Save your dime is a older expression referring to pay phone calls costing a dime (10 cents).

The point was when someone was not there to get the call or if someone really didn’t care, then you didn’t waste your change making the call.

I wish that was the case this past week

I was contacted by someone who knew that I knew a great deal about medicine and I was an “insider” of healthcare. The person making the call had seen one of my domains I was selling and had one just like it and just as good.

How many times have we heard, I have one just like it, when we were growing up? I have to laugh here a minute. We train therapy dogs and freely donate our time to this. My wife and I started a reading program at a local elementary school. The children read to the dog. The point is to build confidence in reading, reading aloud, and reading with other people around. Kids lose all inhibitions when reading to a big fluffy dog. It also helps identify children who are introverted, speech problems, or just plain shy. The program has become so successful in the two years my wife has been doing this it is now written into the schools curriculum.

My wife tells me how much she loves it and the kids come in and exclaim, I have a dog just like that when they see Cotton. Cotton is a Labrador Retriever, white, and as the name implies very soft and fluffy. As the child goes on to describe their dog, suddenly their dog is smaller, bigger, white, red, blue eyes, shorter tail, shorter, taller and so on. By the time they get done they actually might have a Chihuahua or Great Dane.

The person who contacted me I do not know very well. The domain name they had was not just like mine but fit in the same specialty. I related to that person that without any direct marketing my fee was 10% of final sales price. They were in agreement with this if I sold it for more than they were asking. I had never encountered this before and told them that this applied to the entire sale. The other party disagreed. Their point was if they want XXXX and I get XXXXX then they would pay the comission on the amount over their asking price.

I attempted to explain that this is not how it works but was cut short by,

“I know how it works but I won’t agree to those terms. You should not get a commission on what I am asking but only what you make get above that. That is the incentive to work for your money. You work on commission.”

Hmm.

Any takers?

Some very nice names dropping on TDnam.

MetroLine.com Suberb 14 year old

$1,002 45 bids

1 day 3 hours

eVine.com $1,555 22 bids

9 Year old gem.

7 days 4 hours

Nearly a week ago, I mentioned the act of HostGator pulled the plug on the popular forum Mobility.mobi.

The reason given was because one individual made one complaint claiming that the site was responsible for his email spam.

I am not sure how much this has hurt HostGator financially in regards to members moving to a new host. Reputation wise, the cost can add up immeasurably in terms of any future business. Blogging about it is one thing. But with the viral microblogging services like Twitter any such news can spread like wild fire.

The posts on mobility.mobi added up to a total disdain for HostGator in fears that one complaint can shut down any site, or worst yet, take an entire server housing hundreds of sites off line. Someone(s) from host gator came onto the forum in attempts to quell the noise and offer an explanation. Ultimately it did not work and there seemed to be conflicting messages being sent. What seemed to further distance HostGator from the forum members is this person did not reveal their name or their position with HostGator. There was nothing to indicate that they were even in a position or qualified to handle an issue.

Credibility was rapidly being lost as well as customers.

When this happens, it is time to for someone to step in for damage control.

In this particular case that someone was CEO/Founder of HostGator, Brent Oxley.

In an effort to restore faith in his product and services, Brent came to introduce himself and offer his sincere apologies. I will post the letter in its entirety. I just want to say that for me, a HostGator user, it meant a great deal to see an admission of an error (”huge mistake”) and a effort to repair the damage done and to avert any other damage to HostGator’s name and reputation. It also showed that within the organization itself there appears to be levels of intervention and a chain of command in place with the matter ultimately ending up on Brent’s desk.

You don’t have to be a user or a fan of HostGator and its services offered to admit that this is a touch of class. And, it shows how powerful forums, blogging, and microblogging can be to a company’s bottom line. Not only did he come onto the forum to address its members but stuck around and stayed to answer specific concerns and questions by individual members.

We have just witness customer service at it’s finest.

I apologize for the lack of attention to the bloggingsphere.

But my efforts are going to be concentrated on my tax finalization.

My comments will be short and sweet (yeah, that would be a first) by commenting on what is already out there in circulation.

GoDaddy Gets Split Decision in Domain Dispute

I guess Daddy has a bone(r) to pick.

As posted on Twitter, does anyone else get the irony of GoDaddy taking to court someone infringing on their very own TM while ignoring the thousands (millions?) of TM squatting?

Senators Introduce Cybersecurity Overhaul Bill

Sens. Rockefeller and Snowe bring forward sweeping bill to revamp federal cybersecurity operations and establish better coordination with businesses.

Snoweing again.

The last time domainers saw this name creep into the spotlight was regarding cybersquatting.  Most of us know how other matters get swept into these bills as they are voted on. Look for this to be tacked on to be included as a threat to cybersecurity.

A panel of cable execs outline the challenges facing their industry in a brave new world.

Cutting the cord.

To those self pro-claimed experts out there that have yet come to grips with the fact that the mobile internet exists (the name Cindy Krum comes to mind) or that term is over-used, time to get a grip on reality. Perhaps you can join this group of Cable execs…er, future former cable execs?

Okay, enjoy.

Back to taxes.

Today, the largest tobacco tax increase goes into effect. The per-pack tax jumps from $0.39 to $1.01. Yes, that is per pack. I read that Texans will now be paying over $7.00 per pack. I quit smoking 4 years ago, this time I think for good. I know how tough it is to quit so to all who have that will, I wish you the best. I am always amazed that even in times of need or desperation a person can still afford a drink and a smoke. They may starve to death, but at least they won’t go sober or smoke free.

Also, as of today, the Conficker Worm is supposed to return to it’s roost after having robbed you computer of every thing and await on further instructions. The quickest way to tell if you have it is to type the address of one of the popular anti-virus sites, like Symantec.com. If the page does not resolve, you may have the worm. It has been instructed not to open those sites as a means of self preservation.

The government is going to back my auto warranty. Does that mean that, for the most part, the service will get better and I won’t be overcharged? Yeah, I thought so.

Speaking of autos, I read that Ford will cover your car payment if you lose your job. Restrictions apply: they will only cover up to $700.00 a month. I did not know Ford made anything worthy of a $700.00 vehicle payment. Apparently the rest of the US feels the same way.

None of the above is an April Fool’s Joke.

I’m ready to be humored.

Understand this from the getgo…this is not about .mobi. It happens to be a popular dot mobi forum, Mobility.mobi.

The issue is HostGator shutting down Mobility.mobi because of one complaint from one person.

The issue is if you use HostGator, this can happen to you.

Here’s the storyline.

One Friday March 27, Mobility.mobi was off the internet and the site resolve to a HostGator page telling webmaster to contact HostGator.

What happened and why this happened is the basis of the blog post.

A person complained to HostGator that he was getting spam because Mobility.mobi had his email address posted.

HostGator shut down Mobility.mobi from this one complaint.

That is it. That is all. There is no more to the reason.

Last year, America.mobi popped up for sale. First on eBay and then other sites. The greatest concern was there was a TM attached to the registration as this was a reserved name awarded to a TM holder.

But the burning question was, Was the TM legitimate?

Information from the public WHOIS database was published. This had the registrant’s name, address, phone number and email. I called and had a lengthy discussion with the owner. Long story short, the TM was legit. The holder was a programming whiz kid and he developed a search engine. The result was a product that stole the show at a competition. At the urging of many notable MS, Apple, and other big names in attendance, this kid created a name for the product and registered the TM – America.

That teen is now studying law at University of Florida. Being into tech and new tech and armed with a TM, he successfully applied for and was granted the domain name America.mobi.

This information is NOT second-hand as I personally called to inquire not only about the domain but the TM also. No way would I ever consider buying any product or service (tangible or intangible) with a TM attached unless I had the rights to the TM.

I did not end up buying it and the TM holder (at the time) would sell the TM seperate from the domain sale but to the new owner. In other words, the TM was not part of the package but was branded software and scripts.

As a side note, if what the TM holder says is true, then he should have gotten patents instead of a TM. According to the TM holder, many search engines including google now have some of his TM material written perhaps a decade ago as part of their search engines.

But lets move forward to now.

This past Friday morning around 830am, the phone rang while I was still in bed. The answering machine picked up the message left. Around 11 am I get around to playing back my messages. There was a lengthy message from the TM holder. He wanted me to call him back but went on to say that the reason for his call was he was getting spam mail to his email address because his email was posted on the forum. He wanted me to go back to almost a year ago and delete his email.

A quite odd and unfounded request but, nonetheless, I would oblige.

When I attempted to log onto the Mobility.mobi site that was when I landed on the HostGator lander.

This is no lie – I immediately thought about the Sechlist.org debacle with GoDaddy a couple of years or so ago. A complaint regarding MySpace personal information that was posted on Sechlist.org. Host by GD, MySpace filed a complaint and GD took Sechlist down without notice.

Okay, that was absurd thinking as this kid complaining to HG would not be sufficient to take the site down.

That is exactly what happened.

The entire event and what was said in a letter has been posted and discussed at length at Mobility.mobi. It has been moved to the legal section of the site. This might require you to be a member to view.

The owner/admin of mobility posted the entire complaint submitted.

Again, let me remind you that this is not about .mobi or anything other than a complaint submitted to the host of the site.

The basis of the complaint is as follows:

MOBILITY.MOBI and ANDRES KELLO have violated your Terms of Service
(TOS) by hosting illegal and/or unacceptable material and/or content,
including, but not limited to the following: “Harassment”, “Sites
promoting illegal activities”, “Fraudulent Sites,” and/or “Forums and/
or Websites that distribute” illegal content. Furthermore,
MOBILITY.MOBI has violated Florida Libel and Defamation Statutes,
including Fla. Stat. �836.01, �836.04, �836.09, and �836.11, that
prohibit defamatory content from being posted on the internet.

Under Florida Law, intentionally communicating false statements about
a person with the intent to damage his reputation constitutes the tort
of defamation for which an entity may be held liable for civil
damages, including punitive damages. Intentionally making false
criminal charges against a person without probable cause is also
actionable for civil damages as an abuse of process or malicious
prosecution. MOBILITY.MOBI’s conduct, at the very least has been
reckless, if not intentional.

MOBILITY.MOBI has violated the United States Federal Trademark
Dilution Act (”FTDA”), which prohibits Registered United States
Trademarks from being diluted. The content and information posted on
above URLS violate the FTDA as well as numerous other Federal
Trademark and Copyright Laws, including the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (”DMCA”).

Quite crafty. Keep in mind that this person is a law student at the University of Florida. Oh, and last year he was working at the USPTO while on summer break.

Basically, someone at HostGator freaked out and pulled the plug. Now, remember, this is really over someone’s allegations of a site being responsible for some email spam he is getting.

A forum with nearly 2,600 members was shut down and taken off line because of this complaint. Think about it. Without any investigation, any confirmation, any notice to the site webmaster, any notice to anyone, without any anything the forum was shut down by a legaleese sounding letter. When the site was back on, that is when Andres posted the complaint.

Hostgator was invited to the forum to respond. And they did.

Here are some points you need to be aware of and HostGators stance on this issue:

“…legal complaints that appear to be legitimate.

“If the datacenter gets a complaint, however, that could result in them disabling the entire server, which will bring down not only the particular website complained about down, but also every other site on the server.“

Did you just read that?

I want to know what HostGator considers legal complaints. Does this apply to any complaint as being legal and legitimate based purely on the premise that a complaint was made? Or is it the legal sounding or composed or tonal complaints that causes HostGator to respond in such a manner?

But here is the real kicker.

How many of you use HostGator? I have two hosting accounts with HostGator, over 80 active sites with them including DNhop.com.

“If the datacenter gets a complaint, however, that could result in them disabling the entire server, which will bring down not only the particular website complained about down, but also every other site on the server.“

How many of you have a dedicated server? How many don’t? How many of you have a shared server?

How many of you would like your site(s), your livelihood(s), your revenue stream(s) shut off because someone registered a complaint?

Do you want to know what this is really about?

He did not know that his registry information is a matter of public record and available to anyone, anywhere, at anytime. He had no idea who, what, where a WHOIS database is, how it is accessed, or what it does.

He had no idea he could get WHOIS privacy.

He is not a domainer.

He was nothing more than a consumer who was getting spam email and the only reason he could think of was his email being posted on a forum (of which he joined in on the discussion) nearly a year ago.

It does not matter if the complaint had any basis or legitimacy to it.

It does not matter because noting was investigated, discussed, or looked into.

It was easier just to pull the plug.

Upended.com

One word dictionary domain.

6 years old

Currently $300.00

In less than 12 hours since posting Name Spotting VWN.com, the domain bidding is now at $8,565.00 with 65 bids and still, and 8 days-23 hours remain.

VWN.com

9 days remain, currently $2,420.00

TDnam

XMLe.com

9 years old