Well, that is what an ignorant wannabe domain buyer wrote after he lost an auction at SnapNames. Here comes the story:

Apparently, the individual came across an appealing domain name which he saw was about to delete. He then did some research (including the reading of old articles from 2005) to find out he should go to SnapNames to secure the domain, because SnapNames was the “leader” in this field.

But when he backordered the domain, it turned out that, and this came as a surprise to him, he wouldn’t get it right away. Now, what did he do? Instead of reading SnapNames’ FAQ or terms of service to learn more about the backorder process, he was getting angry, of course. After all, he writes, it was him who discovered the domain first. On SnapNames’ website it clearly says that domains which are successfully backordered will be sent to auction. Anyway, he did decide to bid in the end, because he really wanted the domain name, but when bidding approached $1,000 he stopped and lost the auction.

On his website he writes:

This domain is worth much more than that in the domainer world, so beaker [the other bidder] got a pretty great deal. Thanks to SnapNames’ greedy handling of auctions and backorders, combined with their leading position which makes the most powerful of few options to catch an expired domain, beaker took the name from me. SnapNames stole my backorder, and put it up to resell for more.

Even funnier, his comment on the other bidder:

How did this person even know to go after this name on SnapNames?

It’s just frustrating to see uninformed people write negative things about companies in the domain industry, just because they don’t understand an issue or because they’re angry about domain investors and large corporations holding valuable domains. Even more frustrating, is that the article has already been digged 485 times and is likely to misinform even more people.

The domain industry works just like any other business. The bidder who is willing to pay the most gets the domain. This is not unfair, it is common sense. Would you go to the owners of the buildings on 5th Avenue and complain, “Hey, I want that land”? I guess not. It’s the same thing with domain names. If another buyer is willing to pay more than you, you won’t get that domain. Equally as frustrating, many people from outside the industry complain about all the good domains being taken since the 1990s. That’s what I call a first-mover advantage. Those who were the first to recognize the value and importance of a good domain name bought domains before others did. Common business sense again. This is nothing shady, it is business like in any other industry.

(via DomainState)

Dot Eco LLC is an organization campaigning for the .ECO top-level domain and it has the support of former presidential candidate Al Gore.

Al Gore has supported several environmental causes over the years, he has been part of an Oscar-winning documentary about climate change and he has received the Nobel Peace Prize. Now he apparently sets out to make the web greener together with Dot Eco LLC. At least, the organization claims that fifty percent of the proceeds from the .ECO TLD would be donated to environmental causes.

Do we really need this TLD? Will it make the world a better place? I doubt it, and from a domain investor’s perspective we sure do not need this new top-level domain. But I think DotEco is more about carrying a message than about launching a profitable domain extension. Dot Eco LLC wants companies to use .ECO domains for their content about eco efforts. Many companies have such content on their websites, but it’s often difficult to find, so moving the content to a DotEco domain or at least forwarding the domain to the web page would indeed make sense.

Another (disputatious) benefit Dot Eco LLC lists on its website, SupportDotEco.com:

…, the .ECO namespace will open up the possibility of getting a meaningful domain name for millions of registrants who have been “shut out” of .COM by speculative domain holders who have quite literally bought every .com name in the dictionary. Instead of paying thousands of dollars in the secondary market for a reasonable .COM, users will be able to find the same name in the .ECO namespace at a fraction of the cost.

I do not think this argument carries much weight, given that .ECO is only a good TLD if you are active in the eco industry or if you want to convince customers that your business is eco-friendly. Other domain registrants will hardly be interested in .ECO and rather opt for .net domains or other existing TLDs if the .COM domain they want has already been registered. I guess this argument is used by all proponents of the many new TLDs which have been proposed since ICANN decided to open up the TLD space, but seriously, DotCom will always remain king.

The .ECO TLD would make a good addition for a very limited group of companies and individuals only, which is why I doubt it would ever be a success. Though, considering that 50% of the proceeds from the operation of the TLD would be donated and that educational content could be made available under .ECO, I find nothing wrong with supporting this new domain extension.

The domain SecondLienLoan.com will be sold at auction on Bido today!

Second Lien Loan (or last-out participation) is a form of loan with a security interest in the assets of a company that are second in ranking behind a traditional senior credit facility. A lien is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt. Often, second lien loans are used in leveraged buyouts (LBOs).

SecondLienLoan.com is a good finance-related domain name perfect for all providers of financial services and for corporate finance experts. Considering that SecondLienLoan.com is a generic domain with a strong keyword related to a huge industry, use of this domain name can create much value for its owner.

Selection of comparable domain sales:

Loans.com $3,000,000
MyHomeLoan.com $48,888
LowInterestLoans.com $35,000
SchoolLoan.com $35,000
ForeclosureLoans.com $25,000
TruckLoan.com $16,000
ReverseLoans.com $15,000
EmergencyLoan.com $13,000
Loan1.com $10,000
FHAHomeLoan.com $9,000
SearchLoan.com $5,751

The domain expires in late June 2010, so it comes with about one year of registration included. It is currently registered at Moniker.com, one of the best and most secure registrars in the industry.

The auction starts 13 pm EDT on Bido.com, and it will run for one hour only. It is a no-reserve auction with bidding starting at $1. It is possible, however, to place pre-bids before the auction begins, but be sure to be present while the auction is live so that you can react if you’re outbid.

Link to the auction: http://www.bido.com/Auction?name=secondlienloan.com