Storm's A-Comin: Board Up Your Windows And Buy Your Domain Names

from the getting-competitive dept

Tue, Aug 29th 2006 5:11pm — Mike Masnick

Apparently the domain name squatting business is getting pretty competitive. Traditionally, whenever a big news event happened, it wouldn't take long for scammers to jump in with domains related to the event. However, it seems that scammers are recognizing that after the event happens is too late these days. After a variety of scammers went after people last year following Hurricane Katrina, scammers this year are actively pre-registering domain names related to any hurricane that looks likely to cause some damage. No reason to wait around for the actual damage to occur -- especially with "domain kiting" allowing scammers to register domain names without any intention of paying for them, unless they actually become valuable later.

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20 Comments

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VPR, 29 Aug 2006 @ 6:07pm

Old trick, new game.
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dorpus, 29 Aug 2006 @ 6:27pm

Underwhelming
Katrina was the most overrated hurricane in history -- many other hurricanes have caused more deaths or property damage. The media made a fool out of itself, claiming millions of deaths when there were only a few hundred. The next storm will be Peter crying Wolf.
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- CORE12, 29 Aug 2006 @ 7:37pm
  
  Re: Underwhelming
  You've been duped. By gathering your facts from the news, you've bought the hype. No...Katrina did not strike New Orleans...the levee broke due to high waters. The storm struck near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi...but that doesn't sound sexy to newscasters does it.
  
  I live just off the water in Mississippi...we had 24 feet of water washing through our neighborhood. The day after the storm...when the world was watching New Orleans...I was stepping over dead bodies in Mississippi and pulling families out of debris piles where hundreds of homes used to be.
  
  Thanks for your uneducated, news driven comments.
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  - dorpus, 29 Aug 2006 @ 7:52pm
    
    Re: Re: Underwhelming
    I was battling wyverns and space aliens that day too, but did you step over that blurry single body the media kept showing over and over, while they were claiming that thousands of bodies were choking the rivers? Hollywood celebrities went out in their rowboats full of photographers to pose for the "tragedy", but they couldn't find any bodies.
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    - CORE12, 29 Aug 2006 @ 8:05pm
      
      Re: Underwhelming
      Dorpus. I'm not a newscaster. I'm not a celebrity. If I had not been here, I would not have believed it either. We are nearly 100 miles from New Orleans.
      
      I personally could care less what happened in New Orleans...they have their own problems to deal with...many self-inflicted. The real injustice comes to the rest of us, not in the Big Easy, who went widely ignored. I have nothing to gain by exaggerating...having lived through this, words cannot describe the crap you see, smell, and experience.
      
      Trust me...your comments are in poor taste.
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      - Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2006 @ 5:58am
        
        Re: Re: Underwhelming
        "Trust me...your comments are in poor taste."
        
        Dorpus's comments are always in poor taste. When not posting derogatory hate speach (pick random flavor of hate for the day) he's usually just trying to be a jerk and make others mad. Every now and then, he makes an insightful ontopic post, usually about once a month.
        
        The rest of the time, he's just trying to insult people in an effort to make himself feel better. It's clearly not a long term success, or he would have stopped by now.
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        dorpus, 30 Aug 2006 @ 8:03am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Underwhelming
        Incidentally, a heat wave last month killed more people in the Netherlands than Katrina ever did, though it received a lot less publicity.
        
        http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/08/30/060830120657.nhp5lo9e.html
        
        Maybe the European holocaust is already happening, and nobody realized it.
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Watson Dr, 29 Aug 2006 @ 6:45pm

Its true
It wasn't Katrina that did the damage... it was the damn river and it's poorly built levy! Give proper credit!
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- PT, 29 Aug 2006 @ 9:58pm
  
  Re: Its true
  Well...Katrina did cause the storm surge...that showed how bad the levy was by breaking it. So if there was no storm surge...There would be no broken levy (at that time)...So we wouldn't really know how bad it really was. But...It took a storm surge to break it and...The hurricane caused the storm surge and so, its Katrina's fault that it broke since the storm surge would not have existed if Katrina didn't...cause it...
  
  So yeah, give proper credit where its due! Mother nature did it! She always ruins the party...Stupid natural processes..
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- mike, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:29am
  
  Re: Its true
  Is "PoorlyBuiltLevy.com" taken?
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Aug 2006 @ 7:05pm

it was the fact that the whole fucking area is below sea level and shouldnt even exist anymore!!!!

why the fuck are billions and billions of dollars being spent on something that is inevitably going to not exist in (short) time, the sea level is rising and its just going to cost more and more money to maintain.

its about as useless as the war on drugs
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- dorpus, 29 Aug 2006 @ 7:11pm
  
  Re:
  Hehe, half of Holland is naturally underwater as well. Why not wash away all the potheads out to sea?
  
  America's oldest continuous Mardi Gras festival takes place in Mobile, Alabama. (Alabama was also part of France's Louisiana territory.)
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  - redorp, 30 Aug 2006 @ 8:36am
    
    Re: Re:
    Half of Holland is below sea level, and they also have an efficient flood control system as well. Sometimes when water levels get too high, they notify/help certain villages relocate to flood them to relieve water levels. It's the most cost efficient way of flood control. Something that lacks in NO. It can be rebuilt, will cost a lot of money, but they need to focus on flood control. Maybe they should consult with Dutch engineers to get that done.
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Wire Cramped, 29 Aug 2006 @ 8:00pm

yes yes yes...
Enough with the fact that media on the boob tube is for boobs are you one? No, well then dont complain about other boobs watching it. This is what they should do as they are doom ed to a life of idiocy. Yes its a tragedy and there are far worse tidal wave anyone??? many thousands actually died! OMG wait that wasnt on our turf (U.S.) so it cant be remembered....

Real point made by Anon Coward the area below sea level should be moved above sea level and I figure thats as good a spot as any for land fill yes I said it land fill. Fill it with all the land fill needs from america cover it when its full with cement and then people can build on a solid and higher then sea level foundation!!!

Oh and as for Holland I dont give a rats ass if they are above or below sea level and if they move or dont, they are kewl cause they do live in a hard area prone to disaster and in fact know when to get the hell out of natures way! EVEN before the media can blame the gonvernment for the individuals sole choice to stay and get clobbered!
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Erstazi, 29 Aug 2006 @ 8:21pm

Truth to a point
This is true to a point that the media and public feed on tragedy. I was also there myself... for both the floods and Rita. Yes, there was over 1,500 people who died in this horrible event... We cannot overlook that. Forget the money, forget everything else but the fact that innocent people died. But I could not believe how the media focused on idiotic things. The Big Easy got the attention because of the sheer numbers of people who were devastated and amount of money, lost and cost. Mississippi definately received the worse, so did Slidell, LA. In my opinion, there should have been better evacuation plans. Enforced ones. All of the federal help became chaos within the first 3 days. Similiar to World War II and their Civil Defense plans, there could be very advanced Civil Disaster plans...
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- dorpus, 29 Aug 2006 @ 8:25pm
  
  Re: Truth to a point
  The vast majority of law-abiding citizens did evacuate. The ones who suffered were those who disobeyed because of their anti-government paranoia or cluelessness.
  
  IF Core12's experiences are true, then I guess I should apologize or something. I do remember when the Columbine shootings occurred, it seemed every teenager on the internet bragged about being a student at Columbine.
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  - CORE12, 30 Aug 2006 @ 2:22pm
    
    Re: Re: Truth to a point
    DORPUS. Thanks for the *slight* reprieve. I am not a "clingon" on this event...I live here...I lived it...I'm still living in it.
    
    I'm not asking for social sensitivity from you, just a little "look before you leap" mentality. The news feeds us crap and we tend to regurgitate the same crap with embelishments. the most effective *rant* speach is delivered from saturated insights...not single sided sources.
    
    What would the world be if we were all PC? Perfectly Crappy.
    
    Live on. Live Hard. Live Bold.
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Brandon, 29 Aug 2006 @ 8:28pm

I hate how media makes it look like it was the biggest f***** disaster on the planet.. i mean there are atleast 3 or four different documentaries that have been playing on TV about hurricane katrina.. Honestly... who really gives a flying f*ck
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Beck, 29 Aug 2006 @ 8:51pm

Every Name Is Registered
There is a list of hurricane names that will be used for the next six years. The domain name for every single hurricane on that list has been registered. (HurricaneAlberto.com, HurricaneAndrea.com etc etc.)
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mike, 30 Aug 2006 @ 12:26am

Someone needs to stop that shite.
You should have to file for a domain the same as you would for a trademark... and you should have some worthwhile content on it or you should get your balls chopped off.

"CyberSquatting" was supposed to be illegal...
its just been re-defined.
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