Cashing in on VA Shooting

[Brett Lewis]

This may not be strictly a legal posting, but capitalizing on the tragedy and loss of life at VA Tech struck me as a particularly repulsive thing to do.
Yes, it happens every time there's a major trajedy. Yes, the media does it. No, that doesn't justify it or make it right. It also does tremendous harm to the community's image and reputation on the whole. Feel free to disagree.

http://www.wired.com/culture/education/news/2007/04/vt_domainname

 

[Creature]

It is very wrong and very desperate to register and try to sell such domain names imo.

Also I think it was a really bad editorial decision by NBC to release the killers media to profit from that. NBC have shown no respect for the victims families. If families had to know the truth then they could have been shown in private on request. I'm wondering what the letters NBC could stand for.........anyway, sick decision to broadcast imo.

 

[Duckinla]

Brett, where you been? This discussion's been going on for days in a couple of other threads:

http://www.dnforum.com/showthread.php?t=222732&highlight=ismailax.com

 

[Creature]

Brett, where you been? This discussion's been going on for days in a couple of other threads:

This thread reflects a different angle. It is about those who are shamelessly cashing in on the tragedy and the harm that does to the image of the community and I think the country.

 

[jdk]

I think this can be said about any event. Presidental elections, celebrity deaths, new technology products, etc. I can't understand those who say they are "repulsed" by it because if they had the chance to buy microsoft.com or redcross.org, the majority of domainers would try to make a buck on it. Just how I see it.

 

[jberryhill]

Absent further development of the domain names, if any, it is too soon to impute motivations to those who registered the domain names. Within a few days, you don't know why those names were registered.

I think it was a really bad editorial decision by NBC to release the killers media.

I disagree. I understand there is room for reasoned disagreement here, but the guy's rantings do illuminate the debate which always occurs after some nutjob does something stupid.

To illustrate, I was having a conversation with my 13 year-old son the other day about the utility of the "why did he do it?" thing. It always strikes me as odd when, in early reports, you hear things like "We have no information on why he did it." As if something was going to come out later and you would say, "Oh, that's why. Well okay then."

What I told my son is, "Name something you didn't like last week. I guarantee you that you can blame that for this."

And everyone's heard the talking heads on television come out of the woodwork with their pet theories - "Too much violence in media", "video games", "pressure on Asian students to succeed", and so forth. Over on a right-wing political board I read for fun, there was much theorizing over an early report that it may have been a Pakistani, and that the killer had used the name "Ismael" (which indeed he did), and that these things indicated it was an act of political terrorism.

This guy's videos are a welcome relief from endless loops of Jon Benet Ramsey or Anna Nicole Smith, at least.

It is legitimate for people to wonder, "Was this an act of political terrorism?" I think the guy's rantings pretty much put that question to bed. He had some form of paranoid schizophrenia, and that's pretty much the end of it. The rantings make that clear.

I, personally, would like to read the "manifesto". The guy was an English major, and he was crazy. Hey, a lot of great writers were crazy. I'm not too sure that you would have wanted Franz Kafka running around your college campus either, but I find nutty writings interesting. The Unabomber's stuff is an interesting read as well.

Now, 2000 college students are killed by alcohol poisoning every year. So, IMHO, we might think about beer commercials on NBC long before we obsess over this one.

Look at it this way - if Lee Harvey Oswald had done something similar, we could have saved decades of debate over the JFK murder.

And, by the way, I probably should mention that I was caught by the phrase "apostles of sin" which Cho used in one of his rantings. I figured I'd register it on the off chance that someone might want to use it as a band name.

 

[Gerry]

I find this to be a more interesting link.

http://www.namepros.com/1897145-post54.html

Spoken by a domainer.

Gee, I wonder if today's date has any special meaning to him?

 

[Creature]

I just think it's a bit worrying that some backstreet TV station got to make the important decision on when and whether or not to screen the media, rather than some political authority or elected group. Also should there not be zero risk in taking a class in college, whereas most would accept some risk in getting drunk on a night out. It's interesting to know what was going on in the guys head but the timing and the people making the decisions doesn't seem quite right to me! The spotlight seems to be in the wrong place right now imo.

 

[jberryhill]

The spotlight seems to be in the wrong place right now imo.

As it usually is. I'm still upset that Larry Birkhead stole my DNA.

On the night NBC aired the stuff, Keith Olberman beat Bill O'Reilly's ratings in the 25-54 age group for the first time. There is a lot of choice in programming, and people obviously wanted to see it.

People slow down to look at car accidents, too.

Cronicus Maximus is going up against Mukhtar the Barbarian in combat to the death in the ring on Sunday! Bring the whole family!

 

[Duckinla]

To illustrate, I was having a conversation with my 13 year-old son the other day about the utility of the "why did he do it?"

Does your son leave these conversations more clear, or more confused?

Seems we (as society) accept casualities in their usual forms, such as 2,000 alcohol deaths a year. It's when they come in an unusual and unexpected way that we really have a tough time with it.

 

[Creature]

People slow down to look at car accidents, too.

.......but most don't stop the car and get out to take some snaps and video to sell to the press.
Actually maybe they do in America. :undecided: Anyway, out of interest, who is drawing the moral lines in America? Seems like nobody from here. :?:

 

[Sarcle]

This may not be strictly a legal posting, but capitalizing on the tragedy and loss of life at VA Tech struck me as a particularly repulsive thing to do.
Yes, it happens every time there's a major trajedy. Yes, the media does it. No, that doesn't justify it or make it right. It also does tremendous harm to the community's image and reputation on the whole. Feel free to disagree.

http://www.wired.com/culture/education/news/2007/04/vt_domainname

Yeah, don't see this as a legal post. If it were illegal to capitalize on tragedy we'd have all the news orgs, Hollywood, writers, TV producers, advertisers; the list goes on and on; in prison.

But why the focus on domainers though? Why not the advertisers or the companies that receive the traffic from these domains of "blood" as some put it.

I've already stated what I believe in the other post; but peoples perceptions and views are really surprising to me. How one person can justify owning one domain dealing with murder yet be against another just because it's more recent to me is mind boggling.

Being okay with how Hollywood makes millions at the expense of tragic events of others, hell being first in line to get tickets, yet be down one's throat for doing the same thing with a domain.

Tragedy sucks. But how people chose to accept their belief structure on certain types of tragedy based on who or what portrays that said tragedy is beyond me. Tragedy is tragedy. Murder is murder.

Open the Fox news memorial for the victims. Just make sure you have your pop up blocker on. Netflix pops-up. Who knows maybe you need to rent a movie to view more tragedy. There's even a retirement investment account ad. Is that a sick joke or what?

Yahoo's page hawks credit cards in case you need to buy, Kevlar, maybe; I don't understand the connection?

But by god if a domainer is going to do it! - Never mind the advertisers are reaping the majority of the money.

Four months from now when Angelina Jolie is playing one of the women this psycho stalked these guy's won't be able to wait to buy tickets.

I know that current tragedy can bring out many angry people when you break from the mold and say. Hey wait a sec, um maybe, oh well. Go on using your selective judgment or whatever helps you sleep at night, cause you just saw the last 9/11 movie and the victims of this tragedy didn't get a dime.

 

[Duckinla]

Open the Fox news memorial for the victims. Just make sure you have your pop up blocker on. Netflix pops-up. Who knows maybe you need to rent a movie to view more tragedy. There's even a retirement investment account ad. Is that a sick joke or what?

At least it's not the Classmates.com pop-up.

 

[MobileDesigner]

I guess for some people its immoraly wrong but who are we to attack on this, really?

The media showed all his videos, pics, medical history, his hometown in korea, his neighbors, his stories, etc.

How much did the media make on this? wow. maybe thousands. How about the domain owners? maybe $10!?

Yea, its sad that people would do this, but what is the crime in this? Im not protecting anyone nor am i supporting people who do this, but sometimes people dont think first before they press "enter" on their keyboard.

I remember a few days back, someone was selling the name here (or getting an appraisal, couldnt figure out which.....) , but there maybe people who just want to be a part of the history and/or inform people in the future of this past.

If not the va massacre, what if a famous person got killed? or if Britney shaved her head? there would be many trying to get the domain name.

What was obviously bad IMO were the people buying the names and then placing them on Ebay. I wonder how many VA students regged domain names.

In the end, it seems that everyone made money from this story. Even we are making DF$ by posting here. :uhoh:

 

[Duckinla]

VTKiller.mobi: $5,000.

 

[Fearless]

One backlash from this. A good percentage of visitors will have a lasting disdain for parking pages.

 

[Gerry]

I am against buying it, regging it, and calling it a 'great grab' to me adds to the hype and attention (very, very negative...by the way) it has brought the domain industry. These are some features I have seen within the last hour or so:

http://www.wired.com/culture/education/news/2007/04/vt_domainname
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18203281/site/newsweek/
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9710857-7.html
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=2664&dshield=1a8790d78e0198fd034a76ead9026c93
http://isc.sans.org/domaincheck.html?type=ascii

So now rather than reporting effectively on other news, time is spent of the public disdain and condemnation of the efforts of thousands of people to rush the keyboard. It has gotten to the point that a security research center is posting pleas for help to identify the sites being regged because it can not keep up with them fast enough.

Such is the environment we live in where the real winner, in many people's mind, is the one who gets to it first. Granted, this will only be in the news until the next sensational story brakes. Britany, Anna Nicole...yesterday's headlines. 160 Iraqi's killed in 4 seperate yet related bombings. What day was this reported? Hard to even find those headlines. No thanks...I rather not be known as a winner in this case.

It is easy or easier to not become attached (emotionally or personally) to a news story if there is distance between you and that event. Physical distance and "wired" distance.

Rewind: The internet has been in existence since 1960. Would texasgamer have rushed to the keyboard in 1962 to register KENNEDYASSASINATED.COM? Perhaps not. Too close to home. Shock and horror. Dallas. FAST FORWARD: 1966. Does texasgamer rush to the keyboard to register UTTOWERSNIPER.COM, KillerCharlesWhitman.com. Probably not, too close to home, shock and horror. Austin. FAST FORWARD: 2003. Would texasgamer rush to the keyboard to reg SHUTTLEBURNS.COM. Doubtful. Whole state of Texas affected by this disaster. Shock and horror.

The point I am trying to make is if it affects us on a personal level or those around us, we don't glamorize and sensationalize the event...we are in shock over the horror.

The registrant in this case (seriously, no personal attack towards him but the event is taken personally) has no attachment to the event. Being the first to reg this was indeed a golden opportunity. Meanwhile, those watching the event so close by and following the news were not and are not interested in the domain name.

We are heaping additional attention not only on the event but the killer and the domain industry in general. Why? Because some of us have sensationalized it and profited from it. And some argue that it is our job, if I didn't do it someone else would, the news media does it so why can't I. It is not our job, someone else will, and it is the news media's job to report the news. And we have become part of the news.

Lets do some more interviews. Lets shed some more light on the parking industry, the registrars, the forums, the domain business in general. Too bad that it is not in a glowing form of light. Now we have to deal with it.

Perhaps Cho wanted attention. He made choices. He got attention. Doubtful the registrant wanted attention. He got some. Does not matter what form or shape or media that attention came in. But he sure got some. Good or bad...gotta take it all.

As I pointed out, when I did a search I landed on a NameDrive parked page. Not one thing relevant to provide information on the term used. Got my information from another domainer.

Okay, so the registrant has no ill intent. But he undoubtedly became an unknowining and unwilling participant in fraudulent scams. Virginia Tech Love Beads? Proceeds donated to charity? I too have a charity. It's called LeftPocketRightPocketHipPocketWallet.com. Let's fill it up.

Unquestionably, there are thousands who will take advantage of this opportunity. Knowing what keyword to use, how much do you think the bidding is up to on Google? If I think I can make a few million on a scam, I'll spend a few hundred K to become first ranked. Sure, I'll tell you any thing you want to hear, make you feel good about giving. Make me feel better about getting.

Here are some more domains for your consideration:
http://www.dnforum.com/showthread.php?t=223264

Look at this sorrowful pitiful humbling sales pitch:

I was thinking about developing these names but wanted to see if anyone might be interested first.

ChoSeung-HuiCase.com
ChoSeung-HuiDeaths.com
ChoSeung-HuiMurders.com
ChoSeung-HuiRampage.com
ChoSeung-HuiTapes.com
ChoSeung-HuiVideo.com
ChoSeung-HuiVideos.com
Seung-HuiMassacre.com
Seung-HuiMurders.com
Seung-HuiShootings.com

Thanks!

Now, copy and paste any of those in your browser.

There is presently only one site officially set up to take donations. That site and entity was not appearing on the landing page of NameDrive nor was it appearing on the landing page of Sedo. What was appearing were potentially fraudulent sites already set up to run a scam and to part you and your money. Texasgamer might have become an unwilling participant in helping to forward that illegal cause. God forbid, but that would be a consequence I nor most would want to be in. And you can damn well better believe after hearing about 550,000 hits almost immediately and 10,000 hits per hour...hell yes, that is EXACTLY where I want to be. Thanks for that public information, I'll get my buddies together, we'll go as high as $15.00 per click to be ranked first by Google. Don't forget, we are appearing on all kinds of sites now. Anything that has to do with that search term.

Here, meester, by me beads, pleese.

By now, we have diverted millions of people away from a legitimate opportunity to potentially donate. Over three days, if we are talking 3 million people, and only 1% of that 3,000,000 gave one dollar, that is $30,000.00. Sure it is speculation.

But it is also pure speculation that any thing good will ever come of this domain. There is no speculation on my part and perhaps the part of law enforcement authorities that this domain has already been involved in questionable and unlawful activity. Sedo can not hand pick what falls on the lander. texasgamer can not hand select which ads can and can not appear. google can not willingly know the intent of their advertiser. Doubtful anyone really cares as long as the money is good and everyone gets paid. That is how the game is played. Matching up advertisers with publishers and landing pages. And they are a crafty bunch. Do you know where most of the searches for Columbine went while that event was unfolding? The reports say porn sites.

Seriously, there may be unforeseen consequences to this. That in its very form and media attention may be why it has been pulled off the internet by so many...the site became a vehicle (as it is called in the advertising business) to carry a message of deception and fraud. Don't think for a moment the FBI is not already on this as they are in charge of the VT case. This was reported shortly after the incident but I am sure nobody regged that domain. Add to this the unquestionable and undeniable criminal element worldwide who will stoop to now lowly low to prey on the caring. Add to this the FTC complaints and several other watch dog groups and there may be some more unwelcomed and uninvited interviews in the registrants very near future.

Media coverage ain't always a good thing.

I am sure I may have some explaining to do after registering 51 domain names and pointing them to VT's site.

But if anyone questions the impact that this has on those that are personally affected by the events, this is my closing:

http://www.namepros.com/1897145-post54.html

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

Yea, it is pretty hardcore.

 

[Sarcle]

Thanks for that public information, I'll get my buddies together, we'll go as high as $15.00 per click to be ranked first by Google. Don't forget, we are appearing on all kinds of sites now. Anything that has to do with that search term.

So then you would be for a better screening process for advertisers claiming to be organizations? And for a potential class action lawsuit brought upon Google/Yahoo for them allowing these to exist and defraud consumers?

I think it's a great idea myself.


This is a tragedy and shitty situation for those directly affect. Not to mention those scammed from PPC ads claiming to be real organizations. But this is clearly not the domainers fault nor the parking providers but the advertising provider.

This irony is these stories monetize their pages also. So they are, in a way, making money of off "get rich" domains also.

VTKiller.mobi: $5,000.

Would it be morally wrong if you sold this domain then donated the money to the thousands of people that are still with out homes/clean neighborhoods/water in New Orleans?

How much more is needed for the clean up? I believe the cost was more than the entire Iraq war and then some. Wonder where the individuals fighting for those domains and fake organizations taking money from the impoverished THOUSANDS of individuals affected there? Guess that was so last week.

 

[Raider]

This just gave me an idea, I've been trying to tell my Husband in a subtle way to increase his size, I'll just email him at work with this link, Seung-HuiMassacre.com and problem should be solved.