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Rick Schwartz made a great new post on his blog yesterday. He says domain tasting is a despicable practice that is a disservice to serious domain owners and trademark owners as well.

And it’s not only some domain investors who taste domain names, but it’s the domain registrars too! Many registrars taste their clients’ expired domains and they might just keep and monetize the ones which receive regular traffic.

The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) released its first press release in July and although I don’t agree with everything they wrote in the press release, I agree with Rick Schwartz that domainers should cooperate with CADNA in order to fight domain tasting and cybersquatting, because this way generic domain owners can separate themselves from those who illegally monetize TM-infringing domains.

From Rick’s blog:

If you do business with a company engaging in this, then it is time to re-think that relationship. If your livelihood is important to you, if being called a “Cybersquatter” disgusts you, if you want to be on the right side of this issue, then speak up and say NO to this abuse of the domain industry. The only ones that even support this garbage are the ones doing it and I don’t understand why Verisign and ICANN have allowed this to happen. They have been HORRIBLE stewards of the domain name system. They create abuse and PROFIT from it!! It is disgusting to me that the system is so out of control and the abuse is growing daily.

I have come to believe that organizations like CADNA may not be the enemy but may actually be an ally. I am happy to work with anyone that wants to clean up the mess created by Verisign and those in positions of power. Professional domain owners numbering at between 2000 and 3000 NEED to separate themselves from the stampede of new opportunists that focus on TM infringements and other unsavory practices to make a quick buck. This growing non-professional end of the industry is doing great damage and everything needs to be done to educate them on what is and is not proper.