Stephen

That's the problem a lot of folks face.

Consider that this is simply a barrier to entry that could help "clean up" the market, in much the same way that many poor-quality domestic paysites were killed by the $750 Visa fee.

Consider also that part of the problem is the adult "wash and repeat" business model where we all own hundreds of underutilized domain names. One friend gave me grief because I seemed to support .xxx (I don't). He said, "I own like 10,000 domains, WTF!"

"Well, you have one good name and 9,999 feeder sites," I told him. "Register the good one and take your chances with the rest."

This guy was in the room with me years ago when CCBill's Ron Cadwell said "Think of a domain name as a separate business: how many businesses can you successfully run at one time?"

Folks don't learn.

Heck, I have a couple good two-word domains that I have the hyphenated and non- versions of (i.e. keywordkeyword.com and keyword-keyword.com). That's four names at $259.99 each (Netsol Sunrise pricing) for two sites, or $1039.96. It ain't gonna happen.

I'll register my one "favorite" one-word adult domain, and put a defensive block on my favorite one-word mainstream brand, still more than $500 down the toilet, write-off or not.

Sigh.