I accidentally typed in liberalgunclub.com when trying to come to the site today instead of THEliberalgunclub.com. I see that the incorrect domain name is available for sale for $3,000. Has this always been the case? Should we raise money to buy it and have both links link to the page?

Hynes57 wrote:I accidentally typed in liberalgunclub.com when trying to come to the site today instead of THEliberalgunclub.com. I see that the incorrect domain name is available for sale for $3,000. Has this always been the case? Should we raise money to buy it and have both links link to the page?

I would say no.

If the domain name was unclaimed and available for the base price of $25/year or whatever, I'd say get it. But I don't think it's worth paying a premium to some squatter.

The reason is, everybody uses search tools (or links) to find websites nowadays. Having the one, true, guessable website address is not nearly as important as it was 10-15 years ago.

there is a loooong history behind that story.

When I started this website I registered 'theliberalgunclub'. I didn't register 'liberalgunclulb' - mostly because I was just messing around. I didn't expect anything to happen with the web site. It was just me venting. Some time after that some guy in Texas registered 'liberalgunclub'. He finds me (or I find him, I can't remember which) and we exchange a few emails. He seemed like a nice guy. About a year later he asks me if I want the domain because he is going to let it go. I says yes, of course. Anyone who has transferred a domain knows that there is a very specific set of steps you have to do. It isn't a huge deal but some domain registrars make it hard to get the information you need if you are going to transfer to a new host. His was one of them. We emailed back and forth a few times with me trying to help him get the needed information. He eventually stopped responding. I am guessing he just got frustrated and tired of the whole thing, and I can't blame him. I thought 'screw it, when it expires I will just pick it up - that way i don't have to keep harassing this guy.' Clearly that was a mistake. The day after it went up I tried to get it and that domain squatting service had snagged it. I was pissed but thought 'screw it'. Because we were still much smaller and I figured that in the long run it didn't matter. They also picked up liberalgunclub.org but they have since let that one go and I snagged it

They initially wanted $250 for it, which I didn't want to spend. Last I checked it was $300. I am quite surprised at how expensive it is now. I say 'screw them'. But I am just pissed. Maybe if we had a generous and rich benefactor we could afford to snag it now before it climbs higher, but it seems like everytime they price it beyond our reach. I would likely buy it for $500 now. But no way am I paying $3,000. I hate cyber squatters.

GAH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET!!! IT!!! OFF!!!
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!


( lgc.com redirects to halliburton )

JayFromPA wrote:GAH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET!!! IT!!! OFF!!!
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!


( lgc.com redirects to halliburton )

yeah, I tried to snag that one but I figured there was no way I could wrest control of *that* domain name... lol.

Yeah i have to agree its a crazy price. What a shite story. Thanks for the background.

mark wrote:there is a loooong history behind that story.

When I started this website I registered 'theliberalgunclub'. I didn't register 'liberalgunclulb' - mostly because I was just messing around. I didn't expect anything to happen with the web site. It was just me venting. Some time after that some guy in Texas registered 'liberalgunclub'. He finds me (or I find him, I can't remember which) and we exchange a few emails. He seemed like a nice guy. About a year later he asks me if I want the domain because he is going to let it go. I says yes, of course. Anyone who has transferred a domain knows that there is a very specific set of steps you have to do. It isn't a huge deal but some domain registrars make it hard to get the information you need if you are going to transfer to a new host. His was one of them. We emailed back and forth a few times with me trying to help him get the needed information. He eventually stopped responding. I am guessing he just got frustrated and tired of the whole thing, and I can't blame him. I thought 'screw it, when it expires I will just pick it up - that way i don't have to keep harassing this guy.' Clearly that was a mistake. The day after it went up I tried to get it and that domain squatting service had snagged it. I was pissed but thought 'screw it'. Because we were still much smaller and I figured that in the long run it didn't matter. They also picked up liberalgunclub.org but they have since let that one go and I snagged it

They initially wanted $250 for it, which I didn't want to spend. Last I checked it was $300. I am quite surprised at how expensive it is now. I say 'screw them'. But I am just pissed. Maybe if we had a generous and rich benefactor we could afford to snag it now before it climbs higher, but it seems like everytime they price it beyond our reach. I would likely buy it for $500 now. But no way am I paying $3,000. I hate cyber squatters.

+1

I've met someone who was all proud of snagging domain names. He got rich that way. He's still a dick I bet.

Just after the end of the war in the pacific (WW2), as Macarthur was setting up a new constitution for Japan, a fellow who had been educated in the states went down to what is the equivalent of their patent and trademark office and registered "Coke", "Coca Cola", "Pepsi" and "Pepsi Cola".

As I understand, his family still owns the trademarks in Japan and receives an embarrassing amount of money each year to permit the use of those brand names.

When I first heard the story I thought "smart man".

Back in the 90s, in the early days of web activism, I chaired a local political group with a distinctive name.

When the time came to establish a web presence, we found the name had been registered by a local political opponent just to f&ck with us.

There was at the time (don't know about now) some case law on our side, so we got a lawyer to send the guy a threatening letter based on his attempt to hijack our "natural" webname to suppress our political activity. We got some groups like the ACLU interested, as well.

Ultimately, the jerk relinquished "our" name to avoid a legal confrontation.

I could provide more information on this, but my understanding is that the legal landscape has changed since then, and a similar challenge would not be promising.

Adding: In our case, the jerk wasn't just squatting on "our" domain name, he redirected it to point to an opposing political website. The lawyers felt this was significant evidence of malicious intent (not just making a buck).