So over the last couple weeks GoDaddy has reaped the rewards of one ladies’ efforts. An avalanche of blockchain related domains sold at auction that had expired.
The registrant was certainly a forward thinker who was earlier than most to the blockchain game.
Jane Angela Maginsky Pantalone Both passed away sadly in March of 2017. It was unexpected as she was out walking her dogs. She was only 50.
Namepros members reached out and found Jane’s son, he joined Namepros and relayed the following:
Hello everyone,
Jane is my Mom, that section of obit wwweb found is her’s.
First I need to thank the kind people who have reached out to me and let me know what was happening, I have hopefully stopped what domains remain in this account from expiring… looks like we’ve missed a lot but not all of them. My Mom was always a little ahead of the curve. Rank carelessness isn’t too far from the truth though I’d like to think I’ve learned my ~$100k lesson.
Here is the list of Blockchain names that closed over the last week, (data courtesy of Namebio).
Of course everyone is responsible for having a plan and to make sure their domains are protected. But sometimes terrible unexpected things happen, and to see a third party profit for doing absolutely nothing, is something that has always pissed me off about this business. It’s another shining example of how far domaining still has to go to be in the same realm as all the other asset classes it likes to compare itself to.
I think I do have a new product for registrars like GoDaddy that also have an auction unit or send their domains to auction.
Let’s say that you offer customers some type of life insurance plan, an upsell where if a customer passed away, their heir’s would have one year to present a death certificate and receive 90% of the proceeds from all expiry auctions of the decedent. GoDaddy would get 10% for their time and effort in processing the transactions.
While I believe a lot of people would not have interest in paying GoDaddy for this service, some would. I think another benefit to GoDaddy would be the fact that some have expressed their disdain for them profiting so much this past week. Some have said they will move their accounts etc… GoDaddy could use this new service as a way of showing they are thinking outside the box and going above and beyond when it comes to portfolio management.
Here is Jane’s obituary for anyone interested, may she rest in peace.
Great idea about the life insurance policy! I would want my domains taken over by friends or family, not Godaddy. In other news, I just hand reg’d Block-ChainTechnology.com. . .Anyone interested?
Great article, really so good.RIP Ms.Both.
The insurance idea is fucking genius.
Domain Guardians has a good 10 year leap on this
Domain Guardians is going to get godaddy to turn over the profits from domain auctions on godaddy?
Besides the point the general public has no idea who domain guardians is, everyone knows godaddy.
No Domain Guardians cannot make GoDaddy turn over money.
AFAIK Domain Guardians no longer offers that service, ever since Mike Robertson left two years ago.
It’s a shame a good person with foresight and vision passed, and the domain registrar keeps the profit from auctioning off their vision.
GoDaddy does offer that, it is called protected registration that you can add on to an domain you own, and it will keep it in the current account for a full year after it expires.
Good idea for registrants but why would GoDaddy offer something that would lower their revenue?
My thought Paul would be they would initially make money, the living registrant would pay a fee each year, and may never have domains that expire at auction.
fact is every day there are domains dropping because someone died.
lots of those domains aren’t worth what they sold for and I bet a bunch will not be renewed in a few years time.
True but the money godaddy just took in spends real nice, would have been better if the lady’s family got that money.
I can say it sickens me that gd gets this money.
I’m sad to hear this story. This is again a reminder to all of us to keep our assets save and secure for our family members.
Raymond – I don’t think Godaddy would like the insurance idea. In my opinion there should be a provider of professional services related to domain portfolio management with full access to the domain holders portfolio. If anybody knows about such service already exists I would be thankful if you could share the info!
If Jane or a family member had listed these themselves on godaddy…would have they sold for the same price? Probably not!
Probably not Jon, public auctions rarely do as well as expiry auctions, and I do love when I first started saying that 10 years ago, some told me that was nonsense.
Nobody is going to pay for this service at godaddy, because nobody ever thinks this will happen to them. Great idea but I can’t see people falling for the upcharge. The names will now be used to develop, and build out the blockchain community. The son and daughter both live in Phoenix, maybe godaddy will reach out, and share half, who knows.
It’s just over $100K, not chump change for sure.
i made a homemade guardians
i went with a two pronged approach, i left my wife a note in the safe deposit box and with out legal the papers to call two people i really trust in the business, that she also has met on the phone or in person at a show. Then bought in insurance policy to have the funds available. Setup fee to offer each “trustee” to help manage.
lastly, also make sure you keep a list of all your names in a database, offsite, again for me its a thumb drive with registrar, expiration date etc. also have logins on the copy in the safe.
i guess in coin terms thats cold storage.
good luck all.
Page Howe
Smart thinking.
Moral of the story—
Life is unpredictable!!!
Here is hoping that GoDaddy takes this issue to heart and finds it in themselves to help the families that have lost their loved one(s).
ohh my gosh! we just found that registrars profit from domains that they do not own and should never have the right to auction! when people discover that they even keep expired domains to themselves and move to side companies people will go nuts!!
Heck, I’d settle for 80% and this would be a great way for some domain investors to liquidate their portfolios. Godaddy would do a great service to the domain industry this way.
Thank you, Raymond, for posting this.
Unfortunately, it appears many of her domains are expiring, besides the “Blockchain” ones. The family should know there could be many more valuable domains in the portfolio.
Jane Both definitely seemed to be hardworking, caring, forward-thinking, and compassionate. Really tragic how she died — out walking her dogs. I assumed she must have had a heart attack or stroke or was struck by a car. May she rest in peace and may her family find a path to heal.
You would think that that many domains expiring from a single account, all with a blockchain leading keyword, would have prompted some investigation by Godaddy (or any registrar) to try and contact the account owner or family. If she passed away in March 2017 then the account would have had zero activity on it, another red flag that something was up. If you have valuable domains, you should at least let family members know, write down some information such as contacts and registrars at a minimum, to help get them started in the event something happens. I do agree with others here that there is a need for an independent service, or feature at registrars, that would help deal with domains after the owner passes. I’m sure this is something that has crossed all domainers minds from time to time.
Not sure what you guys are talking about, we all have dead people’s domains in our portfolio, it is part of the business. Where do you think our domains come from the tooth fairy. FULL CIRCLE
Sad story. I knew something wasn’t right with those domains, as I contacted the owner about some of them in 2017, but never heard back.
That’s a shame, RIP…
There was way more domains that the ones listed above that dropped from that portfolio, but I guess top 12 or so got them to $100K.
Or you could register for multiple years and have a detailed will providing clear instructions
We all can’t be perfect like you. Or maybe you had them regged out for a few years, and it still happened. Or you don’t have family close by or that understand domains. I can tell you my family would not have a clue what to do with domains, they think I am an idiot for buying and selling domains.
still not loving Blockchain-Domains 😉
I guess you are biased with .cz
Heard Godaddy is going to do something for the family, stay tuned.
Raymond, thanks to Remind me my WORST NIGHTMARE!!! My biggest fear in life, its what will happen with my domains on GoDaddy? And now, I know the stupid answer!! LOL 😀 GoDaddy will get all my Dream Profits out of MY domains!!! WTF!!!
But I have a plan, I will leave a bank account with money so all my Million Dollar portfolio will Auto-Renew for many years after my death!! No expired auctions from my portfolio GoDaddy, how about that??? ahahahaha
Very smart woman – may she RIP – I still own Blockchain.Bar and yes, it’s for sale ?
Such a sad story. Really good to see there ‘s people who care for other investors in this industry. The universe will repay you a thousand fold. Go daddy will probably be forced to act since a leading domain blog has covered the topic. Someone mentioned in this comments section that we might all own domains previously owned by deciesesd people but failed to mention that these domains are specifically sold through an auction.
RIP future see’re Jane and sincere condolences to her son and family.
You think her vp account rep would have been able to help with that. I got the lists with them from our account rep. They certainly were pushing them at auction. Too bad they couldn’t have worked with the family at selling or re-registering them in her son’s or other family members name??
The real story is that Go Daddy is doing EVERYTHING in their power to undermine and devalue domain name valuations and have turned their backs on you. Once they realized what they could make through their expiry auctions, every ounce of goodness, ethics, integrity, and care they had left disappeared. Key people left the company because of it, and they now cross sell everything they possibly can to try and reduce the com value.
GoDaddy does have a product called Protected Registration that does exactly what you are looking for. It has been available since at least 2009 and if not earlier.
I am Jane Pantalone’s daughter. The loss of my Mother was a huge loss to the world. She helped so many people throughout her life, and as stated, was very ahead of her time. The smartest woman I’ll ever know. I’m so very lucky to call her Mom.
Things are not as they seem.. and it’s time I got this off my chest and reveal the truth of how GoDaddy ‘handled’ this unfortunate situation.
She did, in fact, have a plan in place in the event of her death. Her executor, the Estate Administrator, (another family member, not my brother) contacted GoDaddy with the necessary info that she left him. He completed the steps and procedures, and supplied all documents that were required and requested by GoDaddy to gain access and transfer ownership.
GoDaddy denied him access.
DAYS later, they auctioned off her domains and made over $150,000.
GoDaddy rep, Paul Nicks (VP & GM), then proceeded to contact my brother (via NamePros) informing him that they’d be making a $16,000 donation to the NYPD in her honor (an effort close to her heart, as she set up a 9/11 relief fund for the disaster victims and raised over $1 million in donations and provisions).
If that wasn’t a blatant attempt at pacification for their wrong doing, I do not know what is.
In the thread on NamePros (https://www.namepros.com/threads/someone-is-letting-blockchain-domains-drop-and-theyre-selling-like-hot-cakes.1060298/), Paul claims to have not known of my mother’s death (could be true for him personally, but not GoDaddy) and that they unsuccessfully attempted reaching out to us. This is FALSE. Her executor was in contact with and followed GoDaddy’s procedures to transfer the account. He was DENIED access after completing all requirements.
I’m not upset at the potential loss of any money. My Mom isn’t here to enjoy it herself so it doesn’t matter.
What upsets and disgusts, me is that my mother worked so hard, came SO far, was so intelligent, and GoDaddy blatantly, greedily, and unlawfully reaped the rewards of her hard work.
I’ve waited a long time to write this, and no one may even care, but I had to get it off my chest.
Thank you.
Thank you Leah, I cared I brought it to the attention of GoDaddy and made this post. I can confirm Paul Nicks contacted me and said they were going to make a donation, I wanted to publish that, but Paul said they weren’t doing it as a PR move, which I understood. I just wanted people to know they did do something.
The story you are telling is very interesting, this part “Her executor was in contact with and followed GoDaddy’s procedures to transfer the account. He was DENIED access after completing all requirements.” Seems like GoDaddy needs to explain why?
Do you know why your brother didn’t mention that in the Namepros thread?
Again I am sorry for the loss of your Mom, I lost my Mother a few years ago and understand how you feel.