Get Your Internet Domains Now – Forbes.com

Comment on “Get Your Internet Domains Now” in Forbes.com.

Wow SuccessClick. I never knew the power of generic domain names. How foolish Ebay, Google, and Amazon was. Of course, they followed the path blazed by the foolish Xerox, Kodak, and Apple. I’m sure the owners of cottagecheese.com, milk.com, and watch.com are raking it in.

Generic dictionary domain names are modern-day tulip bulbs whose only value results from hyping pitchmen such as yourself. How in the world is watch.com working for the domain owner every day. Has a given portfolio of 40 dictionary domains or LLLL.com domains increased in value consistently year-after-year? For example, does Torino Pasta gain measurable benefits from owning pasta.com and biscotti.com?

Your pitch – that a generic domain can rule the web – only makes sense if consumers are idiots and have no idea how to use a search engine. Do you reasonably expect that the average user will type in “doctors.com” instead of “webmd?” In fact, I imagine that the typical user knows that generic domains usually lead to worthless parking parking pages.

As for sound investments – generic domain names in and of themselves by definition do not have trademark or other intellectual property protection. And the question of whether domains are even property is still in question. Domain names are government by a confusing and sometimes contradictory set of rules – and ruled over by a non-profit corporation, not a government entity.

In the recent Commonwealth v. 141 Internet Domain Names, Case No. 08-CI-1409 (Ky Cir. Ct., Oct. 16, 2008), it was argued by a group including Network Solutions and the industry trade group ICA that:

“The Opposing Groups and Lawyers … collectively assert that domain names are akin to a telephone number or a business or residential address only; that domain names are but a combination of letters and numbers, which serves as a mnemonic aid, nothing more. They argue that domains are not property, but are rights in a service contract.”

Domain names. Tulip bulbs.

[in response to another article comment that said, in part, “A domain name is an appreciable marketing asset. It grows in value. It works for you day after day. It doesn’t stop working after a few weeks, like an expensive ad campaign will do using traditional advertising methods.” posted by Stephen Douglas of successclick.com]

From: http://ping.fm/qwrBg