John's usually very busy but he always gets back.
Since returning from the Lisbon ICANN meeting, I'm
almost down to 2000 unread emails in my general inbox. Woo hoo!
Contacting cristin@<my domain> is probably working better on the signal-to-noise ratio front.
Some of the things I get are real puzzlers.... I have about a dozen "I have a domain name problem, can I contact you?" emails. Those are like the questions in the form of "Can I ask you a question?" questions which, since they are already questions, have a tendency to beg the question. I probably spend about two and a half hours a day dealing with indeterminate and often anonymous emails. I should post something on the webpage about the minimum information one should include in an email. It's gotten to the point where if there is not a real name, address and telephone number in the email, then my response probability is around 25%. I don't mind picking up the phone and having a quick conversation, but writing email treatises is sort of taxing.
Hook up with the person in the other thread trying to figure out how to get an entertainer's domain name, and you guys can work something out.
But, seriously, the "fan site" use has its limits. I'm often puzzled by these avid fans who seem to begrudge their idol a domain name. I mean, let's get this straight here: You really like/admire/appreciate/whatever this person so much that you registered a domain name and made a website in tribute of how much you like/admire/appreciate/whatever this person. Then, when contacted by a representative of this person whom you intended to honor, you get on the "millionaires walking all over the little guy" horse.
My last post may of been a bit stupid and emotional but answer me this, if i were to try and get the domain name that is my legal name, would i be able to even though i am a nobody?
If you are talking about the UDRP, then, no, you wouldn't. The UDRP is limited to trade or service mark rights.
Here's the deal. I get up in the morning, work all day, and get paid for being John Berryhill - the lawyer in Media, Pennsylvania. There is a guy in Boise, Idaho who gets up in the morning, works all day, and gets paid for being John Berryhill - the chef and caterer. There is a guy in Oklahoma who gets up in the morning, works all day, and gets paid for being John Berryhill, the elementary school principal. And so on...
Now, there is a woman in Los Angeles who, well, okay God knows when she gets up or what she does all day, but she apparently gets paid for being Paris Hilton - the, uh, Paris Hilton. That's what being a "celebrity" is about. Her dad or whoever worked his ass off all his life so that his daughter wouldn't need to, and there she is. Part of the value from which a celebrity derives a living - whether you believe it to be excessive or not - is derived from the recognition that resides in the celebrity's name.
And on the whole "excessive" issue, there's a lot of ways to look at that. I went to see comedian Lewis Black live one evening, and I probably spent a solid hour and a half laughing my ass off. Now, there were a couple of hundred other people at the show laughing their asses off. I probably paid something like thirty bucks for a ticket, and it was money well spent. The man can make hundreds of people feel good at a time.
Now, me, I can only spend my time doing one thing at a time for one person. I get paid (and sometimes not) accordingly. So, yeah, a person who can entertain an entire audience from hundreds to thousands to a stadium full... no, I don't begrudge that person a penny they earn from doing that.
So, here's the deal. Get a guitar, practice for years, then spend a decade playing in crummy venues to develop some recognition, get a recording contract, book a few tours... but
first register your own name as a domain name so you won't have to deal with an uppity "fan" someday.
