Sedo, the website domain name buyer/seller/pimp, is preparing to auction off three gambling-related domains: casino.net, poker.net and sports.net. The domains are to be sold as a package deal, giving the winning bidder a good start on what he or she needs to open a comprehensive online gambling business (besides a bankroll of half a billion dollars, but we digress). Poker.net and sports.net are currently blank slates, while casino.net is a Maltese-licensed, Boss Media-powered skin run by Dot Net Gaming. The domain sale includes the option of retaining the Maltese operating licenses. So will this .net troika garner the lofty figures paid for standalone domains like gambling.com (£1.5m) and slots.com (£3.8m)? Doubtful.
Speaking of high-value domains, a defunct Canadian rock band could be in line for a sweet payday due to the frustrations of a certain grassroots right-wing political movement south of the border. The Tea Party were a band that had a few rock radio hits in the 1990’s, even though every one of their songs sounded like a bad cover of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir, and their singer desperately wanted people to think he was Jim Morrison reincarnate. The band officially broke up in 2005, and despite a few cash-in reunion tours, they’re pretty much considered a dead horse. That is, until…
Imagine the frustration experienced by Obama haters in the United States, who type “Tea Party” into Google, only to be greeted by a pudgy, caterwauling frontman singing over music that sounded vaguely Middle Eastern. (“Holy shit, ma… The Tea Party website’s done been hacked by the Islamo-fascist-Nazi-Commie-lib’rul taxin’ and spendin’ godless faggot hordes!”) Republican organizers would dearly love to have that easy to remember domain in their hands heading into the 2012 presidential election season, meaning the band members have a temporary window of opportunity in which to reap a thoroughly unexpected windfall. Then again, the band’s bassist Stuart Chatwood told the Windsor Star that the band might prefer to use their transient political clout for a higher purpose. “We’ve considered lending the name to Stephen Colbert or Jon Stewart to have them dispel some of the stuff that the Tea Party says. As Canadians, we’re somewhat sensitive to all the criticism of socialized medicine.” Who knew mild-mannered Canada had joined Al Qaeda?
