OpenDomain.org says it provides free use of domains, but the devil is in the details.
I saw a press release today for an organization called OpenDomain.org. The press release talks about how it provides free use of domain names to organizations. While most organizations are those that provide open source software, the OpenDomain site says you can use the domains for multiple purposes AND keep any profit. The idea of profiting from use of these “open” domains seems a bit odd to me.
Although the press release for OpenDomain talks about how it “gives away”, it is only giving away the use of these domains. The company still owns them and can take them away from you at any time. If you look at OpenDomain’s terms you’ll notice some other catches that make this offer less than appealing:
“The domain must be actively marketed and significantly used…[including] Regular submission to search engines”
“We would like a link on all pages
The link must be predominate and visible
The link must be part of the original HTML document and not generated by client side script (JavaScript)
All outbound links must be marked with the nofollow attribute. For example, all anchor tags should have rel=â€nofollow†in their markup. This does NOT include the link to OpenDomain.Org”
So you must add a “nofollow” attribute to all of your links exceptthe OpenDomain.org link, and all pages must link to OpenDomain.org. You must promote the domain and web site. And then, one day, OpenDomain can send you a message saying you no longer can use the domain…which then means all of the promotion you’ve done for the domain will be to the benefit of OpenDomain.org.
I don’t want to assume that OpenDomain isn’t doing this out of the goodness of its heart, but I would be wary of taking the group up on this offer. (Given the selection of domains, few groups would have any use for these names anyway…they may as well pick up better domains elsewhere.)
I also take issue with OpenDomain for using the term “cybersquatter” in its press release to refer to anyone who buy domains with resale intentions.
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