For as long as domain speculation has existed, there have been investors in the name of gaining a penny off of tragic situations. From nearly every terrible incident that claimed one life to hundreds of thousands, there has been someone to claim the unspoken for money that they feel is rightfully theirs.
Although the Japanese earthquake and proceeding tsunami wasn't the largest, nor deadliest to strike, people who call themselves domain investors hopped aboard to register names that would get immediate visitors after the warning and subsequent wave that took the lives of 18,000 in Japan with most by drowning, one in Northern California and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Japanese residents.
I recall attempting to secure OkinawaTsunami.com as someone out there was bound to register it, but I found it was already registered after the lines were free in Okinawa, Japan. It was a sickening feeling that within my own industry, there may have been someone speculating on a disaster hitting my home, destroying everything that my neighbors and I have worked for as the domain was immediately parked and monetized.
The original registrant let the domain expire and now it is no longer parked for monetization.
This wasn't the first time someone has registered a name in vain and surely won't be the last.
We now have a new wave of registrations in the name of Ferguson, Missouri which include FergusonRiots.com after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th, 2014. The domain was registered two days later, subsequently parked and put on sale for $5,000.
With the grand jury deciding not to send Officer Wilson to trial, we are bound to see more registrations in the coming days such as this as it is sparking nationwide rioting.
However, we will never see the end of what I call Disaster Domaining for as long as a dollar can be made off of a tragedy.
Although the Japanese earthquake and proceeding tsunami wasn't the largest, nor deadliest to strike, people who call themselves domain investors hopped aboard to register names that would get immediate visitors after the warning and subsequent wave that took the lives of 18,000 in Japan with most by drowning, one in Northern California and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Japanese residents.
I recall attempting to secure OkinawaTsunami.com as someone out there was bound to register it, but I found it was already registered after the lines were free in Okinawa, Japan. It was a sickening feeling that within my own industry, there may have been someone speculating on a disaster hitting my home, destroying everything that my neighbors and I have worked for as the domain was immediately parked and monetized.
The original registrant let the domain expire and now it is no longer parked for monetization.
This wasn't the first time someone has registered a name in vain and surely won't be the last.
We now have a new wave of registrations in the name of Ferguson, Missouri which include FergusonRiots.com after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th, 2014. The domain was registered two days later, subsequently parked and put on sale for $5,000.
With the grand jury deciding not to send Officer Wilson to trial, we are bound to see more registrations in the coming days such as this as it is sparking nationwide rioting.
However, we will never see the end of what I call Disaster Domaining for as long as a dollar can be made off of a tragedy.
