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Confessions of a domain name collector The story of a name that is the homonym of a country Click on the cropped images to see full pictures  Brian "Rubaduka" Luedke 1 March 2010 To stare at a computer screen at whatever random location, cursing the ever-renewed domain name registration expiry date, wishing the more-or-less anonymous absentee registrant would finally sell the domain name, or die : such is the fate of the collector of domain names.
And such is my condition in 2007 when I first decide that I absolutely need both Congo-Brazzaville.com and CongoBrazzaville.com to complete, and crown, my Congolese collection. Sitting at a desk in the rental office of a truck leasing company in Boston, fresh in from the cold, nursing a cappuccino, and wishing my customers away, I plot my acquisition of the most visible domain name for Congo-Brazzaville.
I try email, offering the current registrant something in the medium $xxx range just to start negotiations and to see his attitude. Think African-sounding name with a Western European address. His first reply proves to be his last, despite subsequent higher offers from my part: think short and frank, derision and pride.
With the initial registration date on the name showing 1999, I don't hold much hope that the African émigré will let the name expire. How would it make sense? Why refuse to sell for thousands of dollars, then allow the name to expire? Its expiration would owe to his failure to pay a seven dollar renewal fee. Can I really expect the name to be re-released to the market in this manner? After all, he has already renewed the domain for about eight years in a row.
Sitting at my rental counter, soaking into the unsupervised weekend days with few customers but ample Internet access, I continue to struggle to find a stratagem to take control of Congo-Brazzaville.com. Yet I always find myself ensnared in the quagmire of the absentee landlord's registration. Nothing appears on the site other than a sort of non-page showing that a few files exist but that no file exists to serve as the main page.
Stymied. I focus on D.R. Congo, the larger of the Congolese neighbors. I register Congo-Kinshasa.com and RDCongo.com (the Franco-Congolese spelling of the country). But I always remain focused on Congo-Brazzaville.com, envious that the name represents so closely the former French colony. While RD Congo had been "Zaïre" for decades, the term "Congo-Brazzaville" has long roots, with its first appearance in the New York Times in 1943.
Indeed, the name has stuck. Google results for "Congo-Brazzaville" surpass results for "Sénégal", at least with the spelling that includes the accents.
Eventually, in the first days of 2010, I notice a random email from a company with whom I have not done any recent business. A dream from 2007 and a contract with a "drop catcher" re-emerge from the past. The drop catcher, Name Jet, a type of business that specializes in registering domains that have expired and returned to the market, notifies me that Congo-Brazzaville.com is in the last stages of the expiration process. It is going to expire. The haughty whoever who sent me that nasty note in 2007 has allowed the name to expire for nothing. Anyone in the world can now register Congo-Brazzaville's national pride for $7. I must get it.
Final expiration is set for January 15, so I have several days to prepare. Quickly, I update my credit card information with Name Jet. I ensure that the name is also listed with Pool, another major drop catcher. Then I have nothing to do but wait and see how much competition emerges from any quarter in the entire world. Anyone in the world can also submit a bid, which would trigger an auction, meaning I would not acquire the name for the minimum fee of $60 or $70. The auction battle could lead the fight over the domain name well into the thousands of dollars.
Of course, I check on the domain name every day. Every day, the same situation presents itself: I must await the 15th. Finally, notification arrives from Name Jet of successful registration. I have secured the domain name for the minimum fee of $69. No one else in the entire world has signed up to compete in an auction, so Name Jet hosts no auction. The name, which boasts 350,000 photographs at Google Images, constitutes one of the strongest names in my African collection: Afrique lafrique.com Afrique Centrale AfriqueCentrale.com Congo-Brazzaville LeCongo.com Congolais.com Congo-Brazzaville.com CongoBrazzaville.com Congo-Kinshasa RDCongo.com Congo-Kinshasa.com CongoKinshasa.com Sénégal Sénégal.com LeSénégal.com LeSenegal.com Sénégalais.com Senegalais.com Dakarois.com Côte d'Ivoire Ivoirien.com Guinée Guinée-Conakry.com Guinee-Conakry.com Guinéen.com Guineen.com Bénin LeBenin.com LeBénin.com Béninois.com Beninois.com Togo Togolais.com Niger LeNiger.com Burkina Faso LeFaso.com LeBurkina.com LeBurkinaFaso.com Tchad LeTchad.com Mali LeMali.com Mozambique Moçambicano.com Mocambicano.com Burundi LeBurundi.com Burundais.com Rwanda LeRwanda.com Rwandais.com RepublicOfRwanda.com Gabon LeGabon.com Gabonais.com Centrafrique LaCentrafrique.com Centrafricain.com Cameroun LeCameroun.com Camerounais.com |
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