The Lucrative Game of Virtual Real Estate
There are numerous business opportunities available on the internet, and one of them is buying and selling domain names — a practice often referred to as domain squatting or cybersquatting.
A while back, I secured the domain tosinadoti(dot)com, thinking that someday I might “blow” and need it. My decision was influenced by the case of Kevin Spacey (the House of Cards actor), who faced a significant challenge when he was unable to claim ownership of www.kevinspacey(dot)com.
Kevin Spacey filed a lawsuit against a certain Mr. Burgar on May 4, 2001, alleging that Burgar was an “infamous cybersquatter” using the actor’s name to promote a commercial celebrity website. Spacey and his production company argued that they owned the rights to his name, voice, and image, demanding the transfer of the domain and seeking monetary damages. Unfortunately for Spacey, he lost the case.
The internet is full of people like Mr. Burgar, one of whom is 36-year-old Jeremy Green Eche, a trademark attorney.
When Vice President Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, the domain HarrisWalz(dot)com was already taken — snapped up four years ago by Eche. Periodically, Eche goes on a “buying spree” on platforms like GoDaddy and Name(dot)com, purchasing domain names for various hypothetical presidential tickets.
In August 2020, anticipating that Harris might run again in the future, Eche purchased 15 Harris-related domain names, pairing them with the names of “every sort of folksy white man I could think of who was big at the time,” including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and of course, Walz.
Eche pays about $10 to register each domain and renews them annually, hoping one will eventually turn a profit.
He struck gold in 2016 when he owned ClintonKaine(dot)com, as then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton selected Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate. He had also secured ClintonBooker(dot)com (anticipating a ticket with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker) and ClintonBiden(dot)com (in case Joe Biden was chosen).
The Clinton campaign offered him $2,000 for ClintonKaine(dot)com, but Eche rejected the offer and eventually sold it to someone else for $15,000, which turned out to be the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign used the website to publish anti-Clinton news during the election.
You might think the Harris campaign would want to avoid making the same mistake, but according to Eche, they never reached out. Not to worry though — an anonymous buyer, identifying as a Harris supporter and determined to prevent a repeat of 2016, offered Eche $15,000.
Sweet deal, right?
Eche is already looking a few years ahead. He has 10 different domains for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who many expect will run in the future. His hypothetical running mates for her include Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
Not a bad hustle if you ask me.
