Rob
Sherman Advocacy
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Rob
Sherman Advocacy
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"Fighting injustice, one victory at a time."
Once again, Rob Sherman gets involved, makes things happen and gets world-wide publicity at no cost for leading the way for civil rights.
As first reported in the June 21st edition of Liberal News & Commentary, an illegal lottery is being conducted by Neulevel, the company that is controlling the issuance of domain names with the Dot Biz extension. CNN has now featured my objection to the illegal lottery in a report on their CNNdotCOM show.
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Applicants for Dot Biz domain names are being asked to pay a five dollar application fee for a chance to be awarded any particular Dot Biz name. What makes this an illegal scam is that Neulevel is attempting to squeeze applicants (see the June 21st LN&C) to buy, at five dollars apiece, multiple chances to win a particular domain name.
I would like to obtain the name, LiberalNews.biz, for this news and opinion service. Others may try to obtain the same domain name. I want to have an equal chance with anyone else to obtain the right to use my service mark in my domain name. However, if somebody else with a legitimate interest in the name buys 99 lottery chances and I only buy one, my chances of obtaining the rights to my own name are one in a hundred, rather than one in two, as it should be. Neulevel has a stated policy at their Dot Biz FAQ #13 that you must have a legitimate interest in a Dot Biz name to be awarded the name. Cyber-squatting on Dot Biz domain names for the purpose of selling, trading or leasing it for compensation will not be allowed.
When businesses buy extra chances at a particular name, Neulevel pockets all that extra money for each name. Suppose one million businesses apply for Dot Biz domain names, which is not an unreasonable number in a world with six billion people. At five dollars a shot, Neulevel takes in five million dollars, less the cost of administering the registration process, which might be four million dollars (a figure picked out of thin air). Neulevel's profit is one million dollars, a nice return but one which they are surely entitled to.
Many businesses regard it as vital that they control the Dot Biz domain name that corresponds to their business name. Suppose that these businesses register an average of one thousand times per domain name at the 100+ rate of three dollars a shot. The thousand lottery tickets cost three thousand dollars. That investment might seem worth it to businesses who recognize the necessity of controlling the Dot Biz domain name that corresponds to their business name. Three thousand dollars times one million applicants equals three BILLION dollars. Three billion dollars, less that same four million dollar administrative cost, or even double that to eight million dollars for dealing with all the extra applications, means Neulevel's profit increases from the old figure of one million dollars to a new figure of TWO BILLION, NINE HUNDRED NINETY-TWO MILLION dollars. Neulevel has now increased their profits by a handsome two billion, nine-hundred ninety-one million dollars, for nothing except for the fact that they ran an illegal, private lottery for profit. Why try to make a few thousand dollars cyber-squatting on a Dot Biz domain name when you could make a few BILLION dollars running an illegal lottery?
In addition, what if there is only one business which is applying for a particular Dot Biz domain name? That business might needlessly give Neulevel thousands of extra dollars in profit to protect against a non-existant opponent. Neulevel simply pockets the extra money and laughs all the way to the bank. Good scam, Neulevel.
Neulevel's lottery is an illegal scam. In the June 22nd edition of Liberal News & Commentary, I told you how I asked the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois to get involved. They wrote back saying that they declined to get involved, but they forwarded my request to the FBI to see if they were interested. The FBI has not gotten back to me. I also told you in that same report that I contacted CNN to see if they might be interested in adding the heat from the spotlight of publicity to the controversy by interviewing me. They were interested. They sent a camera crew in late June to my office and taped an interview and some "B Roll" (that's when the cameraman shoots some related action shots, such as me working at my computer or reviewing documents at my desk, to make the story visually more interesting). CNN reporter Bruce Francis did extensive, thorough research into the issue and presented a story on the subject last Saturday on the CNNDotCOM Show.
Here is a link to the CNN transcript of the show. If that link is expired, below is a fair-use unedited library/archive copy of the portion of the transcript that relates to my appearance on the show. The first unidentified male referred to in the transcript was me.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. ANNOUNCER: Today on CNNdotCOM: some entrepreneurs are hoping to hit the lottery, not to win a million bucks, but a domain name. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lotteries are specifically made illegal to prevent just this type of thing. (END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Is there funny business behind dot-biz? As the Code Red worm wriggles across the net, can Microsoft patch up its problems with security? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ninety-nine percent of the problem is now getting the rest of the world to install these patches. (END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: How software companies can get away with things other manufacturers can't. If you're wondering what movie to check out on Saturday night, or if you need to know whether it's safe to take your kids, we'll have some handy Web sites to help you out. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will never see a movie without knowing a lot about it again. (END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Find out how to get the inside scoop on the latest flicks. This is CNNdotCOM with James Hattori. JAMES HATTORI, HOST: Hi, everybody, and welcome to CNNdotCOM. I'm James Hattori. There's a land rush going on in cyberspace, a rush to stake out upcoming domain names ending with dot-biz. Since you can only have so many dot-coms, the groups who control domain names now have several new offerings, including dot-info, dot-museum and dot-name. But as Bruce Francis reports, some people suspect there's some funny dot- business going on. For more, let's go to the World Wide Web. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRUCE FRANCIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When you're writing a Web newsletter called "Liberal News," there's a lot on your mind with a Republican in the White House. But these days, Rob Sherman is more concerned about a new Web home for his work. Soon, dot-biz Web addresses will go on sale. Sherman wants to get liberalnews.biz, since the dot-com version is taken, but when he went to apply, Sherman got a shock. It's not first come, first serve, but a lottery -- a lottery that he says is unfair and illegal. ROB SHERMAN, "LIBERAL NEWS": Whoever buys the most chances in their private lottery has the best chance of getting the domain name with a dot-biz extension. FRANCIS: A company called Neulevel is in charge of selling the dot-biz names. But other companies can handle the applications, including Network Solutions, which is owned by Verisign. This pitch from Network Solutions plainly encourages applicants to submit multiple copies by offering bulk discounts, 50 cents off each $5 application for 10 or more, $2 off for 100 or more. (on camera): The message is clear, the more applications you submit, the better your chance of yours getting picked in the lottery. Verisign declined to comment. Neulevel stands by the process. DOUG ARMENTROUT, CEO, NEULEVEL: This is a very fair and equal process that will give everybody an equal opportunity to obtain a name. FRANCIS (voice-over): Esther Dyson is the former chair of ICANN, the group that sets the rules for the Internet. She says there's no way to prevent big money from influencing the system, but that doesn't mean she thinks the Neulevel system is fair. ESTHER DYSON, FORMER CHAIRWOMAN, ICANN: It's a punt. They're just saying, well, we don't want appear to be unfair, so we'll make it a lottery. But then, your chances of winning the lottery are higher if you try more times. FRANCIS: Rob Sherman is not alone. A suit filed in Los Angeles charges that the dot-biz registration process amounts to an illegal lottery. Sherman says that if the companies involved are breaking the law, the lottery should be shut down. SHERMAN: Lotteries are specifically made illegal to prevent just this type of thing. FRANCIS: The dot-biz name registry is scheduled to start on October 1. (END VIDEOTAPE) |
CNNdotCOM airs on CNN every Saturday at 1:00 PM Central Time and every Sunday at 3:30 PM Central Time. It's a great show. I encourage you to watch the show.
As indicated in the CNN transcript, a lawsuit has been filed in Los Angeles regarding the Neulevel scam. I'll let you know the disposition of that lawsuit when there is a ruling.
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