tucson

You are right. Duh. Thanks

Yes, mafias are not new. The interesting thing is when someone publicly take a public position against (not many people do).

It seems to me that someone is whistleblowing on mafia-like behavior... and you comment on the tone.

I think it is more serious than you make it sound. This article describes a racket that resembles mafia behavior.

“Pay seven figures a year to buy a corporate subscription to my newsletter and I’ll say nice things about your company, and when the press needs a quote, I’ll be there to puff you up. Or, don’t buy a subscription and I will bash you relentlessly.”

Yes I think that is a minimum. Still the other concern is the kind of racket that is described: you pay or we won't mention you, or worse we will destroy your reputation (hitman).

"Or, don’t buy a subscription and I will bash you relentlessly.” Most big companies paid up and considered it a cost of doing business."

"Under the Federal Trade Commission Act:

Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive; Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and Advertisements cannot be unfair.

Additional laws apply to ads for specialized products like consumer leases, credit, 900 telephone numbers, and products sold through mail order or telephone sales. And every state has consumer protection laws that govern ads running in that state."

You think this consumer protection laws should be removed?

I understand your point and I am a big supporter of the free market, but I think consumers need a minimum protection against infomercials.

If what Dan Lyons wrote here is correct then this article is the most useful and interesting I have ready in years about Silicon Valley. It is describing / implying a widespread problem of "payola" (pay for play) in the tech media.

I think the core of the problem is not TechCrunch or person X or Y. The core problem is advertising disguised as journalism. The solution is legislation against this. Famous direct marketer Dan Kennedy said that the most efficient marketing is always illegal, and for example infomercials on TV are now legally restricted because they were too "dangerous" for consumers.

I don't agree that this debate necessarily will stay. Legislation can change that. Infomercials on tv have been reigned in because consumers associations came to defend consumers. Ads desguised as journalism (which is what this is all about here, I believe) are very efficient ways to sell. Check out Dan Kennedy's work, or any direct marketer's tricks.

This is a "whistleblower" article. I think it is very important. And I hope there are or will be laws to prevent what the article describes.

It's not a zero sum game: money is invested. Money goes from A to B. Media coverage helps convince investors, and customers, or users. One of the most efficient media is advertising disguised as journalism. Hence the legislation on "infomercials" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infomercial#Criticism_and_legal...).

what kind of money/finance info do you find in this tool that you don't in yahoo or google finance?

Thank you. Though I have a PC at work :/ I had a quick look at the site, but it did not look like a checlist software, more like a tool to take notes.

Is envato.com sending customers to ThemeForest and taking 30% of the revenue? Is there a difference with using ClickBank?

Grooveshark is highly successful on facebook (much more than spotify and pandora), and its been gaining even more fans lately.

http://99like.com/music.php

http://www.ideaswarm.com/ http://www.theresumator.com/

what is the point of the .bit ? why would somebody want to use it ?

The name of the website (dot bit) suggests the domain names will be using the Top Level Domain '.bit'. Is it the case?

Can someone give an example of a domain that would be provided by this registrar? Domain.bit would be the typical example...?

"Seems like someone at Apple missed something!"

What did Apple miss? (in other words: how could they avoid this, assuming they wanted to avoid such crack)

Mostly agree with your input.

Though "Absolutely no domainer takes estibot seriously" is a bit of an exaggeration, I think.

Estibot is regularly mentioned on TheDomains.com (widely seen as the authority on domain name market news).

Mentioned here for example: http://www.thedomains.com/2008/05/11/using-estibotcom-what-a...

http://www.thedomains.com/2011/11/03/ira-com-sells-for-seven...

Of course it's an automated tool and is not perfect. But it can be used as a reference point.

Email the whois contact.

Use an email address that does not show you have a huge wallet (if you do).

Propose a price. Not too low. Not too high. Get a good estimate from estibot.com (or valuate.com, same engine). The estimates are sometimes off but it's the best thing around, and professional "domainers" use it.

If you don't propose a price, you might look like a tire-kicker, and not get an answer. If you do propose a price that is way below the market (ref. estibot), then you might upset the person.