Suing buy domains, ICANN and or buydomains

[Diogenes]

I wanted to find out if any of you attornies would be wiling to file a lawsuit on our (dnforum members ) behalf, suing ultsearch for collusion with registrars, for unfair business practices.

Also buydomains for trying to manipulate the price of aftermarket domains buy taking in a large inventory and asking for higher prices.

Are there any possibilities here? Maybe you could have some great exposure (David taking on Goliath) and at least get reimbursed for your cost.

We all know utlsearch pays off a bunch of registrars for direct access, that is unfair competition. And buy domains uses their registrar status to hog a large inventory and they has a minimum per name, regardless of the actual value.

Dnforum members could split the cost. I would be willing to pay for something like that, if others would help me, because this is upsetting how us little guys are jsut left with the names they don't want. And utlsearch and buydomains can take over the market, but they can't change their whois info.

If ICANN can't protect us from this type of collusion, what are they there for?

D.

D.

 

[GeorgeK]

I don't think you speak on behalf of DNForum members.

BuyDomains, UltSearch, and everyone else is competing very fairly and openly. There are always winners and losers. Instead of accusing them of collusion and unfair business practises, you should look to improve your own domain acquisition methods instead, e.g. getting SnapBacks earlier, bidding higher on NameWinner, etc.

 

[jberryhill]

Diogenes,

Just so that you understand what is, and is not, encompassed by the term "you attornies", you should understand that I am am Ultimate Search's attorney.

You should also be aware that Ari Goldberger, another dnforum member, recently represented BuyDomains.

"Are there any possibilities here?"

No.

 

[ShaunP]

Diogenes .... I'm sorry but yours is about the funniest post I have ever seen on this board! Get a grip man!

Shaun

 

[Diogenes]

J:

That's fine, you represent Yun Yee, I can't blame a man for making a living. But let's be real. Oversimplifying the stacked game "there are winners and losers" doesn't erase the fact that the little guys are always the losers.

"IF" these comanies are paying off registrars for direct access to the registry, don't you think that is unfair competion J, or do you want to discuss the definition of unfair?

You can make light of my post, however, the fact remains (and most forum members will agree), they DO get left out in the cold OVER AND OVER AND OVER by these two companies, who might be manipulating the market, have unfair business practices and prepresent unfair competition.

D.

 

[ShaunP]

"there are winners and losers" doesn't erase the fact that the little guys are always the losers."

Diogenes ... your above statement could cover just about everything in life and is true. It is just a matter of if you choose to be a loser.

You CAN compete ....

Buy snaps like the pro's do. The big boys have snaps on names months in advance and don't just hav 10 or 20, but hundreds and thousands. You COULD do this too.

Bid the most at Name Winner ... You COULD do this too.

Work with other drop services like the ones run by board members Cartoonz and Dropwizard (George Martin). You COULD do this too!

Join a "drop club" ... You COULD do this too.

All you have to do is DO IT! But no, it isn't easy and nobody is going to spoon feed you.

Shaun

 

[Tippy]

If they are paying off the registrars to get the Domains it wouldnt really matter would it if you had snaps all over the web.

Mike

 

[ShaunP]

Tippy ... and you have the proof of your "if"?

Shaun

 

[David G]

Originally posted by aactive "there are winners and losers" doesn't erase the fact that the little guys are always the losers." Diogenes ... your above statement could cover just about everything in life and is true. It is just a matter of if you choose to be a loser. You CAN compete .... Buy snaps like the pro's do. The big boys have snaps on names months in advance and don't just hav 10 or 20, but hundreds and thousands. You COULD do this too. Bid the most at Name Winner ... You COULD do this too. Work with other drop services like the ones run by board members Cartoonz and Dropwizard (George Martin). You COULD do this too! Join a "drop club" ... You COULD do this too.
All you have to do is DO IT! But no, it isn't easy and nobody is going to spoon feed you. Shaun

Very well said Shaun, excellent examples on how others may compete better.

I think this is why WLS is welcomed by some of us, in that we may be able to get a name guaranteed (if it drops) with no work as long as the WLS is available of course.

 

[Tippy]

No, do you have any proof that they arn't?

I was simply pointing out that if it was the case your comments are worthless, I think we all know about the various snap services we can use.

Mike

 

[RON2]

Originally posted by Diogenes

Also buydomains for trying to manipulate the price of aftermarket domains buy taking in a large inventory and asking for higher prices.

If buydomains has drivin up aftermarket domain prices, isn't that beneficial to other domain resellers?

 

[ShaunP]

if ... is a big word. I choose not to soil other people reputations without proof that they have done anything wrong.

And Tippy ... comments like "No, do you have any proof that they arn't?" are just juvenile and simplistic. People should stop whining about others and get moving on making their mark in the domain business, instead of criiticizing those that have made their mark already.

I admire the people that are the movers and shakers in this business.

Shaun

 

[jberryhill]

I am not making light of anything in your post, and I am not going to respond to any of your specific comments about Ultimate Search.

Generally, I have worked for a variety of clients who are domain name registrants. Because of that fact, and because of the fact that these clients have various methods of obtaining domain names, I do not have any idea what methods they use to obtain domain names.

The observation that "the little guys are always the losers" was not lost on me when I first played basketball in grade school, and it comes as no shock to me now. In this context, though, the "little guys" are most certainly not always the losers.

There are a variety of people who catch abandoned and expired domain names. Some seem to be better at it than others, but I know individuals with relatively few domain names who seem to be able to get ones which they are motivated enough, and yes lucky enough, to catch. For example, I can think of at least two two-letter domain names that were picked up by individuals within the last year or so.

As far as I know, registrars are able to make their services available to anyone on whatever terms they would like, subject to the provisions of the ICANN RAA. If registrars want to provide exclusive bulk pool access to someone willing to pay for that kind of service, I don't see a problem there off the top of my head. Why shouldn't they be able to do that?

I'm sure that McDonald's gets a better deal on fountain Coca-Cola syrup than I can get. If I want to open a refreshment stand, is that unfair?

But what is it that you want, exactly? You want to find some way to handicap some large competitors whom you suspect of having the benefit of volume pricing for services (shudder), so that you can then compete with a bazillion "little guys", say a stadium full of Korean typists banging away at drop time, right?

By all means, let's discuss the notion of "unfair". Part of your reasoning doesn't seem consistent with other parts of your reasoning. You are saying that by holding a lot of inventory that isn't going anywhere, Buydomains is manipulating a market? Ummm... that would seem to be helping you.

Quite a few people believe it is "unfair" for there to be any secondary market in domain names at all, and that if you do not have a trademark or some other pre-existing right, then you should not be entitled to register a domain name at all. But I guess that is not the definition of "fair" that fits the-world-as-you-want-it-to-be.

Or is "fair" defined as uniformly setting industry-wide prices and services for the registrars? Ummm... I know some folks at the FTC who would not consider that "fair" either.

"IF" registrars are offering bulk access based on volume pricing, I don't see why that is unfair, or even a remarkable proposition in any industry I can think of.

I suppose it is also difficult to buy shares of an initial public stock offering through E-trade. Of course, that is the nature of the introduction of resources into a secondary market.

 

[jberryhill]

"I choose not to soil other people reputations without proof that they have done anything wrong. "

In fact, making public accusations of illegality without having any regard of the factual basis can be, itself, an actionable wrong.

For crying out loud, people, the application fee to be your own registrar is only on the order of $10,000. There is a capitalization/insurance requirement of $70,000, but that can be met with readily obtainable credit or business insurance. Is a $10,000 barrier to entry a difficult hurdle for someone seriously thinking of competing in a valuable business? I hardly think so.

 

[GeorgeK]

Diogenes had written in:

http://www.dnforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26397

"I am getting tired of these *&$^%@ grabbing all my good names and leaving me with the scraps! "

and

"Yun yee is a royal pain in my ass, he is taking all my good names."

It's very presumptuous to think that they are YOUR NAMES, and that somehow you have a greater entitlement to them than say...me! If it was a good name, probably 100 or more people were going for it.

 

[timechange.com]

As far as NetSol's practices are concerned, someone is offering $1 million to Verisign employees to come forward and disclose any irregularities in the domain registration/renewing/expiration process:

http://verisignmustbestopped.com/corporateterrorism1.html

 

[beatz]

Heh, i like this line:

"VERISIGN, NETWORKSOLUTIONS and NETSOL are The TRADE MARKS of CORPORATE TERRORISM"

Agree.

 

[Nexus]

Originally posted by Diogenes
If ICANN can't protect us from this type of collusion, what are they there for?

Well, WLS certainly levels the playing field doesn't it? --I... um, that is... ok, everyone is staring at me with an angry look in their eyes. I think I'll end that comment right there...

~ Nexus

 

[jberryhill]

"Well, WLS certainly levels the playing field doesn't it?"

It simply changes the rules of the game.

http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/ga-full/Arc10/msg03434.html
"Changing the rules will change the game. It will not change the result.
Which, if you think about it Chuck, should remove that suspicion that I have
some kind of bias here. I don't. I am not going to shed a tear after WLS is
put into place, and next year everyone is whining about how some clever folk
have figured out how to game it, and the "common folk" can't get the names
they want. Experts have a way of being, you know, experts. The *only* thing
WLS will change is how the money gets distributed. "

And, just so Diogenes doesn't come crying to us later this year about how "unfair" it is that WLS is far from a level playing field, please read the words of Mason Cole from SnapNames on the subject of WLS pricing.

http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/ga/Arc10/msg02372.html
"We do and have always offered volume discounts, as any business does."

So, some folks have noticed that other folks seem to get snaps earlier and cheaper than they do. Gang, the same people are going to be running the WLS. The only difference with WLS is that it will be the only game in town.

 

[Momentum]

Hi Diogenes,

I just wanted to say that BuyDomains and UltSearch were once little guys working out of their spare bedrooms too.

And on the internet, the biggest guy doesn't always win, sometimes the fastest or the smartest or the most prepared can win some too.