So one of the more active threads this week at Namepros, is about naming and shaming end users who back out of deals. The thread is actually the 2.0 version due to the first thread being closed as the OP decided to dox the person they had a problem with.
There are many things to consider and some that I did not see touched upon in the thread. This was a thread about end users, not other domain investors who belong to the same community.
So my first thought was, no end user cares what a domain investor thinks of them. I know this first hand from having end users tell me they see domain investors as, pigs, scumbags, something the government will eventually do away with, bottom feeders, and a whole host of other terms.
So I can’t really see posting that the marketing director of IBM backed out of a deal carrying much weight. One of the most important things about getting riled up and spreading your word, is that people actually care.
Adam Bishop wrote an article on RiskHeads.org in which he looked at the perils of Name & Shame.
Number 3 was Nobody Cares:
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Nobody Cares
And finally, whenever you take to social media, have an idea about what you are trying to achieve when engaging.
Surely the point is to create a positive awareness of your brand, your expertise, and your trusted place in the industry. Distributing content and commentary that’s relevant, and if use and value to your audience. Enhancing your place as a thought leader in the sector.
When you use that space to declare war, or make public your aggrievances with another body, you are, at best, wasting your use of the platform. At worst, you are coming across as self-indulgent and irrelevant. Your followers and contacts simply don’t want to hear about your squabbles and troubles.
They don’t care about them and, if you shout them from the digital rooftops, there’s a real chance that they’ll stop listening to you entirely.
A name and shame rant that can be seen equally as unprofessional, ill-advised, disengaging, and nothing more than a whisper in the social media wind, from a voice that grows less relevant with every angry outcry.
It also depends where you live and where those you name and shame live. With GDPR it is probably very risky to post the name and address of a European citizen.
In South Africa for example one has to be careful
THE concept of ‘naming and shaming’ has become a popular tool on social media to expose the ‘nefarious actions’ of others. We have all seen the photos or videos of bad drivers and people parking in disabled bays.
Two years ago, dozens of residents from Durban North and surrounding areas found themselves in hot water after they allegedly posted street addresses of people who they alleged were illegally firing ‘big bangs’ over the Diwali period.
The details were posted on a popular Facebook page. One of the homeowners is said to have subsequently opened a case of defamation against these residents.
At the time the Northglen News caught up with Verlie Oosthuizen, a social media law expert at Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys in uMhlanga, to gain clarity about what social media users can ‘name and shame’.
What’s more, she said, unlike the United States, where its citizens enjoy freedom of speech (which allows them to say almost anything except ‘hate speech’), South Africa has a limited clause for its freedom of expression.
Oosthuizen urged the public to think twice before posting anything online.
“It is a dangerous game. People could find themselves fired or sued. You have to be sure that you have your facts correct, and be sure that what the person is doing is actually illegal. Sometimes something might seem illegal or unethical, but it actually is legit. ‘Public interest’ is also important. Is your content in the interest of the public?” she said.
Read the full article
On Namepros some members believe they have the right to name and shame as it is done to other businesses. Yelp being the best example. But to be fair I care a lot more about 20 people saying the pizza sucks at Giuseppe’s, a local place where I may dine, as opposed to a domain investor who dealt with a graphics design firm that backed out of one domain purchase.
Now if there was a pattern of abuse that would be another story, one would make a mental note to dismiss inquiries from that company.
Other members felt one should just move on and it’s just part of the business so no big whoop.
There are also cooling off period laws:
There are a few types of contracts that you can cancel within a few days of making the contract, mainly transactions that take place at a location that is not the seller’s permanent place (such as a trade show at a hotel), but most others you are stuck with for the duration.
There are some federal laws that allow parties to a contract to cancel or call off the contract within a few days of entering into them. These laws are often called “cooling off rules” and give the contracting parties the option of canceling a contract with a certain time period.
The contracts that fall under these rules include trade show sales contracts, contracts for home equity loans, internet purchase contracts and even door to door sales contracts. In addition, certain states have passed laws for canceling contracts that allow parties to get out of contracts for things like dating services, gym memberships and even weight loss programs.
Read more here
Maybe domain investors should use Yelp, if the business has a page it could make sense to do it there, after all that would have the most weight and maybe make a company do a better job completing deals. The general public is not going to care about a small website that many don’t know.
In fact some are using Yelp against domain owners. Two scathing reviews for Mike Mann’s Domain Asset Holdings (DomainMarket.com)
Just another Cybersquatter. If there was any company that would best represent human trash, it would be this company. Seriously, if they own a domain you’ve been looking at, don’t give them money; that’s like giving money to a human child trafficker. Just find a different domain or consider legal action, which is probably cheaper. See if you can file a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy with ICANN.
68.8% of voters on Namepros said no to the name and shame.
Should end users be named and shamed? Yes NoTHE concept of ‘naming and shaming’ has become a popular tool on social media to expose the ‘nefarious actions’ of others. We have all seen the photos or videos of bad drivers and people parking in disabled bays.
Two years ago, dozens of residents from Durban North and surrounding areas found themselves in hot water after they allegedly posted street addresses of people who they alleged were illegally firing ‘big bangs’ over the Diwali period.
The details were posted on a popular Facebook page. One of the homeowners is said to have subsequently opened a case of defamation against these residents.
At the time the Northglen News caught up with Verlie Oosthuizen, a social media law expert at Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys in uMhlanga, to gain clarity about what social media users can ‘name and shame’.
What’s more, she said, unlike the United States, where its citizens enjoy freedom of speech (which allows them to say almost anything except ‘hate speech’), South Africa has a limited clause for its freedom of expression.
Oosthuizen urged the public to think twice before posting anything online.
“It is a dangerous game. People could find themselves fired or sued. You have to be sure that you have your facts correct, and be sure that what the person is doing is actually illegal. Sometimes something might seem illegal or unethical, but it actually is legit. ‘Public interest’ is also important. Is your content in the interest of the public?” she said.
Read the full article
On Namepros some members believe they have the right to name and shame as it is done to other businesses. Yelp being the best example. But to be fair I care a lot more about 20 people saying the pizza sucks at Giuseppe’s, a local place where I may dine, as opposed to a domain investor who dealt with a graphics design firm that backed out of one domain purchase.
Now if there was a pattern of abuse that would be another story, one would make a mental note to dismiss inquiries from that company.
Other members felt one should just move on and it’s just part of the business so no big whoop.
There are also cooling off period laws:
There are a few types of contracts that you can cancel within a few days of making the contract, mainly transactions that take place at a location that is not the seller’s permanent place (such as a trade show at a hotel), but most others you are stuck with for the duration.
There are some federal laws that allow parties to a contract to cancel or call off the contract within a few days of entering into them. These laws are often called “cooling off rules” and give the contracting parties the option of canceling a contract with a certain time period.
The contracts that fall under these rules include trade show sales contracts, contracts for home equity loans, internet purchase contracts and even door to door sales contracts. In addition, certain states have passed laws for canceling contracts that allow parties to get out of contracts for things like dating services, gym memberships and even weight loss programs.
Read more here
Maybe domain investors should use Yelp, if the business has a page it could make sense to do it there, after all that would have the most weight and maybe make a company do a better job completing deals. The general public is not going to care about a small website that many don’t know.
In fact some are using Yelp against domain owners. Two scathing reviews for Mike Mann’s Domain Asset Holdings (DomainMarket.com)
Just another Cybersquatter. If there was any company that would best represent human trash, it would be this company. Seriously, if they own a domain you’ve been looking at, don’t give them money; that’s like giving money to a human child trafficker. Just find a different domain or consider legal action, which is probably cheaper. See if you can file a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy with ICANN.
68.8% of voters on Namepros said no to the name and shame.
Should end users be named and shamed? Yes No
