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With automated processes they buy domains that are released and resell them for a higher price.
<Snip><edit>I think it's bad, wrong, unfair.</edit>
[edited by: Webwork at 8:34 pm (utc) on Oct. 14, 2005]
[edit reason] Please read the Domain Forum Charter [/edit]
At best this thread is an invitation to rehash an issue that has been publicly flogged to death hundreds of times since at least 1999. However, since 1999 that which was once was viewed as cybersquatting gave birth to an era of profitable domain speculation which has now evolved into the direct navigation business, supported by no less a company than Google.
At worst this type of post - about the wrongs of registering domains but not building "honest" websites - is flame bait and I won't allow such threads to run.
These days, with a reinvigorated domain aftermarket, it's widely known that if you want to grab a good domain you need to register your interest with every available drop catching service and then be prepared to bid to whatever level the interested parties are willing to take the bidding.
I invite you to examine the Domain Forum's Library and past threads discussion how to acquire a decent domain.
However the fact remains that in certain cases the registration of deleting domains is cybersquatting (or at least attempted cybersquatting). I would say that this is the second most prevalent form of abusive registration (after typosquatting).
Some of the big players in typosquatting have also been heavily involved in deleting domain name speculation, usually exploiting the domain names via pay-per-click advertising.
Personally I find .net endings just as good or should I say classic. The .org endings I allways associate with organizations.
Before long there will be no restrictons on domain endings and that will be when the real race for names starts, who would not like to own for instance: money.matters, virtual.reality, cyber.space, cheapest.prices etc. etc.
There would be NO fraud whatsoever, and I'm sure countries like China probably wouldn't try to throw their weight around and have some control of the content of the Internet...and I'm sure the guy in charge of the program probably wouldn't be bribed - nah, that would never happen.
(not saying the current system is without faults, but to put it in control of a bureacratic organization like the UN would be pure silliness).
The superbowl analogy is completely off base - ICANN isn't setting up a sweetheart deal with the "warehouses" and giving them these names that you don't have access to. You have the same right to buy 1,000 domains and do nothing with them that the domain warehouses do....
(and this is coming from someone who loses several domains per week to "the big guys"...)
People are always welcome to try a change. But do give it a long and hard logical thought lest
you might regret what you wish for.