Originally Posted By: Matt Finley
I don’t know if this is still the case, but I am convinced that, years ago, when you searched for an available domain name, somehow someone knew and they registered it for speculation.


Domain squatting has been going on for 20 years. I had friends who squatted gambling related domains when the internet first became a thing. Remember back then it was com, net, or org.

The thing is that if you try to register something really obvious it will likely be taken. Your domain is not a common name like johnsmith.com, so it was likely never a squatter's target. And you have had it since Aug 3, 2003. If someone with nefarious intent wanted to, mattfinley.org, mattfinley.net and mattfinley.band are all available. As are biz, us, info, online, site...

Wife 3.0 has a unique first name but has lived her life using her middle name. Her real name.com is available. Her "living as" name is held by a squatter. When she wanted to register her name, the guy wanted $5000 for it.

And it is not illegal to do this. If you are willing to pay renewals every year you can hold as many domains as you life. A lot of people who do this are not in the USA. It was very popular in Germany for a long time.

I have a domain name registered that as of yet doesn't go anywhere. When I go to it I get routed to a page that tells me I can contact a domain broker and negotiate to buy it. Those opportunistic vermin charge $100 up front to negotiate for you. I tried to reach one but there is no way to reach them without paying up front.