N.C. man gets $35,000 for Bush’s library domain

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/6220889.html ^

[Orange1998]

RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina man is now $35,000 richer thanks to President Bush’s sheepish advisers who let his library’s Web site address expire. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports today that Web developer George Hunger was searching through a list of expiring domain names two years ago when he noticed a treasure. The Web address www.GeorgeWBushLibrary.com was about to expire. bought the rights for $5. Hunger says he recently sold them for $35,000 to Florida-based Yuma Solutions, which the Bush Library Foundation said is in charge of Web site care. Company owner Mark Mills didn’t return the newspaper’s calls. Bush’s library and museum will be in Dallas. Hunger said he isn’t looking for another presidential name. BarackObamaLibrary.com is already taken.

[Orange1998]

I can't believe they let this happen.

[FreeManWhoCan]

Where do you look through a list of expired domains?

[lowbridge]

I can believe it. Some of his advisors have been fools.

[libh8er]

Cyber squatters are the scums of the earth.

[hercuroc]

What's wrong with squatting?

If somebody doesn't have enough sense to look ahead too bad.I say more power to 'em.

[bigbob]

Amen bro. It’s kinda like...uh...capitalism.

[libh8er]

Amen bro. It’s kinda like...uh...capitalism

Not really. I am not questioning anybody's right to squat unless there are trademark infringements, but squatters don't add anything of value to the system. In principle it's no different than a pirate asking for a ransom.

[hercuroc]

Nobody’s making them buy it-why doesn’t Bush take a .net domain then.

[WheresMyBailout]

No they’re not. It’s called capitalism.

[WheresMyBailout]

Who is to say that this entity has more of a right to a domain name than another entity?

You may say that GeorgeWBushLibrary.com belongs to George W Bush, but then what about BarackObamaSucks.com? What about a website called FreeRepublic.com, who owns that? What if Jim Robinson wanted to sell FreeRepublic.com, doesn’t he have a right to do that?

[Tainan]

No, cyber-squatting is not 'sorta like capitalism'...its more like piracy and hijacking the property of others.
I used my family name for my business web site for 7 years. @ years ago, through a combination of travelling extensively, my wifes Father passing away and my wife having some very serious medical problems, I somehow allowed my domain name to expire. My hosting company did not auto-renew it...as they have done previously and had it in writing from me to always do again and sold the name as part of a package to some low life mud-sucking bottom feeding POS. Now they want money from me to regain my family domain name and the established business address I had built up.

So no...its not "sorta like capitalism.
It is more akin to piracy and hijacking of personal property."

[Tainan]

“@” = 2 if I remember to release the shift key.

[steve-b]

They're lucky it was just somebody out for the money and not a DUmmie who planned to put up a parody site showing a "Bush Liebury" full of coloring books and copies of My Pet Goat.