A CASE STUDY
The year is 2005
John is a businessman, he's been running his business for nine years and it's quite successful, as small businesses go.
One day a guy comes into his premises and informs him that he needs a website, he gives him all the reasons why he is losing out and has to have an online extention to his current operation. John says he has considered it but his enquiries on prices have detered him, he knows nothing about technology and the girl who keeps his in house accounting system wants nothing to do with it.
Frederick, the website guy, says he can do the job for £xxxx, they discuss this and Frederick is pleased that there is an amount available for this type of project.
OK says Frederick I'll go away and come back with my proposals next week and while I'm gone can you think of a domain name. Oh, said John I know what I would like the website to be called I've discussed it with my mates in the pub and I want xxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk if you could get that name I would go ahead. Well said Frederick thats a good name, it's generic, it ticks a lot of the boxes, it's certainly memorable and discriptive of your business, I'll register the name for you later today.
Frederick immediately rushes off to start the ball rolling by registering the name only to find it's already been registered 4 years earlier. Damn, I need it he thinks, so he tracks down the owner who tells him he wants £1800 for the name. What ! Frederick shouts, you rip off merchant, you paid £5 for it I'll give you £50 that's a 900% profit for you. No, the name is £1800 firm says the domain owner. Well thought Frederick, I'll be damned if I'm going to line his pockets, and anyway, if my client has to pay that amount it might deter him from going ahead.
A short time later Frederick meets with John again and explains that some shyster has registered his name, he's a cybersquatter you know, they are a big problem, but I've got a great idea, if we just put a "THE" before the name we can register a domain for £5, it won't make any difference we can still seo it and everything will be perfect.
Roll forward a few years.
John is an experienced business man and THExxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk business grew better year on year than he could have ever wished for, due mostly to his online presence but also to his very industrious nature and by 2008 80% of his 400% increased turnover was now attributed to the internet.
One day out of the blue John, who by now is very internet savvy, finds he's losing traffic and business to someone who is using xxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk, the name he wanted in the first place and as Fredericks most lucrative client he phones up Frederick and asks him to buy the name for him for £1800, it is after all cheap to him now, cybersquatter or no cybersquatter, shyster or no shyster, I'm losing a large amount compared to my last years turnover.
Frederick phones the owner of the name and offers him £1800 which he now considers to be an obscene profit on the original registration cost.
The owner says the name isn't for sale as a competitor of Johns has recently leased it from him for £6000 per month.
The year is 2005
John is a businessman, he's been running his business for nine years and it's quite successful, as small businesses go.
One day a guy comes into his premises and informs him that he needs a website, he gives him all the reasons why he is losing out and has to have an online extention to his current operation. John says he has considered it but his enquiries on prices have detered him, he knows nothing about technology and the girl who keeps his in house accounting system wants nothing to do with it.
Frederick, the website guy, says he can do the job for £xxxx, they discuss this and Frederick is pleased that there is an amount available for this type of project.
OK says Frederick I'll go away and come back with my proposals next week and while I'm gone can you think of a domain name. Oh, said John I know what I would like the website to be called I've discussed it with my mates in the pub and I want xxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk if you could get that name I would go ahead. Well said Frederick thats a good name, it's generic, it ticks a lot of the boxes, it's certainly memorable and discriptive of your business, I'll register the name for you later today.
Frederick immediately rushes off to start the ball rolling by registering the name only to find it's already been registered 4 years earlier. Damn, I need it he thinks, so he tracks down the owner who tells him he wants £1800 for the name. What ! Frederick shouts, you rip off merchant, you paid £5 for it I'll give you £50 that's a 900% profit for you. No, the name is £1800 firm says the domain owner. Well thought Frederick, I'll be damned if I'm going to line his pockets, and anyway, if my client has to pay that amount it might deter him from going ahead.
A short time later Frederick meets with John again and explains that some shyster has registered his name, he's a cybersquatter you know, they are a big problem, but I've got a great idea, if we just put a "THE" before the name we can register a domain for £5, it won't make any difference we can still seo it and everything will be perfect.
Roll forward a few years.
John is an experienced business man and THExxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk business grew better year on year than he could have ever wished for, due mostly to his online presence but also to his very industrious nature and by 2008 80% of his 400% increased turnover was now attributed to the internet.
One day out of the blue John, who by now is very internet savvy, finds he's losing traffic and business to someone who is using xxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk, the name he wanted in the first place and as Fredericks most lucrative client he phones up Frederick and asks him to buy the name for him for £1800, it is after all cheap to him now, cybersquatter or no cybersquatter, shyster or no shyster, I'm losing a large amount compared to my last years turnover.
Frederick phones the owner of the name and offers him £1800 which he now considers to be an obscene profit on the original registration cost.
The owner says the name isn't for sale as a competitor of Johns has recently leased it from him for £6000 per month.
I don't disbelieve for one second that there aren't people who begrudge those who have domain names that they believe they have more entitlement to. However without knowing more I wouldn't want to pass a judgment here. 
