Squatting domains with no intention to use them is stifling companies that want to start businesses. I recently researched 5 variations of a name and was shocked to find every one, even grammatically incorrect variations were taken. Now I'm forced to come up with some random name like hulu, which will require my company to spend tons of money into marketing this name to associate it with the product.
I have worked in the entertainment internet world for a long time and was in charge of securing names for new shows and was appalled at how fast people would steal the names for movies they obviously were not going to produce... particularly those registered days after the film was announced. One of these squatters even had the audacity to offer it back for a premium sum.
The .com extension should be reserved for active businesses. Not pages with adsense all over them (which incidentally according to adsense rules is against the TOS). I think if you buy a .com name you will need to show intent to use the name appropriately within 6 months or forced to give it back.
Squatting domains with no intention to use them is stifling companies that want to start businesses. I recently researched 5 variations of a name and was shocked to find every one, even grammatically incorrect variations were taken. Now I'm forced to come up with some random name like hulu, which will require my company to spend tons of money into marketing this name to associate it with the product.
I have worked in the entertainment internet world for a long time and was in charge of securing names for new shows and was appalled at how fast people would steal the names for movies they obviously were not going to produce... particularly those registered days after the film was announced. One of these squatters even had the audacity to offer it back for a premium sum.
The .com extension should be reserved for active businesses. Not pages with adsense all over them (which incidentally according to adsense rules is against the TOS). I think if you buy a .com name you will need to show intent to use the name appropriately within 6 months or forced to give it back.