Everyone’s got them. But not all of them are true.
Spend much time on domain name forums or at trade shows and you’ll hear a lot of conspiracy theories: auction tampering, domain renewal notices “lost” on purpose, etc.
I hear more than my fair share. Every week I get a few tips from people that turn out to be completely false. Sometimes I spend a couple hours investigating; other times I can dismiss them within a few minutes.
For example, there was the person that commented on Domain Name Wire that GoDaddy was taking longer than usual to appraise his domain name because the company was trying to find a way to steal his very valuable domain name. That domain name was probably worth $10.
Then there was the person who swore that Network Solutions was shill bidding on NameJet auctions for its expired domains. He showed me the same person who kept jumping in auctions at the last minute to bid. There was only one problem with his theory: a little snooping showed that the bidder was Frank Schilling.
The big companies face the brunt of conspiracy theories and GoDaddy gets more than its fair share. Look, GoDaddy is far from perfect but that doesn’t mean it’s conniving to steal from you. A lot of times I’ll hear from non-domainers who find Domain Name Wire through a search and are upset that GoDaddy “stole” their domain and sold it to someone else.
Psst. It’s called an expiration date.
By no means am I suggesting you stop sending these conspiracy theories and shenanigans to me. On the contrary, keep ’em coming. They keep me busy. And sometimes we hit pay dirt!
Kevin Ohashi says
You forgot the organized .com conspiracy to hold down (insert latest fad: mobi, biz, tel, blah blah blah)
bob says
How about the conspiracy that some domain registers are watching you check domain names and registering the good domains you find.
Stephen Douglas says
How about the conspiracy that Godaddy sends you a serious sounding “update your whois info for ICANN regulations” a month before your domains are to expire with them, and if you update them, you can’t transfer them away before your domains’ expiration period.
Conspiracy? Nope. Fact. Yes. I first reported this earlier this year. Have they changed this “scare tactic” that forces the nervous to update their domain info which locks them into renewing with Godaddy? I don’t know because I rarely go to Godaddy anymore to buy/sell/renew domains. I’ve transferred over 250 domains away from them in the last year or so. What a relief.
Kevin Ohashi says
@Bob: whois monitoring has been found to be a serious problem. I don’t believe it’s a conspiracy at all, people have tested it time and time again. Of course not all, but some certainly were monitoring and tasting.
Lizzy says
It happens all the time. Conspiracy theories, lies and deceits are part and parcel of all thriving industries; domaining is no exception.
MrX says
I think there is plenty of evidence that network solutions has engaged in “tasting” many customers names, before they get a chance to buy them. You only had to enter some rubbish letter combination in there domain search to see this was true. I think it is now well documented that several registars have, or do practice this unethical ploy to prevent people regging their names that they thought up.
M. Menius says
@ Ohashi – Spoken like a true .commie, Kevin. 😉
Conpiracy? …no. Perpetual negative remarks about anything non-com? … Most definitely Yes. We’ve always known that newer, alternative tld’s had a viable place in the market. dotcom holders who denied that were simply ignorant or dishonest. You may be referring to the contigent who always overstate their case … which does a disservice to everyone.
Kevin Ohashi says
@Max: Other than the big 3 (CNO) what gTLD has had ANY real sticking power? Funny enough the best case imo is .tv which is a ccTLD trying to brand as a gTLD. ccTLDs do have their place and serve purpose and the what I see as successful rebranding of .tv shows there is at least a niche market for future gTLDs perhaps. However, the economics of it are faulty when we have these landrushes and auctions where domainers are fueling growth (for a very short period of time before collapse) instead of true end users which is what made CNO so powerful. So all this hoopla about new gTLDs have been based on getting domainers to just buy in, and some certainly have, and they are the ones spouting the conspiracy bs left and right anywhere they can.
The last part is accusing .com holders of denying their viability and holding them down is the basis of the entire conspiracy crap. If the TLDs really had legs the negative comments would actually benefit those investing as it should drive prices down. if you really believe a few domainers talking about a TLD being bad drives end user demand/prices down then you probably can’t be helped. They don’t care what a few people say, their interests aren’t aligned with what a few domainers say and do. The whole notion that they do is the conspiracy and it needs to stop. If new gTLDs are such a great investment: people need to put up and shut up about it because that would be in their best interest. If not, then it would appear to be just hype.
Frank Michlick says
@Stephen: The message you are talking about is part of the ICANN mandated Whois Data Reminder Policy (WDRP), which every registrar has to follow and occasionally is audited on.
The one thing that is not mandated however is when this message needs to be sent, other than “once a year”. And while other registrars do this at 120 days before the domain anniversary or similar, GoDaddy chose to place it so they could block transfers out if you do actual changes. Coincidence? 😉
/FM
David says
What? No conspiracy theory that we’re conniving to prevent others from joining the party? 😀
Stephen Douglas says
For Frank M:
You know it, my friend! I’ve been watching that practice by Godad for over a year, and I finally determined it was very suspicious at the least, especially when I sold a domain name and before I transferred it, I updated some whois info FOR THE BUYER… and then Godaddy locked it down. The buyer had to open a Godaddy account to get the domain.
It’s lowbrow “who cares if Dick Cheney started a war to make profits for the company he resigned as CEO to become VP of US?” Clear facts, definitive motives, but nobody has pulled him out of his bunker to oust him. Even Spiro Agnew was dumped for minor duplicity that today would be accepted.
Same with Godaddy. Biggest company, lots of customers, mostly domain noobies… they don’t realize what they’re locked into.
bah
Andrew says
The good news is GoDaddy’s 60 day lock is inching toward having to be stopped. Inching.
More
Shuwix says
Godaddy has it’s pluses and minuses.
If they don’t have those “spam report” kidnapped domains and senseless fee to give it back to owner, they would be fair company.
Adam says
In a business with multi-millions at stake it’s no surprise there are conspiracies. The unfortunate reality is that some are true and I’d imagine like the proverbial cockroach, when we see 1 there are a dozen more at in the background. I get many of these and I assume there are some roaches at work right now. Proving it is another matter. Godaddy and NSI might be the top 2 in terms of being on most peoples radar. It doesn’t help squelch any rumoring when employees bid on auctions or a company “front-runs” now does it?