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Over
the next couple of days
I want to bring you up to date on some
significant news and information that came out
while I was away on vacation last week. A good
place to start is with Rick Schwartz's
new website at HallOfShame.com,
devoted to exposing companies and
individuals that have been found guilty of
reverse domain name hijacking in UDRP
proceedings.
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Shining
a light on those who have attempted to steal
domains in this way has been a
personal crusade for the pioneering domain
investor who is also co-founder of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Domain Conference. Schwartz has
consistently chronicled reverse domain
name hijacking cases on his popular
blog, naming names and
insuring that their misdeeds will
remain in public view via a simple
Google search. With his aptly named new
Hall of Shame website that has
already been shown much indexing love by
Google, he has turned up the heat
considerably on those who resort to common
thievery when they want to take
intellectual property assets that
rightfully belong to someone else without
paying for them.
Some
of the best known names in global
commerce, including Proctor &
Gamble, Jaguar and Land
Rover are among those who have
been |
Rick
Schwartz |
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found
guilty of reverse domain name
hijacking attempts. Kudos to
Schwartz for giving them the
attention they deserve. You
can help
spread the word and protect your own
livelihood by sharing links to his site on
Facebook, Twitter, your own
blogs and other social media
outlets. |
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Schwartz's
move is a timely one. With the advent of new
gTLDs, domain names are going to be
getting more and more exposure in mainstream
media. The latest example was a story in
the New York Times last week
called "Planting
Your Flag on a Patch of the Web."
The piece by Thomas J. Fitzgerald
is an informative primer for business
owners who are looking to establish or
improve their online presence. Fitzgerald
details why a good domain name has to be
part of that strategy. Veteran industry
executive Bill Sweetman of NameNinja.com
is among those whom Fitzgerald called on
in researching his article. (Thanks to Scott
Ross for the link to this piece). |
Elsewhere,
Team
Internet made an excellent addition
to their management team by bringing popular
industry veteran Jim Grace on board as
Director of Business Development. CEO Nico
Zeifang told us, "Jim
will add tremendous value not just to our domain
parking product ParkingCrew.com but
also to our advertising platform DNTX.com.
COO Stefan Wiegard and I have known Jim
for close to ten years so when we heard news
about his availability it was our number one
priority to get him on board with us. He is
not just a domain industry veteran but also very
well understands the advertiser side of the
business." Grace
was at the company's Munich, Germany
headquarters last week
getting to know the rest of the team members and
joining them for a day of hiking in the Alps
(quite a change from Jim's usual environment
near sea level in his home town - Los Angeles). 
Jim
Grace, standing at center (in the black
Parking Crew T-Shirt)
during a Team Internet hiking trip in the
Alps last week. Grace
said, "I am very excited to join Team
Internet and be able to work on both the Parking
Crew and DNTX platforms. They have
seen tremendous growth and have a great
team, which I am happy to be a part of. I
am looking forward to working more closely with
Nico, Stefan, Mario, Axel and Timon. Between the
six of us, we have over 60 years of
experience in monetization." Tomorrow
I'll have some more catch up stories for you in
additional to our usual breaking news.
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