I have heard someone said before that people who commit crimes do so because they thought they could get away with it.

Then there is the classic, “Innocent, until proven guilty”.

I have seen a few blogs highlighting the “error” over at Wikipedia, where it is redirecting searches for the terms “Domainer” and “Domaining” to its entry about cybersquatting.

Now if one is feeling patriotic about the domain industry, then they should have concerns about how people view domainers and domaining in general.

The general public has a lot of misguided perceptions about the domain industry. However, you cannot blame the public.

Cybersquatting used to be rampant back in the days. Just like some people associate aeroplanes with flying, a lot of people associate domaining with cybersquatting. ICANN has changed the rules now to help prevent cybersquatting, and trademark holders now have a lot of protection.

However, my reason for writing this article is not by any means patriotic, but rather to pour scorn on some domain industry professionals and companies.

Here in the industry, it is a case of “Do it as long as you can, and it is worth doing if you can make money while doing it.”

You see, a lot of people in the domain industry spend time blaming domain newbies seeking to get rich, quick. However, in my honest opinion, the blame lies with some of the biggest domain industry players, from registrars, to major domain marketplaces to domain parking companies.

Registrars make the most money from trademark domains in registration fees. However, it would be a bit difficult for them to implement any meaningful controls.

Domain parking companies will park the domain name without even giving the slightest consideration to trademark infringement.

We have seen some major domain marketplaces, especially some very reputable domain auctioneers offering trademark domains for auctions. We often see this with the launch of new Top Level Domains (TLDs), or domain extensions as they are better known.

The recent spate of immorality came with the .CM domain extension landrush or whatever it was. .CM is the domain extension for Cameroon, a country with less than 5% internet penetration. It would be ridiculous to start any meaningful eBusiness on that domain extension targeting the Cameroon population, IMHO.

This within itself tells me that the .CM hype and BS is simply targeting cybersquatters.

But then, look at the big domain industry names that are behind the .CM landrush?

If these big domaining brands will sacrifice the goodwill of the domain industry for profits, then who am I to be patriotic?

I have been consistent with my domaining morals from day one. However, given what some of these big players are doing, I am not too happy to be called a domainer these days. I prefer terms like Branding Specialists, Web Entrepreneur, Internet Marketer, eBusiness Specialist, eBusiness Entrepreneur etc, etc.

This is why I am now pushing myself to develop real brands outside of the domaining industry.

It will be a very long time before the domain industry becomes clean. Hate me for saying that. But this is really what disgusts me the most. People trying to pass off as decent domaining professionals or even “experts” and yet all they are trying to do is to take advantage of the ignorant.

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