Although I’m not really an active domainer (no hate mail please), I really do love domains. While I know that many domainers “love” their collections for a variety of reasons, mine might be slightly different. Really, for me, it comes down to a domain name’s unique ability to capture, define and own a concept or idea. Yeah, that’s a pretty esoteric and nerdy reason. So sue me. But I think there’s nothing else out there that compares. Maybe an 800 number, like 1-800-GO-FEDEX. But that’s just in North America really. I can think of no other thing where, if you think of it first, you can be the exclusive worldwide owner of an idea just by tapping your keyboard for a few seconds.

So, if you’re still reading, maybe you’d like an example.

Here’s a silly one: I’m a big fan of Dave Chappelle. The man’s a comedic genius. And while I respect the guy’s decision to walk away from his contract, as a fan, I think it’s a shame I’m not going to see more of his sketches. Around the office, we’ve adopted a Chappelle catchphrase. It’s Chappelle’s hilarious imitation of Howard Dean’s “scream”, that turned him from a Presidential frontrunner into a national joke overnight. Chappelle’s joke? If Dean turned the “scream” into a catchphrase instead of being ashamed of it, he’d be president.

Make a great argument? BYAAAH! Solve a difficult technical problem? BYAAAH! How was your weekend? BYAAAH!

So somebody at the office asks: “How do you spell BYAAAH!”? Our answer? Let’s type it into my browser address bar until it resolves to something. And with that, we determine that it is spelled with 3 “a”s followed by 1 “h”. Why? Because BYAAAH.com says so by claiming to be the web site that will “chop your mutha&@#$in’ desk in half, like, BYAAAH!!”. So some half baked college student sees Chappelle’s sketch, logs on to Godaddy.com and BAM! He doesn’t just own a domain. He owns the idea. He owns the term. If you want to push it this far, he owns the sketch. Not Chappelle, but him. Forever. Around the world.

To quote the man: BYAAAH!!