David Artman <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > OK, maybe I'm taking it too far, "Maybe"? > but check out who holds the registration on "toysrussucks.com": > http://www.markmonitor.com/ > > That's a brand protection firm. Apparently, they buy up domains > (and pursue creators) that are adverse or critical of their > clients' brands or company. Without getting mired in a debate about > trademarks, freedom of speech, satire, etc., I can at least say > that this relationship demonstrates that Toys R Us is more > concerned about shaping opinion than the truth about their > behaviors and (to some) abuses. News flash: EVERY company is concerned about shaping opinion and maintaining a positive corporate image. I am not at all surprised that Big Business has twigged to the idea that registering domain names is cheap, or that it's cheaper to lock up derogatory domain names by registering them yourself (or hiring a firm to do it) than it is to combat the bad publicity that could be generated if a hostile person/firm registered them. That's just good business sense, especially considering that even if you have an infinitesimally tiny percentage of customers who are dissatisfied with you, that becomes a large number of people if you're a company as big as TRU. Suppose TRU satisfied 99.99% of their customers. That means 100 out of every million people are unhappy with them - and assuming TRU deals with 50 million people a year, which I consider a conservative estimate, that means five thousand unsatisfied people every year. On the internet, that's a big population...because the 49,995,000 satisfied people don't say anything. > Which shouldn't surprise me: their "sales event" was all a false > front (shaping the opinion that there's this great opportunity to > save) with nothing backing it up (out of stock items shown and > orders canceled). Unproven assertion. > I'll leave it at that, now--three rants is enough. I am so verbal > here because this is the only toy/game company who lends its > owners' ears to their customers, I volunteer for two other such companies (I've corresponded with Steve Jackson and the Nephews), and there are certainly more. -- Robert Hood - Hixson, TN SJG MIB #8595 - Looney Labs Rabbit - Atlas Games Mook