2002/05/13

RealNames is going out of business. They deserve it. It was just a dumb scam to try and establish yet another Verisign-like monopoly on everybody else's trademarks. And it was a "boil the ocean" business plan, one which required everybody on earth to go along with their stupid scheme. And Keith Teare's public crybabying is really quite unprofessional, albeit fun to read.

Now if New.net would kindly just go away. Why anybody would pay actual money, the stuff that can be used to purchase valuable goods and services, for a domain name that is only visible to a fraction of the Internet is completely beyond my comprehension. Another scam hoping to prey on stupid businesses?

My new book is here! Apress has just published a new collection of 36 essays from Joel on Software, aptly named More Joel on Software. Get yours today! Available from Amazon.com or wherever fine cheese is sold.

About the Author: I’m your host, Joel Spolsky, a software developer in New York City. Since 2000, I've been writing about software development, management, business, and the Internet on this site. For my day job, I run Fog Creek Software, makers of FogBugz—the smart bug tracking software with the stupid name, and Fog Creek Copilot—the easiest way to provide remote tech support over the Internet, with nothing to install or configure.

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