Bank of America Buying Abusive Domain Names

Nite_Hawk writes "Bank of America has snapped up hundreds of abusive domain names for its senior executives and board members in what is being perceived as a defensive strategy against the future publication of damaging insider info from whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. According to Domain Name Wire, the US bank has been aggressively registering domain names including its board of directors' and senior executives' names followed by 'sucks' and 'blows.'"

"Sucks" and "blows" not the only pejoratives

[a Flatbed Darkly]

There's astounding variety in dyslogistics; humanity's capacity to insult extends far beyond the simple "x sucks", "y blows", and often enters far more explicit territory. What makes them think that "sucks" and "blows" are the preferred verbal weapon of the domain-registering masses? If anything, this will only cause a rise in popularity of other insulting verbs.

Unless...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

BOA is a bunch of angels compared to the rest of the financial community, they should probably be investing in security rather than PR...

There is a steady stream of "$PERSON$ loses job/house, kills family, self, occasionally neighbors and/or a cop or two" stories in the US. Given the number of dodgy forclosures BOA is believed to be involved in, including some cases where they didn't even own the loan, or where there was no loan, I could easily imagine some of their more visible people becoming part of dissatisfied customers' blood drenched exits.

The really high level guys probably already take precautions; but a bank the size of BOA probably has a lot of fat around the middle...

Just Making Themselves Look Worse

[mikeb39]

This seems to be pretty close to admitting that their senior execs have done things that would cause public outrage. Seems like a smarter strategy would have been just to shut up completely about it until seeing what these leaks actually contain. But, I suppose if you know beyond a doubt you will be proven guilty and held to account for something, you might as well prepare for it.

Re:Good luck with that

[sakdoctor]

The really insidious strategy would be to register , and actually run your *sucks site, allowing user generated content, but with subtle manipulation and censorship, making it the number one destination for haters.

Er, hope I didn't just give anyone ideas.

Re:Good luck with that

[KublaiKhan]

It would be an interesting sort of crowd-sourced protest, if a lot of aggrieved people bought abusive domains and pointed them at a protest site existing pretty much specifically to collect them.

Domain registrars would make a mint off of such a protest...and it would be much more 'socially acceptable' than your typical DDoSing.

First registrar to announce splitting the proceeds of such actions with, say, Child's Play or the Red Cross could gain instant credibility with a large segment of the abusive-domain-buying public.

Further, it would sap the banks' resources as their PR people frantically attempt to mitigate the consequences of the protests. Now that we know they'll preemptively buy domains, too, it provides interesting opportunities for cybersquatting...

Re:They can't afford them all

[Daniel Dvorkin]

I'm proud to report that a friend of mine grabbed http://www.bankofamericasucks.org/ [bankofamericasucks.org] before BoA got to it. Currently it's just a redirect to an IT World article, but oh, the possibilities ... especially since she works for a hosting company.

Re:Clean slate...

[PRMan]

I knew somebody who actually had their mortgage bank (a "small" shop) go out of business, but which sold all their loans off at a slight loss at the end before going bankrupt. The guy's file actually got lost in the office and the bankruptcy proceeded and completed without anyone finding it. The bills quit coming and nobody ever asked for money. He finally went to the courthouse and since the company had gone bankrupt without selling his loan, he owned the house free and clear.

I wouldn't hold my breath, but it's not without precedent.

Re:Everyone does it

[ultranova]

Is that why they registered "bankofamericasupportstyrants.com"

It's nice of Bank of America to provide an index to the coming revelations ahead of time. It should make the first pieces of dirt hit the headlines faster, since you know what to look for.

Also, I wonder if you could get another major organization to reveal their shady actions in this way simply by spreading a rumour that Wikileaks is onto them?

Finally, this is interesting from purely psychological point of view: It proves that the leadership of BoA understands that their actions would be considered evil by common people; thus it seems unlikely that they are psychopaths, as common theories hold, but rather simply evil.

Re:Unless...

[shinehead]

In 10 years I may regret posting this non-anonymously but the previous poster hit upon something I have been thinking about recently (in an abstract way!). Good people, loyal corporate drones at the end of their ropes after being on the wrong side of our winner take all system, finally lose it and act out in a spontaneous manner. The end is usually suicide by cop or killing a cop or some other non-productive result. I certainly do not advocate doing this but it would interesting if people that have lost everything and want to end it all and simultaneously strike back began to aim for the head the snake instead of the tail. It's unlikely due to the way people seem to suddenly crack but it seems a few days of research and a little road trip might make a an exponentially bigger statement without a corresponding increase in effort. Or maybe that amount of effort isn't required. Maybe publishing a dossier of the executives listing their addresses, time lines of their daily movements, pictures of them on the golf course might serve to moderate their behavior. Or maybe we will just get martial law earlier than otherwise... Again, I am not an advocate of this type of thing for moral reasons, I do not want blood on my hands, or the dystopia that would be sure to follow.

Re:Clean slate...

[IonOtter]

That's possible, but it's certainly NOT "free and clear".

Here's how you do it, in a VERY simplified form.

1. Open an escrow account and place your monthly mortgage payment, plus interest, into that account.
2. File a small claims suit with your local county, against the mortgage company holding your mortgage. Make it for the monthly amount of the mortgage, plus interest. You are filing suit for them to provide a signed and notarized copy of the deed, as well as any copies of the bill of sale for ALL of the transactions they made with the property.
3. Pay a process server to serve the holder the papers, or at least try.
4. Hire a court recorder. Chances are good that the court will try to simply dump you once it becomes apparent what you're doing. The court reporter will keep them honest.
5. Keep EXCELLENT records of every penny spent, as well as all transactions and communications with the process server and the court.
6. Show up in court on the appointed day.

Now here's where it gets tricky.

The mortgage holder, if they can even be found, probably won't bother to send a lawyer for such a small sum. They'll simply ignore it, and you win by default. If they DO show up, they have to produce the paperwork. Again, chances are good they can't. If they produce a robo-signed copy, they'll be charged with forgery. The odds are stacked in your favor.

If the unlikely event happens that they can prove that the debt is valid, simply resume paying the mortgage and carry on as normal. That's what the escrow account is for.

If nobody shows up, take the money you won in the small claims suit and place THAT into the escrow account too. This shows good faith on your part.

7. File a new small-claims suit again for the next month. Follow steps 1-7, for six months or more. Six months is probably best.
8. On the sixth court appearance, ask the court to nullify the debt. You can...

a. Show you fully intend to pay all debts if the paperwork is provided. (The escrow account again)
b. Show you can cover all interest, penalties and fees if the paperwork is provided and you have to resume paying.
c. Show that you can cover all costs of the court.
d. Show that you paid the process server.
e. Show you followed due process and due diligence.

And the mortgage holder has shown nothing but negligence and dereliction of their obligations.

The court will hand you the property with a clean deed.

BUT WAIT!!!!!

Remember that escrow account? DO NOT SPEND IT!!!

You're going to need that money to pay CAPITAL GAINS TAXES, because a new house will constitute a huge jump in your income, and that mortgage payment write-off is going bye-bye too.

You can tack this on as Step 8f: You can show ability to pay all federal, state and local taxes once the house is yours.

Bonus: If the mortgage holder sends your debt to collections while the court cases are pending, they're in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and can be slapped with a heavy fine on top of losing the mortgage.

You can spend that.