Grassroots.org needs our help

[JuniperPark]

The day that Mike Mann decided to put the "Grassroots.org" advertisments on my Goldkey parking pages a while back without my knowledge or consent is the day he guaranteed I will NEVER contribute a dime to that group.

 

[David G]

I could not of said it better.... Let's remember that one way Michael Mann made his fortune was at OUR expense, Buying up registrars to grab domains EXCLUSIVELY for himself and robbing us of the opportunity... I have zero trust in this Man and ANY organization with his name on it. I commend Rick and Howard at TRAFFIC for doing the RIGHT thing, NOBODY should get a free ride.

Ditto. I lost track of all the domains Michael Mann grabbed which I had worked hard at researching prior to the drops and trying to reg myself or thru Snapnames/Pool but he beat me to it at least 95% of the time (due to his computer power and insider knowledge as the owner of a registrar himself), robbing me of all my time and work.

I feel that's one of the big reasons Grassroots.org is getting some negativity here in their attempt to get a free ride to TRAFFIC.

Another thing which I am sure troubles some of us is since Mr. Mann is incredibly wealthy from his huge sale of BuyDomains.com and all his past success why can't he simply buy the 2k ticket himself? It seems real odd he has not done that with his vast wealth.

P.S. I am sure Angela Siefer is a great person and very sincere in her efforts and this it not intended to criticize her work in any way. Mr. Mann is lucky to have her working there.

 

[namestrands]

WTF.. those Grassroot mob earn more money than a small country.. Why the hell should I pay for them to earn some more.

Get f...ing real, charities are more often than not a front for tax evasion.

(I hear that News Corp are looking for a few more Million to outbid Microsoft on the Yahoo deal perhaps I should donate my domain revenue to them)

 

[Fearless]

Let's remember that one way Michael Mann made his fortune was at OUR expense, Buying up registrars to grab domains EXCLUSIVELY for himself and robbing us of the opportunity.

I disagree with you here Raider. This is capitalism. If you had a time machine and could go back in time to when Michael Mann did this and you had the capital, you'd do the same thing. This wasn't Michael Mann doing anything unethical or immoral.

 

[Raider]

I disagree with you here Raider. This is capitalism. If you had a time machine and could go back in time to when Michael Mann did this and you had the capital, you'd do the same thing. This wasn't Michael Mann doing anything unethical or immoral.

He exploited a loophole and robbed all of his competitors, PERIOD. Would I do what he did? NO!... I don't screw my competitors, I may very well need their support someday, donating to my new founded charity. :yes:

I don't blame Mike entirely, I think the 10+ Registrars Mike contracted with are greedy low life's as well and I will NEVER do business with them, Many of us had backorders at Snapnames for over a year waiting for them to drop, only to find out the day after the drop that he grabbed them EXCLUSIVELY for himself.....

I donate to several charities myself, mostly humanitarian... This is one I NEVER will.

 

[Fearless]

Would I do what he did? NO!.

I say you're either foolish or a liar. There's no difference between him and 10 registrars profiting and Snapnames and 100 registrars profiting. He didn't have to set up a system to charge people $60 for something that cost him $6.

But don't stop mobi bashing.

 

[Deleted member 5660]

I don't understand.
Did the people who used multiple registrars such as Snap Names and/or Pool "rob" all the people who tried to hand register via one registrar? Did the people who hand registered the day of the drop rob the people who were watching the public whois for it to be available? ... or is it just buying a registrar that is wrong? I am confused. Can anyone supply a copy of the rules of what is fair and what is not?

 

[DomainsInc]

Why do grassroots.org want to be at TRAFFIC for anyways?

 

[Donna Mahony]

Fearless, don't you understand, If some exploits a loophole and doesn't let you in, you never support anything he does. If somebody exploits a loophole and lets you in for a price, it's ok.

 

[DomainsInc]

I don't understand.
Did the people who used multiple registrars such as Snap Names and/or Pool "rob" all the people who tried to hand register via one registrar? Did the people who hand registered the day of the drop rob the people who were watching the public whois for it to be available? ... or is it just buying a registrar that is wrong? I am confused. Can anyone supply a copy of the rules of what is fair and what is not?

From what i understand he basically bribed registrars from letting domains drop as they normally would. Had he set up his own network of registrars and caught domains via them, I'd see no problem in that. He cheated the delete system that was set in place. Of course now, its a whole other ballpark with priority registrars, which doesn't seem very ethical either but hey, money is all that matters in this business to most people.

 

[David G]

Why do grassroots.org want to be at TRAFFIC for anyways?

I think the reasons have been mentioned before in this thread even though they may not be real clear. IMO a big reason is to get free links from domainers and the large TRAFFIC sponsors since he loves all the free links to Grassroots.org and is expert at getting them, which number and depth of links are amazing.

FYI, last time I checked Mr. Mann also owns a very impressive and valuable group of top-tier domains which are tied it with grassroots.org - I am sure all the links also make his superb network even more valuable and bring lots of extra traffic.

 

[Fearless]

From what i understand he basically bribed registrars from letting domains drop as they normally would. Had he set up his own network of registrars and caught domains via them, I'd see no problem in that. He cheated the delete system that was set in place. Of course now, its a whole other ballpark with priority registrars, which doesn't seem very ethical either but hey, money is all that matters in this business to most people.

You're wrong here. 99.99% of all drops came from NSI. Mann paid registrars to use their connections to the registry during drops. Same thing continues today with Enom, Pool and Snapnames.

 

[Deleted member 5660]

From what i understand he basically bribed registrars from letting domains drop as they normally would. Had he set up his own network of registrars and caught domains via them, I'd see no problem in that. He cheated the delete system that was set in place. Of course now, its a whole other ballpark with priority registrars, which doesn't seem very ethical either but hey, money is all that matters in this business to most people.

Right. And everybody watched him do it and knew about it as it went along at which point anyone could have done the same thing. The people in charge, ICANN and the US Dept of Commerce, also knew about it so it seems if you want to blame someone it would be them.

In the old Network Solutions template days the trick was to watch the invoicing system to see when a domain dropped and flood the system with templates rather than following the official directions and wait for the public whois to show it avaiable. Am I in the same boat?

 

[David G]

You're wrong here. 99.99% of all drops came from NSI. Mann paid registrars to use their connections to the registry during drops. Same thing continues today with Enom, Pool and Snapnames.

He also owned his own registrar (where I am sure he got his great insider knowledge from) which was quite well known some yrs ago but I believe is obscure today, if they are still in business. It was one of the first registars I used back about the late 90's or early 2000's.

 

[Fearless]

Fearless, don't you understand, If some exploits a loophole and doesn't let you in, you never support anything he does. If somebody exploits a loophole and lets you in for a price, it's ok.

In case you missed this Raider. This is really meant for you.

He also owned his own registrar which was well known some yrs ago but I belive is obscure today if they are still in business. It was one of the first registars I used back about the late 90's or early 2000's.

Still no different than the 3 big drop catchers today. The big difference between Mike Mann and the big drop catchers is he knew what to go for and they needed customers to tell them what to go for.

 

[DomainsInc]

You're wrong here. 99.99% of all drops came from NSI. Mann paid registrars to use their connections to the registry during drops. Same thing continues today with Enom, Pool and Snapnames.

Ah, ok. I stand corrected. Yeah, those companies still do it today but at those domains go for a closer to a realistic market price rather than very valuable domains going for reg fee with no competition.

Not much point worrying about it now, he is rich as shit and we should be focusing on whats happening now..like registrars keeping domains for themselves being one thing i really think shouldn't be allowed to go on.

 

[Donna Mahony]

In case you missed this Raider. This is really meant for you.

True, twas a bit of sarcasm.

 

[Raider]

In case you missed this Raider. This is really meant for you.

I got it.. Twisted sarcasm from someone who missed the point all together.

 

[DomainsInc]

You're wrong here. 99.99% of all drops came from NSI. Mann paid registrars to use their connections to the registry during drops. Same thing continues today with Enom, Pool and Snapnames.

Ah, ok. I stand corrected. Yeah, those companies still do it today but at those domains go for a closer to a realistic market price rather than very valuable domains going for reg fee with no competition.

Not much point worrying about it now, he is rich as shit and we should be focusing on whats happening now..like registrars keeping domains for themselves being one thing i really think shouldn't be allowed to go on.

 

[Raider]

You're wrong here. 99.99% of all drops came from NSI. Mann paid registrars to use their connections to the registry during drops. Same thing continues today with Enom, Pool and Snapnames.

Grabbing domains today is MUCH different than it was then, Domain auctions did not exist, When you placed a backorder at Snapnames or Namewinner, you usually got it, that was until Mann stepped it up and essentially stole those same backorders out from under the people who first placed them.

I wonder how domains he took from Rick Schwartz? It's ironic that the same people Michael Mann needs support from today, are the same people he robbed from yesterday.

But don't stop mobi bashing.

I haven't even begun