instances where donations have not reached the needy.


I bet you could not find a single domain name sale where a domainer profited off a disaster. The media (who profits like crazy when a disaster hits) will instantly run over to ebay to find some lunatic who is trying to sell a chile domain name for 5 million dollars. The media could have used that exact same air time worth $$$$$$$$$$ and used it to focus on donations and victims. Thats appalling.

[katherine]

i dunno - my husband got prostate cancer - and i registered - aggressiveprostatecancer.com - am I profiting on his misfortune? I guess I am - am I &Xshole for doing it?

I don't think so. You registered a domain that relates to something you're (more or less) personally affected by.
But I would never register a domain such as Okinawaearthquakeblahblah.com if I have no connection with Okinawa whatsoever. You get the point

[DomainsInc]

most of these domains don't make the buyer any money and just get dropped the following year. sure they might get some publicity due to the nature of the registration but if the media just ignored the trolls who are stupid enough to think people are typing in all kinds of variations of disasters/deaths/etc they would have nothing at all.

[Gerry]

i dunno - my husband got prostate cancer - and i registered - aggressiveprostatecancer.com - am I profiting on his misfortune? I guess I am - am I &Xshole for doing it? I don't think so. Same with taking care of my dad - he has dementia - i set up a blog - both make a little money.. I can see situations where profiting off another's misfortune would be wrong - someone dying of thirst and you buy up all the water ... things like that - but not buying a domain name.

Just my opinions - not saying yours is wrong - it's just yours

It all boils down to intent.

Making an informative site that may educate and help someone else and you put adsense on it is not taboo, in my opinion.

I know people who have made sites like recalled toys and it is providing a needed service and he is making money.

I have tons of medical related domains but have not developed them all.

I do have a couple of sites that have NO ads on them at all because of the importance of the message.

As for natural disasters, again - intent.

Hurrican Katrina was the largest 24 hour domain registration in history. But, this was soon eclipsed by the Virginia Tech Shootings.

I see a massive difference here - one is a natural disaster and the other is a man-made horrific event.

Profiting from an information site related to the event is one thing that I can personally tolerate. Directing to legitimate sites for assistance is great. Problem is, too many illigitimate sites are set up.

If you can blog about dementia, prostate cancer, inform others, educate on early signs and detection and make a few bucks from it then go for it.

Your intent seems genuine.

[BobDiGiTaL]

you'll see them on ebay soon for $1 Million BIN.

[amplify]

2. The assumption is that none of the proceeds (in most cases paltry) are not be directed back into NGO's. The counter-argument is that the consumer who clicks on the links have no interest in donating. In fact, the owner may donate any revs that wouldn't have existed otherwise back to charity.

If that action is taken, fine. If it's taken with the intention that he can profit off his other domains by having a tax deduction for donating funds that he would have not made if the disaster didn't happen, not fine.

Japan is still on tsunami watch as of this post, a 2-3 meter wave is supposed to touch down in 3 1/2 hours after the devastating 8.8 Chile earthquake. A wave has already struck Hawaii apparently.