To Shame or not to shame that is the question? I touched upon this subject of name and shame a few years ago, the world is a bit different now has many use doxing as a weapon in many areas of life. You can read here, here and here when it comes to dealing with racists or political differences.
Some believe that name and shame is the way to go, that domaining is a small tight knit industry where everyone outed will face the scrutiny of the community as a whole. Those that don’t pay for domains they agreed to buy, those that don’t push names they agreed to sell will become outcasts.
Rick Schwartz has used HallofShame.com to focus on those that have engaged in Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.
When it comes to this topic domain investors seem to be in agreement. When it comes to the topic of non payers or bad sellers the field is rather split.
So there was new thread on Namepros where someone mentioned someone in name only that backed out of a deal.
That brought about another thread Doxxing Yes or No. The OP opined that domainers don’t like be called squatters and if they become known as “doxxers” that hurts the whole business.
Now I believe there is a difference to real doxing and what say Sedo does by giving a seller the name of a buyer who backed out.
Sedo considers an agreement to buy a legal binding contract and the seller has the right to pursue taking legal action, that has nothing to do with Doxxing, not in anyway shape or form.
Refusing to follow-through with a successful bid
Buyers automatically enter into a legally binding contract to purchase a domain from the seller if their bid is accepted by the seller or if they accept a seller’s offer to sell. Give careful consideration when making or accepting offers. Sedo’s user agreement requires buyers to pay for the domains that they have committed to purchase. Buyers who refuse to follow through with domain offers that have been accepted by the seller are potentially liable to the Seller for breach of the sales contract to which both are parties.
https://sedo.com/us/about-us/policies/rules-for-domain-buyers/
That’s different imo then someone posting the name, address, workplace, phone number, etc… of someone who backed out of a sale.
Lawsuits do happen, Mike wrote about MD.org on NameJet here.
Now different countries have different laws on doxing or naming and shaming. The U.K. for instance has a law, The UK makes doxxing, trolling and encouraging abuse online illegal. Ambitious new legislation in the UK is trying to set limits and guidelines on acceptable behavior online. … Doxxing has also become prosecutable, if you publish someone’s home address, bank details or other sensitive personal information.
https://www.neowin.net/news/the-uk-makes-doxxing-trolling-and-engouraging-abuse-online-illegal/
Feel free to leave your opinion on naming and shaming.
After reading some of the comments on that Namepros thread, I am not sure why they are involved in domaining, though I am sure most have not made $10,000 combined all time. That place is just a waste of time.
Are there still persons on NP putting in buyer requests for keyword .com domains registered before 1997 and willing to pay 1/10 of GoDaddy appraisal — i.e, 2500 USD for a name like voice.com?
I suppose the industry news section has good info, but it’s mainly news aggregated from leading domain blogs like this one.
Name and Shame 100% of the time
Those who don’t honor their “contract” should be sue and banned from any “aftermarket”. When you have an agreement, you must respect it, buyer and seller. Those who don’t are just making the industry look even more scrappy. Internet has lost all of their honor. There is a lot of negative press over the industry. It’s a multi billion industry, but selling limonade on a corner street has more respect. This kind of situation shouldn’t be happening. A big problem in the industry is the lack of “good will” from the leaders who are closing their eyes for their owns benefits. They are destroying the industry themselves. I doubt the industry is sincere, honest and want to improve. Nothing is done , even after years of complains. There is a lot of deceptions. A minority is making the majority look bad. If you ask me, they should be one official aftermarket with serious rules and verification like for the stocks market with brokers. The industry has never grown up. You all should visit my website http://www.bdq.ca . Maybe Rick Schwartz’s Hall of shame could expend to those undesirable individuals that has no value to their words.
I completely agree with this.
Not only have these persons breached a contract, they have wasted time and resources.
It would be nice to have a site with all the dead beat no pays, that we can reference before accepting offers. Also would affect their reputation scores on the web.
Hi…
I do understand the disappointment of the seller when they get nothing from almost completed sale.
This can make them think aggressively…
I believe we can make sure that the buyer who backed out of the deal is flagged in a systematic way…the whole purpose of this is to alert the platform authorities where the deal is taking place…and through them point the same flag to sellers who are going to deal with same buyer.
I think this system is already in place…it should be implemented strictly.
The more incidents of same kind with a buyer the more scrutiny should be implemented.
But name and shame….the wording itself is giving wrong intentions from seller side itself!!
Instead of alerting / warning fellow domain sellers…. it is trying to insult some one publicly and if it is sharing their physical address…phone number etc. it can go too long that we cant control.
I believe we came across some of the incidents where one person threatened other person by letting them know they are aware of their address and family details….I saw this thread opened in NamePros and they are supposedly “friends”. another thread where a moderator was threatened !!
That is not a best way of achieving anything…consequences are unpredictable and the data is not only limited to domainers…its public…anyone can do anything with it. that “anything” usually means “Misuse/exploit” in present days.
All I am saying is there are other ways…
Just my thoughts…
Thanks,
Ravi.
Burn them in a human sacrifice, midsommar style.
Yes, shame them too
No one to blame, shit happens. Taking responsibility and focusing on improvement is way to go. Swinging with fists after a fight serves no purpose and wastes, time, energy and focus of person who doing it.
It happens almost weekly to me. I remind them how unprofessional it is and that they won’t get that pricing again. Other than that I move on. People are always more willing to make an offer than part with their money.
DomainerShamer/Com is up for grabs!!!
There is a major problem with the way offers are allowed to be made without any commitment and no verified identity of the bidder. In July I sold a 4 letter .co.uk (high-grade domain starting with i) The offer was for £10K. The buyer based in Ethiopia, (a State that probably has no viable legal system). When a bid or buy now is made it should trigger a 10% down payment non-refundable. I support ALL buyers and sellers to pay a reg fee with platforms like Sedo to verify they are real. Lodge a payment device like a card or crypto just as you book into a hotel and can be charged for forwarding costs.
My solution with the fake bidder was to find out that he was a doctor who worked in a State hospital. So, given that with almost no legal process that would make economic sense, I reported him to his government as a “bad actor”. Now he has a bit of a problem. This is the only way cheats and fake actors get the message, I always attack when provoked. Game players must be hit very very hard indeed.
As I get older, I am less bothered by the non-payment or abandoned bids. I just let it go. Why bother? It could be a N00b, it could be a scam, it could be a result of an identity theft. It could be so many things. I still have the domain name, if the name is good, there is always the next buyer. Why get angry or pin so much hope on a single transaction? At most it’s just a bit of wasted time.
You have to bash cheats. What if people were allowed to lost Donains they did not own? The platforms like Sedo are in effect a matched bargain system. Rouges must be driven out.
The clown who thought it was a circus with my fake offer won’t be doing that again.
There are countless methods actively engaged by the domaining community for exacting pain on those that don’t fall in line.
Unhappily, I am victim of being outed, for simply disagreeing with the great “King?”
Make no mistake, domaining rabble, public shaming is the least of the dirty, disgusting tools used by the elite of the industry.
Non-payers can simply be banned from participating on whatever platform the transgression occurred on, case closed.
Public shaming is an example of the gratuitous ugliness, inherent of the culture of the domain name business.
I don’t like the idea of “shaming,” as if people had a moral obligation to follow through on offers. They may have a legal obligation, depending on how the offer was stated, and sellers are of course free to pursue legal action.
Nevertheless I would like to see two threads at NamePros, if there isn’t already and they will allow, one to report on people and email addresses which make offers and don’t follow through and one to report on people who request a price on a domain and are never heard from again despite being politely asked to acknowledge receipt of the quoted price. This would give us two nice databases to search so we don’t spend an inordinate amount of time trying to make deals with people who aren’t likely to be responsive or follow through should they make an offer.
Of course anyone who posts in either thread should realize they can be sued for libel, either unjustly or justly if they misrepresent the facts.
The life of a domainer…
The industry has failed to put a system in place to make trade work like KYC, deposit-based bids, blockchain, etc. Domains and domaining were a hot new space in the ’90s, now its a place for yesterday’s man and dreamers.
Look at all the big players, average age?
Look at crypto, average age?
Look at CBD, average age?
Not to mention the speed and size of the growth. Domains are important, valuable but a cr@p investment 99/100. Bad money drives out good, I’ve been clearing out of this sector for some time, its not too important to my aims now and you can in part blame bad actors and clowns who make fake bids. DRIVE THEM OUT.