Eminent domain is idle, redux
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To wrap up this topic (it got closed in April) I am posting here a summary of entries and emails with WordPress support people. They were generally pleasant and helpful, but of a single mind on the question. As promised I am putting it in front of the people to whom it is important. I haved moved on but I will leave the conversation for y’all to discuss. Or, not discuss, defend or not defend, as you choose.
==========================[WordPress #OVM-259253]: Eminent domain is idle
I am interested in creating a blog for discussions meant to help a lot of people. I would be inviting authors and practitioners to comment on current events. It is all intended to center around a philosophy of a great American thinker who was known and respected around the world.
I find that a blog for his domain is sitting unused for over a year. It also has no posts. It is sitting on a very famous name. Now is the time to implement your policy and put it to some good use. Whoever obtained the domain years ago may have had a good intention. But, they have not followed up. Now, they are standing in the way of their original wishes.
I don’t want to mention the username or my own email address just yet. I can confirm all of this information. A good place to start would be contacting me via my anonymous email address: (email visible only to moderators and staff)
Thanks.
Posted: Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
4 Responses to “Eminent domain is idle”
1.cornell Member April 8th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Unfortunately, if a blog name is used then unless you can contact the original registrant you aren’t going to get any luck at all.
WP has a policy of not allowing the re-use of names and will not transfer it. The only way to get hold of the blog name is to contact the person that registered it.
Good luck!
2.losalamoskid Member April 8th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
How, then do I contact the owner? I did not see any way to do so. There was a username associated. Is there some way to contact that person?
3.losalamoskid Member April 8th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Actually, this is not an iron-clad policy. I found this under FAQ:
A handful of times we have reclaimed names that conflict with our trademarks or products, and a few times for Automattic employees. As it says in our Terms of Service we can delete or reclaim any account for any reason. We call these “eminent domains.” Historically we have never done this to an active blog.
The blog in question is not active. Certainly the historic figure in question rates at least the treatment of Automattic employees.
4.cornell Member April 8th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Ask support then. Don’t be surprised if they say no.
See what they say? Let me translate it into English:
We will re-use or steal a blog name off a user if we want to use it for our purposes.
As you’re being so elusive as to exactly what you’re trying to achieve wrt the “historical figure”, I don’t believe there’s anything we in the forums can do. You need to contact support.
—–Original Message—–
From: Marianne @ WordPress.com [mailto:support@wordpress.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 3:35 PMHi there!
Deleted or inactive blogs cannot be restored or reused.
Cheers,
Marianne==========================[WordPress #OVM-259253]: Eminent domain is idle
Ms. Marianne,
The ghost of Dr. W. Edwards Deming will be disappointed. I thought for sure that his name would treated to the same respect as those of Automattic employees.
If you do not know who he is you can check out http://www.deming.org. A little research will reveal that the most honored prize in Japan is called the Deming Prize.
There is no such prize or respect in America. We tend to stick to old and outdated policies.
I thought I could enlist the help of WordPress in creating a forum with his name to explore his philosophy and teachings.
Thanks for the personal reply.
Rick
==========================[WordPress #OVM-259253]: Eminent domain is idle
Marianne,
What you say is not true. Note the following from your FAQ:
“A handful of times we have reclaimed names that conflict with our trademarks or products, and a few times for Automattic employees. As it says in our Terms of Service we can delete or reclaim any account for any reason.”
Can you explain how you could reclaim an account for your own purposes, but deny it for the greater good? This smacks of hypocrisy.
I will give you a chance to reply before I take this to your very own public. We will see how the rest of the community feels.
Rick
==========================[WordPress #OVM-259253]: Eminent domain is idle
Hi,
We do not pass on blogs routinely for many reasons;
– how long in ‘inactive’? Only this week I helped someone recover their password for a blog they opened in 2005. Could I prove that? Certainly.
– the administration of such would be considerable
– we would have to do all requests, we could not be deciding what is or is not worthy
– who gets it? The one who asked first or the one who promises to use the blog the best?
– what do we do with potentially high profile blogs? apple.wordpress.com is empty and would be very sought after.The part of the FAQ you quote has to be there to protect us and allow us that ability. To not have that would lock us into potentially difficult situations. As far as I remember this has been used less than 6 times.
The standard advice is what you have been given – leave a comment on a blog asking the owner to get in touch. This does work – I have had feedback saying so. It is also how I got my blog – mark.wordpress.com.
We needed to take a position, and that is that the blog belongs to the original owner except where the FAQ will apply.
Threatening us with ‘take this to your very own public’ will not cause me to change what I have said and I am happy to reprint this email on the forums and defend it.
–
Mark -
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Well, then I suggest that the blog is also claimed by Deming New Mexico and Deming Washington, the Deming Schools at Terre Haute IN and Mount Olivet KY, the Deming Inn at Vermont, the firms Deming Pumps & Systems, Deming Designs Inc., Deming Industries Inc. and Deming Interior Design, the law firm Deming PLLC and the lawyer Bruce Deming, the professors Drake Deming NASA, Jody W. Deming UW School of Oceanography, David Deming University of Oklahoma, Timothy Deming University of California and Deming Chen University of Illinois, the singers Anne Deming and Connie Deming, the blues guitarist Doug Deming, the record producer Michael Deming, the cinematographer Peter Deming, the painter Martha Deming, the poet Alison Hawthorne Deming…
Seriously, though, why doesn’t Rick/losalamoskid stop bothering you and just go open a blog named “edwardsdeming” or “wedwardsdeming”? The names are not taken!
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The world is full of possibillities. There are blog software galore out there, all with lots of nice addresses. There are a squillion unused urls. The best way to initiate a blog is not to sulk that someone got the address first.
Contact owner. No luck. Too bad. Go on.
I don’t think there is anything fishy about what staff has done/not done.
This is what I believe the russians would call “whipping a dead horse”.
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