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'''Rick Schwartz''' is the self-anointed "[[Domaining|Domain]] King", who made millions off of [[domaining]] in the mid-90s. He  purchased his first domain name in 1995; paying $100 for LipService.com. Eight years later, he made international news when he sold Men.com for  $1.32 million. He is particularly known as a pioneer of [[Direct Navigation|direct navigation]] traffic, and more generally as an expert on domain names and traffic<ref>[http://www.ricksblog.com/about.html Ricksblog.com]</ref>

'''Rick Schwartz''' is the self-anointed "[[Domaining|Domain]] King", who earns an income from domain names purchased in the mid-90s. He  purchased his first domain name in 1995; paying $100 for LipService.com. Eight years later, he made international news when he sold Men.com for  $1.32 million. He is particularly known as a pioneer of [[Direct Navigation|direct navigation]] traffic, and more generally as an expert on domain names and traffic<ref>[http://www.ricksblog.com/about.html Ricksblog.com]</ref>

Rick is the founder, CEO, and President of the [[T.R.A.F.F.I.C.]] domaining conference, which has awarded him the "Domainer Of The Year" award and also inducted him into the "Domainer Hall of Fame".<ref>[http://www.ricksblog.com/about.html Ricksblog]</ref>

Rick is the founder, CEO, and President of the [[T.R.A.F.F.I.C.]] domaining conference, which has awarded him the "Domainer Of The Year" award and also inducted him into the "Domainer Hall of Fame".<ref>[http://www.ricksblog.com/about.html Ricksblog]</ref>

==Background==

==Background==

Mr. Schwartz attended a few months of community college before working in sales. He is a past bankruptee. <ref>[http://www.domainsherpa.com/rick-schwartz-domainking-interview/]</ref> For a time, he sold Asian made products at trade shows and in trade magazines. He recognized the benefit of the Internet to a salesman and claims the day that he learned about the [[FTP|File Transfer Protocol]] was the day that changed his life. He began putting his brochures and sales materials online, and around this time he discovered the monetary potential of domain names via acquiring such names as Porno.com.<ref>[http://www.dnjournal.com/columns/cover020204.htm DNJournal]</ref>

Mr. Schwartz is a community college dropout <ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2000/09/25/story3.html]</ref> who eventually went on to work in sales. He is a past bankruptee. <ref>[http://www.domainsherpa.com/rick-schwartz-domainking-interview/]</ref> For a time, he sold Asian made products at trade shows and in trade magazines. He recognized the benefit of the Internet to a salesman and claims the day that he learned about the [[FTP|File Transfer Protocol]] was the day that changed his life. He began putting his brochures and sales materials online, and around this time he discovered the monetary potential of domain names via acquiring such names as Porno.com.<ref>[http://www.dnjournal.com/columns/cover020204.htm DNJournal]</ref>

==Domaining==

==Domaining==

Rick credits much of his success to being early on the [[domaining]] rush. His initial investment consisted of $1,800 dollars, but soon spent $42,000 on porno.com. To generate additional resources, he sold his sales business for 7 figures in 1998. At this time he was purchasing domains such as candy.com, and men.com, the latter for $15,000.

Rick credits much of his success to being early on the [[domaining]] rush. His initial investment consisted of $1,800 dollars, but soon spent $42,000 on porno.com. To generate additional resources, he sold a "sales" business for 7 figures in 1998. Around this time he was purchasing domains such as candy.com, porno.com <ref>[http://whois.domaintools.com/porno.com]</ref>, men.com, childpornography.com <ref>[http://whois.domaintools.com/childpornography.com]</ref> and gaycock.com <ref>[http://whois.domaintools.com/gaycock.com]</ref>

 

In 2000, he expressed his belief that search engines would have little value, claiming ""I believe as time goes on, they're going to have less importance. My whole idea is why I believe in type-in hits. I say that human behavior will develop so that people will surf first and search later." <ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2000/09/25/story3.html]</ref>

Mr. Schwartz has over 4,300 domains that he claims bring in a combined traffic of 95,000 - 115,000 visitors each day. His sites tend to be parked pages with revenue-producing links. Schwartz's portfolio is managed by [[Moniker]].<ref>[http://www.dnjournal.com/columns/cover020204.htm DNJournal.com]</ref> Many of his sites, approximately half, are "adult" oriented domains, though he insists that none of these pages have any actual illicit content, beyond the name, and that they are merely parked advertising space.<ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2000/09/25/story3.html BizJournals.com]</ref>

Mr. Schwartz has over 4,300 domains that he claims bring in a combined traffic of 95,000 - 115,000 visitors each day. His sites tend to be parked pages with revenue-producing links. Schwartz's portfolio is managed by [[Moniker]].<ref>[http://www.dnjournal.com/columns/cover020204.htm DNJournal.com]</ref> Many of his sites, approximately half, are "adult" oriented domains, though he insists that none of these pages have any actual illicit content, beyond the name, and that they are merely parked advertising space.<ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2000/09/25/story3.html BizJournals.com]</ref>

Mr. Schwartz became involved in a high-profile lawsuit and counter-suit when Lilly Industries Inc., claimed that his goofoff.com address violated their trademarked Goof Off paint remover. Rick was informed by [[Network Solutions]] that Lilly had filed a dispute on the namespace and that he would have to litigate or face his site being placed on hold. At that time, the site was running as a travel and entertainment portal. He saw this as another example of "Fortune 500 Bullies" using their financial resources to push small business owners away from legitimately acquired and retained domains.<ref>[http://www.erealestate.com/domainking/articles.htm eRealEstate]</ref> A visit to goofoff.com today shows that the site remains in Rick's hands.<ref>[http://goofoff.com/ GoofOff.com]</ref> The settlement agreement allowed Rick to keep the site under certain restrictions, and Lilly Industries assumed all legal fees.<ref>[http://www.neusnews.com/blog/legal/ANALYSIS-OF-THE-GOOFOFFCOM-CASE-AT-NAF.php?post_id=51&pgtitle=ANALYSIS+OF+THE+GOOFOFFCOM+CASE+AT+NAF&category=legal NeusNews]</ref>

Mr. Schwartz became involved in a high-profile lawsuit and counter-suit when Lilly Industries Inc., claimed that his goofoff.com address violated their trademarked Goof Off paint remover. Rick was informed by [[Network Solutions]] that Lilly had filed a dispute on the namespace and that he would have to litigate or face his site being placed on hold. At that time, the site was running as a travel and entertainment portal. He saw this as another example of "Fortune 500 Bullies" using their financial resources to push small business owners away from legitimately acquired and retained domains.<ref>[http://www.erealestate.com/domainking/articles.htm eRealEstate]</ref> A visit to goofoff.com today shows that the site remains in Rick's hands.<ref>[http://goofoff.com/ GoofOff.com]</ref> The settlement agreement allowed Rick to keep the site under certain restrictions, and Lilly Industries assumed all legal fees.<ref>[http://www.neusnews.com/blog/legal/ANALYSIS-OF-THE-GOOFOFFCOM-CASE-AT-NAF.php?post_id=51&pgtitle=ANALYSIS+OF+THE+GOOFOFFCOM+CASE+AT+NAF&category=legal NeusNews]</ref>

He says that he as received so many cease and desist letters that he owns ceaseanddesist.com.<ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2000/09/25/story3.html BizJournals.com]</ref>

Rick filed a suit against [[Afternic]], [[Network Solutions]], and [[Register.com]] in May, 2001. The alleged incident involved the illegal transfer of a domain he purchased, properties.com, from Afternic, back to its original owner via Network Solutions.<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2001_May_11/ai_74457347/ FindArticles.com]</ref>

 

Rick filed a suit against [[Afternic]], [[Network Solutions]], and [[Register.com]] in May, 2001. The alleged incident involved the illegal transfer of a domain he purchased, properties.com, from Afternic, back to its original owner via Network Solutions.<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2001_May_11/ai_74457347/ FindArticles.com]</ref>

 

Schwartz claims that he has received so many cease and desist letters, he acquired ceaseanddesist.com.<ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2000/09/25/story3.html BizJournals.com]</ref>

 

In 2005, Schwartz filed a complaint with National Arbitration Forum to forcibly seize control of the domain name voyuer.com. <ref>[http://www.adrforum.com/domains/decisions/433802.htm]</ref> The panel held: "The Panel is most disturbed by Complainant’s additional submission.  The Schwartz declaration is unsupported by any evidence." referring to his affidavit as "misleading" prior to dismissing his claim. <ref>[http://www.adrforum.com/domains/decisions/433802.htm]</ref>

 

In 2005, on the matter of AirFranceSucks.com, the World Intellectual Property Organization found that Schwartz "registered and used the domain names in bad faith" and ordered transfer of the domain to Societé Air France <ref>[http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2005/d2005-0168.html]</ref>

==Awards==

==Awards==