Ask HN: what unwanted domain names are you sitting on?
While thinking of ever more imaginative ways to punish domain squatters following yet another abandoned hunt for a domain-cum-product name, I finally became aware of the irony that I am sitting on a few decent domain names that I'm not using.
Then, I wondered, if one of the parked domains I've come across recently is held just by someone like me, not maliciously or out for profit, but just as a by-product of a non-startup startup, an abandoned weekend hackery project or whatever really.
So, rather than set up www.domainnameswap.com (partly because the name is parked ;o) ), how about a thread where we have a rummage down the back of the sofa and throw in any parked domains we'd be willing to give/swap away. If there's a match up, the relevant poster is contactable via their HN profile.
[Note: this idea may tank, but it's got to be worth a try. My fingers are being worn shorter with each fruitless domain search]
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[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 322 ms ] threadlancelist.com / lancelist.net / lancelist.co.uk
bookafreelance.com / bookafreelance.co.uk
flatplan.net
zeditorial.com / zeditorial.co.uk
Although I've also had luck just emailing the contact for a domain, and finding they were willing to give it up. Worst case scenario is some squatter overvalues it and won't sell for a reasonable price. But it is always worth asking.
I even had one person randomly email me offering $500 for one of my domains. I didn't reply right away, and two hours later, he upped the offer to $1000. I had the cash in hand by the end of the day. Easiest money ever.
Shakes fist at UK employment laws (but that's a different story)
For what it's worth, owning a domain and not developing it is not "domain squatting" which is defined by law as "registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersquatting
There is nothing wrong with owning a domain and not developing it. It's the same as making a speculative investment, just like in real estate or any other asset. We all wish we were there in 1990 to scoop up the best names, but just because we weren't doesn't make the smart people who did unethical.
Clearly, I'm not in the my most forgiving of moods, tho
Getting a domain through registrations does not do this, because it requires only registration not payment. For a better analogy, compare how easy it is with the requirements of the (US) <a href="http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act/>... Act of 1863</a>. It required improving the land over a five year period and imposed a size limit. It is easy to imagine what would have happened without that requirement: a few people would have made vast claims, far beyond what they could develop.
I think a better analogy is registering a corporate name or trademark. If you don't use it, you lose it. You can't just register it and then prevent other people from using that name indefinitely unless they pay you off.
its available
EDIT: I could have bought it, but I figured steve could use it, so what say everyone give it at least an hour for steve to buy it before someone snaps it up?
But as for the domain/name I do need, I've been trying all kinds of mashing together, while being constrained by the agreed critera (number of syllables, etc). No joy. Yet.
[EDIT: thanks for the thought, tho, knightinblue]
lowerca.se
poofilter.com
lawgician.com
lawgician was going to be a digg/reddit type of thing for legal news -- i don't think its gonna happen soon as doing this right would involve more time than I can give right now.
poofilter originally was intended to filter political news and somehow assess the bias level of the source from left to right, blue to red. someone else did this recently but I forget the name.
obamanutpunch was going to be a simple lolcat-type site of photoshopped photos of president obama punching people in the nuts (see chuck norris here http://www.flickr.com/photos/hitesh/3254005822/). Later, I found out that there were actually 2 definitions in urban dictionary for the term (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Obama%20Nut%2...)
edit: "The photograph may not be manipulated in any way or used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House."
maybe not.
(check the whois)
mobpoint.com & mobpt.com
phreshy.com
coderepo.net
manphp.com
tweetbkp.com - was going to be a twitter backup mechanism, but then i started working with the twitter api and quickly gave up that idea.
mktpost.com
lidly.com
ride-radar.com
My list is too long to post, but you can check it out at http://btlventures.com/domains/ . I'm happy to lease/loan these domains to someone on the cheap who wants to use them for a good project.
datafeel.com
alwayscontact.com
ballerscholar.com
bccmark.com
betterword.net
cardcurrent.com
mbawall.com
picturethenews.com/.net/.org
recofriend.com
hmm maybe I'll make it, who knows. I have another project going on right now that takes a lot of time, so maybe after that.
but Fred dropped out of the primaries :)
american-idol-online.com ( has gone through multiple ideas, but none have taken )
cheaptightwad.com ( was a product sales site based on the pronto.com api )
everythingmicrosoft.com
gconq.com ( was going to be an online game )
hddvdtech.com ( ha ha - gonna let that one expire. )
hotwaterinteractive.com ( meant for steam game development )
imvote.com ( never did anything with it )
rssgoogle.com
txt2sms.com
wiidynamics.com
wiiphysics.com
I have more, but they have some content on them or are partially active. These are basically my abandoned idea websites. :)
Realized they'd be many hurdles and technicalities, but could make a lot of money, perhaps.
I have plans for both domains, but they're on the back-burner.
vidcharts.com
kirbygamereview.com
newsrotica.com
mabify.com
nakedfile.com
stormset.com