Financial sector crisis is a field day for domain squatters

Devin Coldewey

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts he’d like you to read: The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User’s Manifesto | Our Great Sin His personal website is coldewey.cc. → Learn More

Thursday, September 18th, 2008


I don’t pretend to understand the reasons behind the current financial meltdown, but I do know that the topography of the money business is going to be changing soon. I don’t have any way to capitalize on that (I just cower here in a corner, nervously stroking my Benjamins), but domain squatters do. By now every possible merger, acquisition, and bailout is reflected in domain names, for sale to the highest bidder, but likely being surreptitiously submitted to the IT and legal departments at bank after bank.

But do you really think there’s going to be a “www.bankofamericamerrilllynch.com”? It’s equally unlikely that such a clumsy name would be used as a web address, an actual bank name, or that the merger would actually take place.

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