I read a story in ComputerWorld about domain speculators buying hurricane-related domain names and parking them or listing them for sale to profit off of this natural disaster. Every time a tragedy strikes, it seems that domain speculators buy related domain names with the purpose of profiting off of disaster. This causes much criticism of the domain investment industry, and it seems legitimate domain investors take it on the chin after every tragedy.

While speculators are still buying Hurricane Gustav-related domain names, there is at least one domain investor who is foregoing profit to make a difference. Fin Lemonde registered GustavRelief.com and similar domain names on behalf of his church a couple of years ago. Fin saw people buying Katrina-related domain names and wanted to make a difference in the event any of the 2008 hurricanes caused a disaster. Fin’s idea was to create an organization that could lend itself to helping other human beings if the need arose.

Because of other projects that took precedence, as well as a tragic personal loss in the last couple of years, this organization never got off the ground. Fin kept the domain names on the back burner until a few days ago. Upon hearing news of Hurricane Gustav’s potential to cause major damage to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Fin realized he needed to do something with this important domain name to help. Putting personal morals over profit, Fin has decided to forward all traffic from GustavRelief.com to the American Red Cross.

People in need of services or help in the wake of Hurricane Gustav that type in GustavRelief.com will not have to worry about clicking on advertisements, relief scams, or being sent elsewhere. Instead, they will be sent directly to the American Red Cross homepage where they can receive help from one of the leading American charitable organizations. Likewise, people who want to help will be able to do so as well. As soon as time permits, all of these protective domain registrations will forward to a single landing page where visitors will be able to choose from several charities that are helping with relief efforts.

This is a story of a domain investor doing the right thing. Instead of the negative stories about domain investors we always see, wouldn’t it be nice if media outlets focused on people doing positive things to help other human beings?

Mike Berkens wrote an important post today about keeping your Whois information current and updated. ICANN regulations require that Whois information is accurate, and if the information isn’t accurate, there is a chance that your domain name could possibly be taken. There are also many legal reasons to do so, which Mike outlines in his post. It just makes sense to keep your information updated, and if you are worried about spam emails or privacy, just buy the privacy guard.

In this vein, I think it’s also important to note that some UDRP panels have ruled that a change in registration information can be seen as a brand new registration. One recent case (although it didn’t really impact the decision) was on the BME.com case, which the respondent lost. The respondent had changed his Whois information (between his own entities), and they still cited this changing Whois information.

In addition to this issue, Godaddy also seems to still lock domain names for 60 days when the Whois information is updated.  While this can usually be remedied somewhat quickly if you contact them, it is a nuisance.

Yes, maintaining your valid Whois information is most definitely important – especially if a signficant event has impacted it (ended partnership, bankruptcy, company formation, divorce…etc).  However, keep in mind that changing your Whois information could put your domain name at risk depending on who is monitoring your Whois listing.

I know it’s a holiday weekend, but I think everyone needs to take a few minutes to read Ron Jackson’s interview of Rick Schwartz. In the domain space, Rick has been something like a soothsayer, and when he speaks, I listen. While we don’t all own the same quality domain names as Rick, the things he is saying does affect all domain investors.

If or when Google decides to pull the plug and PPC as we know it drastically changes, there is going to be a lot of tumult in the industry. While quickly and efficiently monetizing domain names will be difficult and domain values will be impacted, domain owners need to keep the following things in mind:

• Businesses who want to be online need a domain name
• Advertisers will still want to advertise on relevant domain names
• People will continue typing-in domain names looking for products or services
• Easy to remember and relevant domain names are the most desired
• Consumers typically have certain web browsing patterns, and many type in their keyword and .com as a starting point

The point is that while making easy money from domain names won’t be possible, there are still going to be plenty of opportunities in the domain space. Some people will have to sell more than they have in the past in order to maintain the same revenue levels, so some deals may be had.  I recommend buying domain names that would make sense to be developed. Just because a domain name did well parked, doesn’t mean that it would be good to develop.

I still believe the greatest ongoing revenue generating opportunity is selling advertising space directly to advertisers on developed websites. I believe websites are the newspapers of decades ago. Websites get the eyeballs that newspapers once received, and advertisers want to reach them. Motivated consumers are untapped leads that businesses would like to acquire.

I also believe that as companies continue to migrate their business online, more will get it, and more will want (or even need) the domain name that describes their business or industry. Generic and category defining domain names are rare, and they hold considerable value. Selling domain names to end users that get it will be the driving force behind the future growth of domain values.

Changing times call for changing strategies.  Those who adapt and adopt will survive, and those who sit back will not. Who knows when all of this will happen, but I think it’s important to be prepared for the worst. Read Rick’s interview and judge for yourself.