The grand sale of Ganesh.com

Shashwat Chaturvedi

"What’s in a name?," Juliet argued in William Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

Little could she, or for that matter Shakespeare, have guessed that with passage of time, there would be so much in a name that people will shell out ridiculous sums for it. It is the Internet that has put the magic back into the name game. 

For instance, Compaq bought Altavista.com for its search engine company at a neat price of $3.3 million. But the biggest one has been Business.com, bought by a Californian company for $10 million!

There is such a mad rush that according to statistics, companies and individuals have taken up (registered as .com) around 97 per cent of the words in the Webster dictionary. Domain business is fairly big business in the US.

So, when Sai Pola purchased and subsequently listed Ganesh.com on eBay, it was certainly not something that merited attention.

On second thought it did, as the domain name was listed on eBay India and the price tag was a handsome Rs. 12,50,000. Ganesh is a special and fairly common Indian name. According to Hindu scriptures Ganesh is Shiva and Parvati’s eldest son, and is the one of the most revered God in the Hindu pantheon.

The advert on eBay did not fail to cash in on the symbolic significance; there is an image of lord Ganesha to clinch the connection. Presto! Item number 130021448917 had transformed an innocuous Indian name into a sought after property.

Not only that. All similar suffixes have disappeared as well. Thus, Ganesh.in, Ganesh.net, Ganesh.co.in, etc., have all been taken. As, the saying goes, it is all about money. But, the business of domains can also get murky. Individuals register domains named after well-known trademarks or individuals to earn a quick sum and when the business turns into blackmail, it is known as cybersquatting.

Since, registering a domain name is fairly simple: if it’s available it can be yours. Thus, it makes for a great business model. Many corporates and celebrities those were slow to hop on the Internet bandwagon had to shell out quite a sum to get their desired domains. Fortunately, there are some trademark and copyright laws that can be resorted to by companies and individuals. There have been numerous suits filed in the US under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) or the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDNDRP). And, there have been many successes too.

In the Indian context too there have been successes and failures against cybersquatting. In 2001, Tata Group fought and won a case against a cybersquatter who had registered 10 domain names, like Ratantata.com, Jrdtata.com among others. The company successfully filed a case against an Indian company, who registered the domain names, with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Reports say Tata Group is still contesting a whole bunch of domain names bearing its trademark. On the other hand, State Bank of India also successfully contested against an Australian firm at WIPO for the domain name Sbicard.com. Naukri.com had fended off a mugger for a similarly named domain, Naukari.com.

On the other hand, Bharti Group was recently cheated of Rs. 25,000 by a US-based company that sold the domain names, Bharticellular.com, Bhartimobile.com, Bhartihealthcare.com and Bhartifoundation.com and then did not transfer the names. The matter is currently being contested in courts.

Cut back to Ganesh.com. Chetan Asher, chief operating officer, Tonic Media, an Indian search engine optimization company, throws light on the issue. “Ganesh is fairly common and generic name and these kinds of names hold a lot of weightage in the cyber space. Domain name business is very big business. So from my yardsticks, it is more a case of cyber-intelligence than a case of cybersquatting.”

The sale of Ganesh.com could spark a gold rush for domain names in India. Suddenly, they could be in short supply. As it is, most of them have been taken up, right from deity names to celebrity ones. For instance, Isro.com has an advert on the main page, “available for sale for $7950”. Big B also seemed to have missed the Internet bus, as Amitabhbachchan.com is up for sale and so is Sachintendulkar.com.

But if you are keen to venerate the elephant-god without shelling out a few hundred thousands, religion has the answer. After all, there are over a 100 other names of the pot-bellied deity, and so are the suffixes. Fairly simple calculation! Right now, Vighneshvara.com is available. Rush, rush. (There are over 200 country-specific suffixes too, such as, .in., .it, etc.)

Sai Pola, a non-resident Indian, must have known the coverage that would ensue after his listing of Ganesh.com. He acquired the domain name and then listed it for sale on eBay. For him, it is just business as usual. Based in California, US, he agreed for an interview over chat. Here are the excerpts (his chat nick name has been changed):

Shashwat D.C.: A brief bit on u? What do you do, where are you based?

Saipola: I am in the business of website/domain sales and operation

Saipola: I live in California, USA

Shashwat D.C.: What is your nationality?

Saipola: I am basically from Hyderabad and an Engineering graduate

Saipola: Indian

Shashwat D.C.: So when did you emigrate?

Saipola: I am in the USA for the last 9 years

Shashwat D.C.: Tell me, how did you think of registering Ganesh.com? Was it business?

Saipola: I didn't register it myself, we acquired it in the secondary domain market

Saipola: It was just a name

Shashwat D.C.: What were the reasons behind purchasing this domain. Your name is Sai right?

Saipola: Yes

Saipola: We buy and sell godd names

Saipola: Good names I mean

Shashwat D.C.: Like which ones

Saipola: Right now we have for sale LearningToys.com, c6.com, 18.org, youfind.com etc

Saipola: and Bangalore.org

Shashwat D.C.: ok and what is the range in which you sell these names for?

Saipola: All ranges from $1000 to $100,000

Shashwat D.C.: How many must you have sold till date, which was the costliest?

Saipola: I can't disclose all the business information.

Saipola: Each name has diff value

Shashwat D.C.: How do you select these names?

Saipola: Based on the generic value and common sense mostly

Shashwat D.C.: So how did you come across Ganesh.com?

Saipola: I just thought it will be a cool name and contacted the owner if he will sell it

Shashwat D.C.: and can you tell me how much did u buy it for and when?

Saipola: Sorry we can't disclose it obviously

Shashwat D.C.: Don’t u think it is unethical...

Shashwat D.C.: cybersquatting?

Saipola: This ends our conversation..Bye

Shashwat D.C.: What ??

Saipola: Do u know the meaning of cybersquating?

Shashwat D.C.: Selling domains for profit

Saipola: Do u think it's illegal to buy ganesh.com?

Shashwat D.C.: It isn’t illegal..

Shashwat D.C.: But don’t u think that Ganesh is very special god in the pantheon and selling it for profit sets a bad precedent

Saipola: So u don't know anything..this conversation is recorded and will be forwarded to my legal dept

Shashwat D.C.: I am asking a question...

Saipola: Do u think selling God's idol for profit is unethical?

Shashwat D.C.: Sai, relax,

Shashwat D.C.: I am talking to you as a journalist not a fanatic

Shashwat D.C.: I am asking the questions that every reader might think of

Shashwat D.C.: and will use your views for my publication (article) and nothing else

Saipola: India is exporting the God's idols to the countries they don't even know what is Hinduism. Do you think they respect our Gods, which they deserve? If you are a journalist first talk about people who are actually doing unethical things about our Gods

Saipola: Did you watch popular TV serial 'Friends'?

Shashwat D.C.: Yeah

Saipola: The actor who plays Ross in the serial kicks the Ganesha idol. It was so painful to watch all of us Indians

Shashwat D.C.: Did he?

Saipola: Why don't you attack that producer and actor?

Saipola: Why don't you attack people or companies who are printing God's pics on Toilet seats and shoes

Shashwat D.C.: One thing, Sai, they are foreigners…

Shashwat D.C.: You know what Ganesh means right…

Shashwat D.C.: Do you agree with the Basmati & Neem patents?

Saipola: Then India should stop exporting God's idols

Saipola: I know Ganesha and Hinduism more than you I think as I was born and brought up as an orthodox Hindu and I still am following all the rules.

Shashwat D.C.: How has been the response to your posting on eBay?

Saipola: My Intension of selling this domain was to sell it to someone who knows its value that is why I advertised in India not in Paris.

Saipola: We don't want to undersell the name

Saipola: It has lot of type-in visitors every day because of its generic value

Shashwat D.C.: How has been the response to your posting on eBay?

Saipola: We have relisted on eBay

Saipola: Many people have directly contacted me and made offers that we refused..

Shashwat D.C.: Why relisting?

Saipola: No bids were placed for Rs. 12.5 lakhs

Shashwat D.C.: And what is the new bid for?

Saipola: Now we relisted with low starting price, but will not undersell this time even..

Saipola: Rs 1.00 starting and with a reserve price

Shashwat D.C.: Reserve price of?

Saipola: Reserve price is confidential according to eBay rules

Shashwat D.C.: Yet is it significantly lower?

Saipola: I will never let Ganesha's value come down. If I sell for Rs.1 lakh then every guy on the street can buy and use the traffic for any inappropriate business

Saipola: It's like we r giving the buyer a store that has 24,000 visitors per year

Shashwat D.C.: Good, and would you only sell it to an Indian?

Saipola: I can't put that as a rule and have no control on who buys it on eBay. But most likely it will be bought by someone who respects Hinduism. That is why we r not underselling it.

© CyberMedia News

(Image: eBay India)