I got laid off a few weeks ago. Work was slow. The company has been going through some tough times. I was actually happy to leave.
A year or so ago, when I still had a job, I mentioned to my boss that our company should buy its “actual” domain name. The company is Allstate Installations, but their web site domain name is allstateinstall.com. I suggested they buy allstateinstallations.com because that is what anyone in their right mind would search for / type in the address bar when looking for our company. He thought that was a great idea and would think about it. I sent him reminder e-mails. I talked to him again in person. Nothing came of it.
So I bought it myself and politely forwarded the traffic to the company’s webpage.
Now they have laid me off and I’m wondering what I should do with the domain. Here are a few ideas with their associated scores. Please let me know if you have any better ideas.
Hand the domain over to my company
This is the right thing to do. It’s also the most boring.
Score: D
Forward to Goat/se.cx
Too easy. Too predictable. But disgustingly funny.
Score: C
Forward to a competitor's website
Allstate Installations has several competitors. This would be a real F-U to the old boss.
Score: B-
Forward to porn
Another obvious idea, but the real detail is in what porn site you choose.
Score: (site / score)
playboy(dot)com / D+
beastality(dot)com / A
hugeblackcocks(dot)com / B+
fistinglessons(dot)net / B
clownporn(dot)net/ A++
Forward to a photo site with photoshopped pictures of boss in compromising positions
This is a great idea, but the only photos I have of him are of him in compromising positions and most of those photos are copyrighted.
Score: C
Let the domain to expire and allow anyone reading this to buy it and do what they please
This is the only real democratic option.
Score: A
{Author's note: One I did not think of was "Sell it to anyone that will buy it." I have received a few bids. All for way more than the site is worth. Right now the bidding is at $950. Step right up!! Let's see what my soul is worth.
Score: $$}
{Author's note 2: As many of you have suggested, I am a douche. But not that kind of douche. I am in the process of transferring the domain over, free of charge. My old boss and co-workers received several e-mails from strangers warning of this post and my possible doucheness. I think that is pretty cool of them. I would hope someone would do the same for me.}
(Author's note 3: I attempted to transfer the website to my company. They wanted me to track down all the information and call their provider to set it up. I said I didn't have the time and to e-mail me when they had it figured out. They did not and I let the domain expire. Per their old website you can see that things did not end well. The partners split and not they run separate, competing companies.)
116 comments:
Gather your statistics on the amount of traffic you have been forwarding to the company website and approach your former company with an affiliate proposal that will allow them to purchase that traffic from you.
Now that is sensible... which is exactly why I didn't think of it!
If they don't agree to an affiliate arrangement, simply drop some standard boiler plate text on the company's skills, offerings, etc. on your page, put a link to them at the bottom and put some Google AdSense ads on the same page.
In the UK option C could get you into real hot water for setting out to maliciously damage somebody's business. The competitor would probably not want this to happen either, lest they get dragged into the subsequent legal fireworks.
Fun though the earlier options seem, probably just letting it quietly expire is the thing to do :)
What I really like, though, is the way you've associated your former employer's name, url and the phrases "hugeblackcocks" and "fistinglessons" on this page. That's gonna look real classy in their search results. Well played, sir!
You say you were happy to leave and no one at the company seems to care about the domain name.
Why are you considering options other than letting it expire and moving on with your life?
Dunno. Seemed like an interesting topic.
I think that it is a valuable exercise to look upon the dark side of human nature.
We have all ready coordinated to hand it over, all without asking for compensation except for maybe a Bacardi and coke. I think it is interesting to see what other people think could have happened otherwise.
And I didn't have anything else to write about today.
New site: allstateinstallations ATE MY BALLS
Appent fatchicksinpartyhats(dot)com to the list of potential porn sites to forward to! :D
Post this on reddit again when you decide!
Any concerns that you'll ever need a reference from those folks? Consider that carefully before you burn bridges.
Dude, get over your situation, check the traffic, traffic (yes) use it, (not) why keep it?
Get a new job and forget the past, if the boss didn't care about the domain why you, now care about your self, because they didn't also care about you, they let you laid off.
again dear friend get over it.
Assuming that you don't care about these people or their opinions...I would say you send them a nice little ransom note and say that if they don't buy the domain from you for $xxx, THEN you'll redirect it to porn/competitors.
I'll buy it.
Email me.
Send them a letter stating that you own and control the domain, and they need to reimburse you for the costs involved and take it off your hands. If they don't, it will expire and anyone from a competitor to a porn company could get their hands on it - that should get their attention.
Then take that small amount of money and go get completely wasted.
If you offer to sell it to your employer, or mention the company on the website in an unflattering light, they could accuse you of blackmail. I would say just let it expire, but in the meantime, park the domain on a service like Sedo.com and try to make some ad revenue. You might get some ads for Allstate Insurance.
I say try and sell it to a competitor. Or at least use a domain auction service and see if you can move it. You own it - its yours to do as you please with.
Your friends @ Ask The Admin
I say use it against them, punish them for their stupidity you tried numerous times to get them to transfer it and they didn't so it serves them right. Looking at their site it appears like not much of a loss anyhow.
"drop some standard boiler plate text on the company's skills, offerings, etc. on your page, put a link to them at the bottom and put some Google AdSense ads on the same page."
Great idea!
I have to say, this seems pretty childish. I would expect this from a pubescent sixteen year old punk.
i say go for the option that can make you the most money-this is (in my opinion) the most fair option because of the whole losing-of-the-job thing.
Better yet, just use an iframe to show the company's website, and drop some ads below or on the side. :) Make back what you spent on it, etc. etc.
No wonder they laid you off. You seem like a childish brat with so sense of ethics. I wouldn't want you working for me either. What are you anyways? Seventeen years old?
While it would be "funny" to forward it to some "other" site, the high road would be to offer it to your former company at the cost you spent for it. Anything else you do could get you a bad reputation. Depending on what field you are in and what kind of job you are looking for in the future, that is a black mark that you don't want following you around. Especially if you left your company on good terms, and there is no reason to be "malicious.
Remember advice is worth every penny you paid for it!
make solid black page with huge white letters that says...
*insert boss's name here* loves the cock!
just serve ads on it
point it to www.ronpaul2008.com
If you intend to put this job on your resume, don't do anything malicious. If you don't put this job on your future resume when looking for other jobs, it'll be shady. Let it expire.
You should copy the current website and insert some minor changes... like you bank-account number on the company's billing page. Or post fake news messages like: "Come to XXX by noon and the first one will get a brand new car."
Think like a business: you own a property that they may (or may not) want. It is yours to do with, unless you were paid for purchasing it.
Make an offer to the company and let them know you intend to use it to point to your blog / sell to the highest bidder / etc.
Teach 'em a lesson and burn it to the ground! Or just forward it to a photoshopped logo that suggests the company does something illegal, place anonymous call to the feds, which equals a win win scenario!
I say you hold it ransom if they didn't give you a severance package. hold the secondary for a fair amount, what it may have cost you register it multiplied by about 25 times, and the primary for about 50 to 60 times the amount it cost you to register it.
how about discuss it with a lawyer before you get sued
add your contact info / resume / CV so customers visiting the site could hire you.
redirect to: circuspenis(dot) com (slash) new (dot) html hahaha
Keep the site and redirect the traffic to badfaithinsurance.com
Allstate is usually in the top 5.
I wouldn't do anything malicious as it could get you sued...even if they have no case sometimes defending a suit is trouble enough.
Instead make them an offer. Either they will buy it from you or they won't. If they don't, I'd just hold on to indefinitely, until it becomes even more valuable to them.
Bottom line: You purchased it, it's yours to do with as you please.
Make it worth their time to purchase domain from you. Also call competitors and ask them if they want to buy it.
why dont you build a web page exposing all (if any) negitive aspects of the company. you have to know some dirt about them. make it a factual report. fuck em. they fired you!
Who paid for the site? Did you merely register the site in your name, but they paid for it? If they can prove, or rather you cannot disprove, they paid for the site, I believe they can make the case they own it.
Even if it is registered in your name, you were acting as an agent of theirs during it's purchase. I would consult an attorney before doing anything malicious.
Sell it to an unrelated company - but the name makes sense to them. Say a plumber or someone who installs tv aerials.
That way it will be continually used by someone and tick them off.
I'd go for the funny ideas. I doubt your boss will thank you for the idea, the domain or nothing, so... what are you waiting for! LOL
Make a nice, general, "parallel" site about your ex-employer, putting yourself in the limelight with a lot of your achievements etc. etc.
You can then refer to it in applications to new employers. What will they know? :-)
(A+ ?)
Link it to this blog entry!
Start an install business, you already have the experience and the traffic (customers) ;)
Oh, and by the way. I think it speaks volumes toward your personal, professional, and ethical character that you would consider acting maliciously toward a former employer. Losing a job happens to everyone. Try to be a man and move on with your life, not burning any bridges as you go.
Do you really think a future employer, if they hear about this, would ever put trust in you and hire you? I wouldn't.
Tell them you'll do one of those things and make them buy it back.
Get a lawyer because you'll need one when they sue you.
Direct it to this very post.
GOATSE
First try to sell it to them at a high (but not unreasonable) price.
If they decline, create a pretty website about unicorns and add the line 'if you were looking for [insert company name] instead, click here' and wait untill they contact you again to buy the domain name (at a now somewhat higher price ofcourse).
To add to mizike comment:
During a due diligence process of an prospective employee - if we determine that they ever did option b,c,d, or e - we would drop them on the spot. But I doubt it would come to that since documenting about it on your blog would get your resume thrown in the shredder.
Wow, I didn't know this many people actually read your site. I'd offer it back to them, and if you don't hear anything, ad-sense it up!
I would also like to point out that many of the comments seem to be coming from people who have never met the Holy Juan, and as such, have never revelled in the joy of the perma-sarcasmness that his aura provides.
As tempting as it might be to wreak havoc, you could be bitten in the ass later on by doing so.
Never burn bridges. You'll thank yourself later on.
Offer to transfer the domain to your former employer.
If they aren't interseted, leave it be and let it expire.
Just let it expire..what do you need if for?
In line with the comments from Yoshi, you may want to edit the company name out of the post. A quick google search for the company and your true identity, places this post at the top of the search results
Sell it for shares, a percent of the company, around 0.1%.
If the company fails, u don't feel bad for taking money. If the company succeeds tremendously, u hit the jackpot.
OK, a couple of things. You're thinking small. No one types the company name dot com directly in the address bar. They search for it, or if they're already a customer they check the business card.
Your employer uses allstateinstall, because it's easier to type and ABOVE ALL - hardly gets any traffic to the website.
I checked traffic ranks on both domains and neither even get more than 300 hits a month, since they ren't even listed in the top 30 million sites.
So, that said you'll be lucky if you can even recover your domain costs.
You might as well either let it expire, or hand it over to them outright. If you try to do something malicious, they can sue you for defamation, or if they can prove that a significant amount of traffic comes from the domain you own, you could be required by a court to hand it over to them. If the company had existed this long with the domain they currently have, then they won't see the one you own as a value to them and you won't be able to get a big payoff from them, even if you can prove the majority of the traffic is coming through that domain.
Another alternative is to simply turn off the forwarding. They already own a working domain, so just shut it off and if they want it bad enough, let them make the first move.
Yeah, I say to sell them the domain, or do the affiliate thing that was suggested earlier.
The other options are much more "fun," but this way you can potentially make some money off of the bastards who laid you off.
Google "Pain Olympics" and redirect the domain to any site hosting the video. ;-)
Since they didn't want it in the first place, I doubt they'll buy it from you now? I'd have let it expire too.
I know it boring, but keep in mind that if you make a bad name for yourself (even on the internet), it goes with you for the rest of your life - doesn't matter how hard you try to hide it.
In the end, it does say a lot about your character. I'm not here to judge your character; your actions throughout life do that.
You can park your domain and display advertising. Try sedo.com and that should be free traffic on your old company name but without any obvious attack against it. It's just monetizing a good domain, it's not competition. They too can advertise on your domain so you're fair as long as you're getting payed.
you should foward it to the preparation h website or something.
You will get sued.
This happened with the company I just left. The partner held the domains and decided to leave. Legally, the leaving partner does not "own" the domain in any way, only to try to hand on to something of which they are no longer a part. The domain is required for the normal operation of the business. A federal suit was filed. Very expensive for the domain holder.
LeapFish.com estimates the value of the URL you own at $21.00
I suggest doing one of two things, both of which have already been mentioned:
#1 - Compile receipts of how much you've spent on the domain combined with a traffic report and sell it to them straight up for what you paid
#2 - Let it expire and let them deal with it
No wonder you got fired. You're about as mature as a 12-year-old.
HOW UPTIGHT, PEOPLE!!!!
Clownporn? Bigblackdicks? Come on! This put a smile on my face and lit up my day... What a star this guy is, turning his lemons into comedy lemonade for all of us to enjoy!
All of you who insulted him are stodgy and insensitive. Poor dude is out of a job! He's funny! Give him a break!
PS
There is a difference between toying with an idea and taking the action.. You are attacking him as if he already took the action. Cool your jets!
Just give it back to them don't be a jerk, its probably why you got fired to begin with...
You never had permission to register it - you chose to do that unilaterally as per your own explanation:
"Nothing came of it.
So I bought it myself and politely forwarded the traffic to the company’s webpage."
You need to get over the idea that they "owe" you something or that this is yours just because you registered it. It doesn't work that way.
They have every right to go after you via the UDRP to obtain the domain and possibly under the ACPA where damages can be awarded if you decide to do anything stupid.
I'd leave a copy of my CV, a covering letter and a link to the official site.
http://poorandimbecile.blogspot.com/
Forward it to this page, silly!
I think I will sell it to them for $0.01 and somehow call it a loss on my taxes.
You may posses the domain name, but you don't own the name. Renewing the name might be seen as a bad-faith registration since you are no longer with the company. The safest bet would be to transfer it to the company for a nominal fee if they want it or let it expire. You probably will not find the consequences of any other action very funny.
be careful about this. they might be sue you for actual damages if you do something like forward to a competitor. if they own a trademark on their name, they can sue you for the domain.
you can offer the domain to them, in writing, for a price... perhaps a few thousand dollars. this way, if they decline, you have in writing that they refused to buy. that, or just look at comment #3.
I would like to purchase it off you for $500, based on stats.
I know a good opportunity when I see one.
Please get in touch with me at petepans@hotmail.au.com
Hope to hear from you soon.
~Pete.
Well, you really have a few options.
Since you bought the domain on your own, it is yours to do with what you will unless local and state laws say otherwise.
I'd recommend what others have already said, and sell it to the company in question.
Another option is simply to put it up for sale for the sum you want, but give your former employer the first option to buy.
You can also let it expire, odds are it'll either fall open to whoever wants it or become the problem of a bulk domain reseller squatter.
finally, I'm sure there are other companies in this world with similar names. Shop it around to them.
Why not just create a frame with ads? :)
I think you should make sure that your ownership does not run out. Go to your registrar and buy another year.
Then email the owner of the company and offer it to him for sale at one year of your salary.
If he passes, go to sitepoint.com and offer it for sale there.
Also, you can put up a website that communicates your view of the company from an insider's perspective. For every observation, make sure you say from my experience and perspective it seems to me like .....
You might want to do this before you ask your former employer to buy the site.
If you sell the site, please send me a contribution for my continuing work in creative problem solving....I have been working on trying to help people to thrive even more for over twenty years now. Your contribution from you profit from my idea will help give me more free time to think about the dynamics of surviving/thriving and creative problem redefinition.
I need to thrive more as well...
Jerry
Start your own Installation company and forward the traffic to you.
how about SELL it to your company. ANY other option (besides giving it to them) would mean you'll never get another job, as you would be a complete asshole...and your old company would probably make sure that any new company that calls for a reference knows it.
Why not just turn off the forwarding and shut down the domain name. If they lose more business no skin off your nose.
Doug,
Consider selling it to a competitor with a non-disclosure agreement. That will get you a few extra bucks and you can claim you forgot about it and that it must have expired.
The worst think you can do is to keep it and point it to a inappropriate site. That will get you sued.
Forward to http://www.hornymanatee.com/
You should make an amazing website, very classy and spin the marketing towards yourself and your skills. DO NOT bash, nor try to blackmail the site -- they can find you via ISP numbers and you'll surely be screwed and possibly sued! Make it great and drive possible work your way.
I quit a position that was very lucrative (over disagreements with my ex-boss). They refused to give out info regarding how my clients could find me. So, later on I bought the company's exact name and use it to help my clients find my new whereabouts. Nothing wrong with that, since I was the main reason people used to visit my former place of employment. Be smart my friend.
I am in a similar position. During the "sunrise" period for the .eu domain, my employer did not apply for inghams.eu. As it was fairly obvious that I wasn't going to be able to buy my prefered domain name when the free-for-all time arrived, for which I had paid a pre-registrations fee, I put inghams.eu as a second choice as I had a use for it. I use it for photographs of events that I have been to - mainly people's leaving dos and Christmas parties.
Part of my thinking was that it was better that I had it rather than a competitor or a domain squatter and no one in the management structure would have listened to me if I suggested we buy it - the suggestion would have only been passed onto the IT department with a query when it it really a marketing department issue. After all we are a UK company owned by the Swiss company operating in Europe for goodness sake.
There is a funny twist to this tale. Within the company, the name resolver has been, to put it politely, misconfigured, so that if you use a web browser in the office you are misdirected to inghams.co.uk
All you goody-two-shoes saying "you have no character blah blah blah" need to get off your high horse and shut up!
And anyone who says they wouldn't hire him simply for *considerring* all his options you are naive if you don't think your employees consider, or *do*, worse things on a daily basis. You may even be repressed and unwilling to admit to your own dark fantasies. Typical HR bozos. Who would WANT to work for you??
To the poster: I'm sure you'll do something harmless, and I hope it is also lucrative! Business is business.
who did the crappy web development for that site? you??
if so that explains a lot ...
site navigation looks great in firefox :(
Forward it to meatspin.com and LOL.
Forgive your boss, and offer to sell it to him. Try to make good with him. In the end you will feel better. If you are a jerk to him he is not going to let you walk all over him and will try to get you back. Be the bigger man. See http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/ for inspiration.
Careful. If you registered it on company time, they could come after you.
how about redirecting it to an anti mormon website?
You mean like this one?
Sounds like goatse time.
I got it! How about you don't be a dildo and give it back to the people who will actually use it for some other reason than proliferating dildolike behavior.
Wait a minute... my spell checker is kicking out the word "dildolike." Can you use a different word or a hyphen?
I have to agree with Smail...anyone who knows and adores holyjuan knows he is an "Arrogant Bastard" Google it and you will find out exactly how much of one he really is!
To know him and his style is to truly be in the presence of greatness!!!
Anonymous (The real one)
Depends what your contract says. Most companies own you when hired meaning all things done for the company belongs to the company.
I dont think you want to screw around with that if it is on your contract. Companies legal spending fees are a lot more than what you can fork out. Trust me. Give it back to them.
All those comments about getting money from your ex-employer are not professional.
HOWEVER, you could leverage the domain for re-employment. Nothing wrong with that. BLACKMAILING/EXTORTING your ex-company for termination is not the brightest thing to do.
Mirror the site, and change the contact info to your own. Start your own business...
wewesCEDCWCSA
SERIOUSLY, just remove this blog post. chances are this will come back to haunt you, esp with some of the comments that are associated with this.
Remember, the internet is not private. your old boss, future employers, etc.... WILL SEE THIS.
i am not sure of the legal ramifications of even suggesting this. if you ever get sued by your former employer, it is likely that this could be used as evidence against you (I am not a lawyer though..... so who knows).
just my 2 cents.
douchebag!!!!!
ROFL good one dude... FWD it to some donkey porn. Fuck em
try to sell it to the company for a good price.........
Put the company-site inside a frame and have some funny stuff around it. Tasteless adds or whatever...
Does the domain name get sit time since it is inactive?
Are you charging a travel day each time it redirects to allstateinstall.com?
http://www.celebrityprankcalling.com should be the redirect.
I found myself in this same situation. A few months after I was laid off the company filed for bankruptcy. They were bought by HCA Healthcare and changed the name of the company.
Nobody thought to purchase the domain name, so I did.
I ended up giving it to them without a fight, though. Probably the right thing to do. At a different time in my life I would have probably done something differently.
I would suggest that you check your contract from your ex-employer and make sure your actions don't fall under a non-compete clause or something. Also see if the contract binds the domain to them because it was done for them. If both of these are in the clear, I would do this:
1. Get your statistics together and get it all nice looking. You know, make it so your club-footed boss would be able to understand it. A box of crayons might help.
2. do some research on web advertising. Chances are your ex-company's page didn't have any (or very little) advertising for anyone else on their page. This gives you a great opportunity. Even adding only google adsense or click link add or even kontera text-links, you can make money.
3. Present your former employer with the idea that they can buy the domain from you for $1500.
Let them know that its only fair because that money represents the value of the work you put into the site and their company. Show to them the highest bids you have received for the site to prove that other people are interested.
Also mention that you would be willing to keep their site running and allow them to change their content and update the site, but you would block them from accessing the admin of the domain so they could not lock you out.
Because this would provide you with no compensation as-is, you tell them you plan on putting google adsense, and other web advertising on their site.
This would pay you according to the traffic they already get and you don't have to do a thing.
4. Sign-up for GoogleAdsense, click-link-ads, kontera text links, and/or any other ad companies to make money.
5. Sit back and wait for the checks to roll in. If the traffic on the site is sizeable, you might be able to retire early. ;)
Holyjuan, Is this a record for responses to one of your postings? Anyway, I agree with an earlier response - you should delete this post as it may cause you problems in the future. Good luck with finding new employment.
forward it to 4chan's /b/ board to really fuck with your old work's customers
My initial response was put the domain up for sale. What happened, how much did you get?
Since you bought the domain on your own without any input from your former company, it would be yours to do with as you see fit. If you choose to forward traffic to a porn site then go for it. Its your domain.
oh come the %@ck on!!! you bought this site on your own accord and both your boss and your company are idiots for not doing this themselves. don't do anything malicious, but don't just hand the freaking thing over!
SELL it to them, you need the money, remember... they just laid you off! look it's basic supply and demand here, they want something you have, something you bought on your own. So... tell them that you are going to auction the site and that they are free to place a bid.
they're a for-profit company, i'm sure they'll understand, this is business here, they sure didn't give a %@ck when they told you that they no longer needed you around.
direct it to my website http://www.redarlea.com
If I sell a house, I'll pay u 10%
I'm in the same boat ...
I bought the domain name my company owns back before they had the copyright/trademark on it. It was purchased and renewed with my credit card and never reimbursed. They just gave me my 2 weeks notice. I'm a little pissed.
The domain (actually a few) are in my name, but so is the whole mail system for 70+ people - another guy has access and believes he's the true owner, but he's got limited abilities and I control his account, not vice-versa.
My thinking is in 3 weeks time when they figure out what happened, I turn around and ask $15000 for the name, not the measly $1500 one guy on this forum mentioned. If they don't want to pay, something completely out of my control may take the site down. They've got 3500 people that logon that site daily. It CAN'T go down or their SCREWED.
"Be nice and do the right thing?" Give me a break. Business is business. Cute and happy business like the one Ward Cleaver worked for are gone. The evolution of capitalism is things getting uglier as margins narrow.
Similar situation to the person posting, but not quite.
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