People trying to profit off the Virginia Tech tragedy

Quote :

"By KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 28 minutes ago BLACKSBURG, Va. - When Fred McChesney heard about the Virginia Tech shooting spree on April 16, he was appalled. But what he did next has appalled many others. ADVERTISEMENT Within hours of the rampage, the Phoenix man began buying dozens of domain names — CampusKillings.com, VirginiaTechMurders.com, SlaughterInVirginia.com — in the hopes of selling them later to the highest bidder. McChesney, 48, said he saw it as an opportunity to show his contempt for firearms by featuring anti-gun content on the domains he is selling. He also saw it as an opportunity to cash in. "Everyone is profiting off of this," McChesney said. "I'm not hurting anyone." Domain names related to the tragedy were snapped up almost immediately by people hoping to sell them off for a profit or use them to link to advertisers. The cost of registering such domains is generally less than $10 — but some are now being auctioned off for thousands. While many consider the practice repellant, experts say it has become commonplace. "Any time there's a big news event, people go register the domain names," said Christine Jones, general counsel for GoDaddy.com, the world's largest domain registration service. "Nine-eleven they did it, Katrina they did it, the tsunami in southeast Asia they did it." Especially troubling to some is the registration of domain names related to those killed in the tragedy. On the same day the victims' names were released, people began registering domains named after the dead, such as JarrettLane.com. Victims' friends and family members seeking to create a memorial site under the same Internet address would then have to purchase it from the domain name owner — for whatever price the owner wants. "If anybody is working to make a profit off of this tragedy by selling these kinds of things, it's just a crying shame," university spokesman Mark Owczarski said. "Obviously, you wouldn't want anybody to make a profit off something as horrendous as this." Jeremiah Johnston, chief operating officer for domain name broker Sedo.com, said his company has shut down domains named after the victims as well as dozens of others related to the tragedy, including BlacksburgBloodbath.com and SchoolSlaughter.com. "We do feel that they fly in the face of our offensive domain policy," Johnston said. "It is quite tasteless." GoDaddy.com shut down one site purporting to raise money for the victims' families after university officials said they weren't aware of any such charity, Jones said. But in general, there are few restrictions on what people can register. The Internet's key oversight agency, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, has arbitration procedures for resolving disputes, but they cover only trademarks and service marks, which can include names of celebrities. Federal laws also focus on trademark owners, not the names of non-famous individuals such as the victims. "It's kind of exploitative, but it's not really cybersquatting," University of South Carolina cyberspace law professor Ann Bartow said. "It's socially, normatively disgusting, but it's not trademark bad faith." McChesney, who has been "hugely anti-gun" since his brother shot him in the face with a BB gun when he was a child, said he hopes to use some of his domains to draw attention to what he calls an epidemic of gun violence in America. He also plans to give away his memorial domain names to Virginia Tech students, and has donated one so far. He hopes to sell others, such as VaTechTheMovie.com, to companies. So far, he hasn't sold any. He understands that many will vilify him. But he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong. "What I'm doing is the equivalent of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic," he said. "Period.""

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070509/ap_on_hi_te/virginia_tech_domain_names

[Edited on May 9, 2007 at 9:36 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on May 9, 2007 at 9:47 PM. Reason : :/]

5/9/2007 9:35:36 PM

how does this justify your topic title? What's going on is unethical, but your topic title is not really described here.

By the way, there are laws against cyber squatting. The ones that have those domains have to have a good reason for having that domain for commercial reasons or it can be stripped by law.

5/9/2007 11:00:47 PM

Is Steven Spielberg evil becasue he made a huge profit on "Saving Private Ryan"? A movie that made millions off the horrors of the millions who perished during WWII?

How about Sean Penn making money off his movie "Dead Man Walking"?

People have exploited tragedy and hardship since the dawn of history. It isn't particularly tasteful, but I would hope you agree that we need to let them continue to do it to preserve freedom of speech. That camel's nose of tyranny is constantly trying to poke inside the tent.

5/9/2007 11:33:31 PM

Quote :

"McChesney, who has been "hugely anti-gun" since his brother shot him in the face with a BB gun when he was a child"

explains it all

5/10/2007 12:14:44 AM

I think what he meant to say was, "Jesus, people are evil." Though I frankly wouldn't have been surprised if Scuba Steve tried to blame this on Christianity.

5/10/2007 4:18:37 AM

Quote :

"Is Steven Spielberg evil becasue he made a huge profit on "Saving Private Ryan"? A movie that made millions off the horrors of the millions who perished during WWII? How about Sean Penn making money off his movie "Dead Man Walking"?"

These don't even come close to being apt comparisons.

5/10/2007 8:20:09 AM

Why can't the families buy a .net or .org?

5/10/2007 9:56:10 AM

Quote :

"These don't even come close to being apt comparisons."

Please explain your reasoning behind your statement.

How is the principle underlying the making money off a movie about The Columbine Massacre any different from making money off a website name purchase about another school massacre? Both are attempting to prosper using the tragedy of others.

Just because one is so-called artistic expression doesn't alter the fact that they are trying to make money off it.

5/10/2007 10:05:05 AM

i dont have a problem with the practice in general, but the victim name domains is pretty tasteless.

5/10/2007 10:10:35 AM

CyberSquatters = Scum of the Earth

But this is most definitely a step up in greed.

5/10/2007 10:12:56 AM

the title of this thread sucks

5/10/2007 11:11:28 AM

Quote :

"What's going on is unethical, but your topic title is not really described here."

Agreed. This thread is dumb.

And if its a memorial site or non-profit, it should be .org. Dur.

5/10/2007 1:48:02 PM

Quote :

"Just because one is so-called artistic expression doesn't alter the fact that they are trying to make money off it."

true, but at least the makers of a movie can pretend like they are doing it for something more than money. And, I'd wager to say that many of the people involved are making the movie for more than just money.

In this case, the guys is admitting that he just wants to make money off of someone else's misfortune. and that is what makes it completely different.

5/10/2007 4:03:30 PM

I know, right? Did you see that movie where they made the kids destroy those mugs that said "government"?


Evil bastards.

5/10/2007 4:16:39 PM

Call me what you will, but I have to agree with the guy -- he's not hurting anyone. All he is doing is obeying the laws of the free market. I'll grant that what he's doing is unethical, but if you believe that the term "business ethics" is anything other than an oxymoron, you are living in a fantasy world. And, NO!, I am not being a cyber-asshole who is using the fact that he's hiding behind a computer screen to insult people over the internet. I would just as readily say what I just said to someone's face IRL.

5/10/2007 4:44:34 PM

and the military industrial complex made a killing off of september 11th. what's new?

5/10/2007 4:51:15 PM

"Evil" would imply mal-intent. While this may be in poor taste, it is not evil.

5/10/2007 4:53:17 PM

you idiots have no idea what the word "ethical" means

there is nothing illegal or unethical in this case. morally bankrupt, yes.

5/10/2007 4:56:39 PM

I see nothing wrong with this. He is literally not hurting anyone; there is not a single victim of this behavior.

Now, shoving a video camera into the face of the family, that would be evil. But buying a domain name? I can't think of any instance that buying a domain name could be considered evil.

5/10/2007 6:19:31 PM

Quote :

"Please explain your reasoning behind your statement. How is the principle underlying the making money off a movie about The Columbine Massacre any different from making money off a website name purchase about another school massacre? Both are attempting to prosper using the tragedy of others. Just because one is so-called artistic expression doesn't alter the fact that they are trying to make money off it."

It's the timing. It isn't the making the money off that is the problem, it's doing it while the bodies are still warm that I have issue with. Though just general squatting on someones name that isn't famous is pretty lame no matter what the time frame.

5/10/2007 6:44:25 PM

It isn't evil, it's just scummy.

And you could call it unethical... He is violating what many consider an ethical way to make money and against social norms of behavior. Ethical can be a synonym for moral.

5/10/2007 6:46:14 PM

an unethical act is one in which a system of norms and procedures is abused. the guy's a jackass and is going to hell but he didn't break any norms or procedures by buying a fucking domain name

5/10/2007 6:56:06 PM

I read this thread title as "Jesus-people are stupid."

5/10/2007 10:36:55 PM