Is this cybersquatting? Owners of Ebola.com put domain for sale at N24.5 million
While people are dying around the world from the deadly Ebola virus disease, a company in Newark, USA, Blue String Ventures has put up for sale the domain name Ebola.com at a price of $150,000 (
The president of Blue String Ventures, Jon Schultz, told CNBC via email that the domain would be perfect for pharma companies who are working on a vaccine or cure for the virus. The Washington Post has labelled BSV, ‘Merchants of disease’.
Schultz wrote, “Ebola.com would be a great domain for a pharmaceutical company working on a vaccine or cure, a company selling pandemic or disaster-preparedness supplies, or a medical company wishing to provide information and advertise services.”
Schultz and his business partner, Chris Hood, bought the domain in 2008. The pair also own of BirdFlu.com, Fukushima.com, PotassiumIodide.com, and several other disease-related domains.
Schultz says the site is getting loads of visits on a daily basis, hence, the price is fair enough.
“According to our site meter, we’re already doing 5,000 page views per day just by people typing in
Ebola.com to see what’s there. We’re getting inquiries every day about the sale of it. I have a lot of experience in this sort of domain business, and my sense is that $150,000 is reasonable,” he said.
