Do you ever feel bad about being a domain squatter?

Do you ever feel bad about being a domain squatter? That is the thread that has had Namepros all a buzz for the last few days, 161 replies strong.

The op started off with the following:

So I’ve been searching for a domain for myself (not for resell) a nice 3-letter acronym that is also be a surname.

I found around 50-ish names regged:
32 new TLDs – most aren’t even resolving.
Main TLDs – .com is redirecting the rest is parked or “for sale”
ccTLDs – 10+ registered

Guess how many websites are there….
4 (cctlds)
Almost 50 domains registered and most of them is just sitting there, unused…

No wonder the rest of the world hates us.

Don’t get me wrong – I know I am a hypocrite. Just the other day I used a few GD coupons to catch some domains for resale.
Still – I’m guessing 99% of 2-3 letter names and probably 90%+ of other domains is just parked/for sale.
I hate seeing names I like wasted like that…

Then the fun started as many came out and started giving their opinions as to what is squatting, investing and the differences between them. There was a poll included:

1. Yes – domain squatting is wrong

   3 vote(s)
   4.6%
2. A little bit

   8 vote(s)
   12.3%
3. Meh, not really

   4 vote(s)
   6.2%
4. No – I’m an investor not a squatter

   50 vote(s)
   76.9%

Now the 3 people who think its wrong are probably trolling, if they legitimately see themselves as doing something wrong, because the poll question is a personal question, they should stop and donate their domains to charity.

The problem with the thread title which the op said, “Just to make it clear: the domain name in OP is not my initials, just random 3-letter name. I found it funny/sad that almost 92% of the domains were parked or not resolving.
Out of around 20 previously registered only 4 were normal websites but some domainers found the need to register 30 more (new TLDs)
That’s why I created this thread – I wanted to know what others think about it.
The title is just tongue-in-cheek (no need to be so gravely offended )”

Namepros member Disco Bull had one of the better replies:

The reason that you’ve gotten a strong response is that your question is a loaded one that implies wrong-doing. To me, it comes across more like an accusation than a question. To put things in perspective, try and imagine asking the same question of someone in another profession. For example, “Do you ever feel bad about being a grocer?” or “Do you ever feel bad about being a hair-dresser?”. It’s unimaginable, right? That’s because the only reason you would ask such a question is if you’d already concluded that something bad was going on. It doesn’t help that you’ve used the word “squatting” which everyone on here understands to mean an illegal practice. It’s not an exact equivalent but the way you’ve phrased your question is sort of like asking a baby sitter “Do you ever feel bad about being a child molester?”

To be clear, I’m not responding here to argue with you or to make you feel bad. You’ve already explained that you didn’t have these things in mind when you started this thread and I accept your explanation. I’m just trying to help you understand why people might not react well to the way you’ve posed your question.

The problem is there is a definition of squatter and someone registering 500 Made Up Pronounceables (M.U.P.) is squatting on nothing, they are a bulk registrant of domain names, but owning verizonsmartphone is squatting, microsoftwimdows is typo squatting, but registering domain names that no one has a legitimate claim to is not squatting.

If the industry is looking to move itself forward, people should ask the right questions.

To the point about being hated, in a world of social media and instant gratification, many are hated it would be easier to come up with a shorter list of who is not hated. There are always going to be people who do things that make legitimate domain owners and domaining as a whole look bad, and then there are some people who are not going to be ok with anything you do, their creativity is greater than yours. The one notion that if a bulk domain registrant did not own a domain it would be sitting there for 20 years just waiting for someone in 2014 to come along and hand register it for $8.

There was a domainer who did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit who got some negative responses you can read here, one of the interesting things to come out of that is that the domainer traded Qid.com and $2,000 cash for DnAuction.com.

From the Reddit AMA

What’s the worst domain purchase you ever made?

I traded qid.com, which I paid $8k for + $2,000 in cash (so $10k basically) for dnauction.com (domain name auction). I haven’t gotten a single offer on that domain anywhere near what I paid for it. I’ve tried brokers, posting it on domain forums, auctions, using it as my signature on forums – I’ve tried fucking everything. I think I way misjudged both the market for that domain and ultimately what it’s worth. At this point, several years later, I think I’m prepared to take a large loss on it. If I could just find somebody to offer me $5k (half what I paid), I’d probably take it. Then cry.