So, sometime last night randomland.com went back on the open market. It was probably available to register for all of 200ms before getting snatched up by some automated system. So... another year without that most respected of TDls, the .com.
Google would respect us more more if we had it, but we don't really need it. It expires April 12 2012. It was registered at 11:53:11 last night. Had I had ANY way of knowing when it expired, I would have been on it. Not that it would have likely helped. The registrars all know the schedules of the others, so we didn't really have a change of beating out an automated system that spams the registration servers (I don't know why that is even legal, let alone tolerated by the registrars.)
So yeah. Why does anyone want it again? It was a low value domain that has never had anything on it of substance. Never, as far as I can tell, made anyone any cash. So why are they snatching it up like that? In the hopes that the .net or .org-ers will be willing to pay $600 for it? Crazyness.
Evil has stuck again, and another injustice has been purveyed onto the commoners by the modern day snake-oil salesmen; Domain squatters and highjackers. Taking by brute force what they have no stake in, and extorting those who have legitimate stake in the name for thousands of dollars. Or setting on it for a year for no good reason.
If we could show in court that they only bought it for the intent of selling, and their for had no good-faith reason to own it, we might be able to take it. Its been done before. But that was for corporations, where we are nought but lowly peasants. But legal battles are work, and it really does not matter that much.
So. Pooooot.
Edit:
Alternatively, we could abandon the name. And go with a whole set of TDLs under the randomnets monicker. .com, net and org. Thought there is already a randomnet.com.
As a humorous aside, KillerChickens.com is available for $500, but the .net and .org counter parts are free.
