Domainers are not Domainers Because they say they are.

Afternoon Folks!!


Just because someone says they are a domainer does not make them a domainer. Take this case and let's make it clear to the world that this is NOT A DOMAINER but in fact a CYBERSQUATTER. We as an industry need to take the lead on things like this.


Now I am the first to admit there is a fine line and it is the fine line that we are disputing and fighting the good fight over. The fight is exactly where that line is drawn. In my view of the world this is clearly cybersquatting with a malicious intent. It is WAY over that fine line that is slowly being defined with these Reverse Domain Name hijacking decisions as well as bona fide complaints of trademark holders.


The CNN.COM Article brings Donald Trump on one side and what I clearly see as a cybersquatter on the other. However the entire industry of 'Domaining' has been used with the same brush and that is worrysome. So I want to be clear of where I stand on this case.


The court will rule and I have a hunch it will cost this chap $400,000 for his business tactics. JMO and we will see. Maybe they we settle before it gets that far. I kinda doubt it.


'Yung, a self-described 'domainer,' acquired four Trump-related domain names, including trumpmumbai.com and trumpindia.com, in 2007, the year the Trump organization announced plans to build Trump-branded hotels and condominiums in Mumbai and Bangalore, India.'


But there is clearly a difference between a domain owner, domain investor, domainer, domain developer and an actual cybersquatter. They are not the same and those that try to lump all together usually have an agenda behind their actions.


So, on the record, for the record to the general public......This young man is NOT a domainer in any way, shape or form. He, in my professional opinion, is one degree worse than a cybersquatter when you add in his particular use. We will follow up on this when a ruling or settlement comes down.


Sadly, there are many, many, many more cybersquatters than there are professional domainers. Professional domainers and others that RESPECT and UNDERSTAND trademarks and laws surrounding them as well as the intent and the spirit of them.


When there is reverse domain name hijacking they need to be called out and when they are CLEARLY violating a trademark they must also be called out.


Rick Schwartz


Distinguish Your Company without the Confusion!!

Morning Folks!!


Distinguish Your Company without the Confusion. Isn't that what this is all about?


Easy to spell.


Easy to remember.


Easy to tell others.


Passes the Radio Test.


Looks good on a billboard.


Looks good in an ad.


Can be brandable or generic.


Does not leak traffic, customers and profits to anyone especially your competition.


Stop saying 'NO' to a never ending stream of new customers. ARE YOU CRAZY??


What exactly do the folks in charge not get?


What exactly do those in charge of their companies say to not even knowing the difference between foundational and strategic marketing? Not even knowing that the decisions they make now have long term consequences and they view things via a short term lens or budget?


Until now the end users always had a pass. But now there are no longer excuses there are only the incompetent and unqualified. When you have an example like Borders, what is not to understand? They were SCHMUCKS that got put out of business by the competition for going into this century WITHOUT a thought about foundational and strategic marketing and that is only the tip!


But that tip is what should alert the next schmuck, from being a schmuck. Don't repeat the same mistakes. Study why they collapsed. Study why Pets.com collapsed. Study why the entire thing burst in 2000 and the threat the Internet was to all those now pumping it up and relying on it.


There is an entire history of failure out there and the way to have a success is to study the failures of others. Study the successes of others. Apply those lessons to your path.


What should be the most progressive folks on the planet are actually regressive because they are not aggressive when they look to the future at a time where every moment counts. They just don't understand their role and they have let so many folks down for not being light years ahead of fools like me.


Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz



Earn my TRUST First Before Asking for my Info!!

Morning Folks!!


So the new trend (and not very smart imo) is FORCING someone to open an account and giving information BEFORE anything else and this is just another blunder in a series of blunders being made by DESPERATE websites taking the advice of guys that lose more business than they get.


Earn my trust before you ask me for information and those that don't do that. CLICK BABY! That browser is closed and gone forever and so is the website doing it. Never to return.


All these 'Cute' things that are hurting their business they just are blind to it. Like dropping the .com on your name advertising. DUH! I love it being invested in dotcom, but stupid from a marketing standpoint and they will all regret their decisions and change back in time. Many of them have a franchise based on .com and now they are too cool to dance.


I am so sick of annoying websites. Don't blast some crap at me unless I ask. Let me do my thing. I will tell you when I need your help. Now they want to make the online experience as SHITTY as the instore experience with a bunch of people BOTHERING you when all you want to do is be left alone and BROWSE.


That's why they call it a browser. You can browse with as little or as much help as you want. But now these MORONS are interfering with what I want and that is just not cool.


Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz


PS: Weather.com figured it out in 3 weeks. They now added a button so their video does not start playing unless you want it to. Do you know why they made that change? They lost a LOT OF TRAFFIC for overstepping their boundaries and it pissed people like me off.