Live data from Hacker News

Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

news.cnet.com

41–50 of 97 posts

Re: Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

#41

I feel like we need a chance in policy that makes this practice not worth the trouble. I see no value that he gives the internet. I may be bias though, I can't grab the .com variant of a non profit school I work for because someone like him owns it and wont accept offers for less then $600 bucks.

some say that the future will be app-based and that domain-names and tlds will be a thing of the past, we'll see.

I know a lot of people who say they hate squatters, then they have an "awesome idea" for a project, they'll register 10 domains, the project is never finished and they put their page on sedo in the hope someone clicks on an ad or buys the domain and they won't let go because it's just $10 a year and maybe they'll someday finish their page.

I honestly don't get the hate for squatters, they registered the domain, they were quicker than others and why should they sell their domainname just because someone else wants it badly? that's not how business works.

if you really want or even need a domainname then offer $3k and you'll get it, otherwise look for alternatives, but stop whining

Re: Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

#42
post #2

I've only once been able to snag a domain on the drop (everymentor.com). Though I've tried dozens of times for various domains, I always get beaten to the punch. What kind of resources do these guys have? Hundreds of EC2 instances pounding registrars for good domains? I'm surprised registrars allow it.

most, if not all of the big players in the industry own their own registrar(s)

Re: Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

#43
post #3

I dont know what to say ! i get angry when i see a domain name that i want being parked on and going to absolute waste, but on the other hand the business this guy has created and the money he has made could be viewed as a smart hack in some perverse way. He has basically seen a market where no one else did in the early days (or only few did) and has managed to capitalize of it very sweetly (all of which he did skill…

Surely, it is legal and indeed a hack. But still, not morally correct!

Why is it not morally correct? He is just speculating as speculators do in all different industries. And kudos to him - it's technically non-trivial, carries a lot of risk and clearly requires a lot of business acumen to work.

Re: Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

#44

I feel like we need a chance in policy that makes this practice not worth the trouble. I see no value that he gives the internet. I may be bias though, I can't grab the .com variant of a non profit school I work for because someone like him owns it and wont accept offers for less then $600 bucks.

I wonder if buying lots of domains in the hope of making it big is like buying lottery tickets in the hope of making it big. Does anybody know if this business model actually works?

Re: Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

#45
How important is it to have the .com name, is there any research available on this topic? I known that common sense says that mydomain.com is better than mydomain.cc, mydomain.io, mydomain.to or whatever, but is this really the case and how big are the differences? (For example how much more likely users remember a .com vs .io name)

Re: Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

#46

I feel like we need a chance in policy that makes this practice not worth the trouble. I see no value that he gives the internet. I may be bias though, I can't grab the .com variant of a non profit school I work for because someone like him owns it and wont accept offers for less then $600 bucks.

I wonder if buying lots of domains in the hope of making it big is like buying lottery tickets in the hope of making it big. Does anybody know if this business model actually works?

Both (lottery tickets, domain names) have working business models. Google it.

Re: Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

#47
post #3

I dont know what to say ! i get angry when i see a domain name that i want being parked on and going to absolute waste, but on the other hand the business this guy has created and the money he has made could be viewed as a smart hack in some perverse way. He has basically seen a market where no one else did in the early days (or only few did) and has managed to capitalize of it very sweetly (all of which he did skill…

> being parked on and going to absolute waste

1st) Parking makes money (ads). 2nd) All sorts of assets are held without use for speculative reasons; land, art, patents, options e.g. to make movie based on book, metals, money, etc.

Land in particular is very close to domain names in being a limited, exclusive commodity which you can go and see is not being "used" and rail against the "unfairness" of it all.

Re: Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

#48
The prices on his website are rediculous.

thesearchservice.com - 2 million!

You don't even get searchservice.com with this domain. Simarly .org and .net are not even registered meaning after buying this you could be facing competition from similar names.

I find squatters are the bane of the internet. My little brother had a small gaming message board where he and his friends would prepare for games. No seo value.. long domain name. Parents credit card expired and we didn't notice. Domain name expired briefly. Tried to register it again as soon as we noticed. Someone else pinched it. Offered to sell it back to us for $1000. It has been for sale for the past 2 years with no interest..

The squatter has got nothing from it. My kid brother lost his domain name.. I think the majority of squatters are scum tbh.

Re: Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

#50
post #41

I feel like we need a chance in policy that makes this practice not worth the trouble. I see no value that he gives the internet. I may be bias though, I can't grab the .com variant of a non profit school I work for because someone like him owns it and wont accept offers for less then $600 bucks.

some say that the future will be app-based and that domain-names and tlds will be a thing of the past, we'll see. I know a lot of people who say they hate squatters, then they have an "awesome idea" for a project, they'll register 10 domains, the project is never finished and they put their page on sedo in the hope someone clicks on an ad or buys the domain and they won't let go because it's just $10 a year and maybe…

Domain camping is scummy because it rewards specialization in a skill that adds no discernable value whatsoever to society. It is the definition of leeching off of other people's work. That it's legal and "how business works" is irrelevant to whether it's worthwhile. In cases where they hop on accidentally expired domains (this is popular) are effectively legal forms of blackmail.
Post reply on HN