Afternic domain name sellers received an email today telling them that any names they have listed that promote “hate, sex, obscenity or self-destructive behavior, such as substance abuse, violence and gambling” will be delisted.
Well, that’s about a quarter of the domain names. LOL!
Hey, that means my new IHateRobots.com won’t even be able to be listed any longer. RoboPhobia? Crap. Robot hate crimes? I’m in trouble.
I’ve already had too much wine at the Los Olivos Cafe (you know, that movie called Sideways where the actors got drunk) so I want to be careful to not say too much tonight. I should really wait until the morning. But, I’ve got a big mouth so I can’t wait.
Seriously though, I can say that I certainly respect the rights of any private business to do as they please; I’m a conservative thinker (no not a religious conservative)–so do what you want with your business. I don’t think it’s a smart decision, if it helps them sleep better at night, then it’s the right decision for them. It’s just too bad that the only real hope of competition to get Sedo to improve their impossibly frustrating user interface is going to quickly fade away. Sedo NEEDS competition.
Anyway, Afternic’s got the religion, but nothing is going to change in the domain world. They’ll lose not only the “bad” domain names, but the rest of the names in peoples’ portfolio’s that have those domain names in them. People don’t want to start having to keep track of subsets of their portfolio at one of the sales sites; it’s enough work as it is to keep track of thousands of domains and where they are listed.
Hey, I was just wondering…I’ve got this cool name called Pleasurama.com. I suppose you guys with dirty minds think it’s about something sexual, but listen up Afternic, it’s not. 
Please don’t delist it. It’s about chocolate. Yeah, that’s it. Chocolate. It’s not naughty. Okay? The pleasure of chocolate.
Here’s the letter. What’s your opinion?
Note: Do you guys think you could digg the article so the subject gets some attention? if you will, please go here for the Digg page.
Dear Members, Domainers and Friends:
We want to share with you a recent decision that we believe will put Afternic in an even better position to serve the small business, SOHO community and greater domain industry.
After extensive consideration, we have decided to no longer accept domain names that promote hate, sex, obscenity or self-destructive behavior, such as substance abuse, violence and gambling. The sole rationale behind our decision is to make Afternic a more comfortable site for mainstream domain name shoppers, especially small business owners. We recognize that taking a leadership role on this issue may have a negative financial impact on our business in the near term. Nonetheless, we believe strongly that it’s the right thing long-term decision for our industry and Afternic.
In the next few days, we will de-list these kinds of domain names currently posted on our site. Members who own such names will receive a letter from us informing them which names will no longer be listed. We hope that they, and others, will understand that we have no interest in censorship and that we fully support First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and expression. And, there is certainly no lack of other Internet sites where such names are welcomed.
The Internet, much like the early days of television, is still a new frontier. We believe it is up to the industry leaders-and we include Afternic here-to step up and determine what constitutes professional standards and practices. We take this action in the interest of socially responsible corporate behavior and hope that it leads to further healthy industry dialog and discussion on the topic.
We greatly appreciate your business and support of Afternic, and will continue to endeavor to earn your confidence and trust.
Very best regards,
Roger Collins
President of Afternic, Inc.
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