NameSmash is the new domain blog from Marksmen, Ken Taylor’s delightful company. Kelly Hardy, editor of NameSmash, is bringing news and knowledgable domain name voices to bear on issues of interest to her readership, who are mostly guardians of corporate intellectual property, including domain names.

I hope the rest of the staff at Marksmen feed her some nuggets, because these are People Who Know Things. Marksmen are gumshoes for big company intellectual property interests, they’re private investigators, they’re spies. They wheedle their way into the good graces of suspected malefactors and suck information from them. They know how to buy domain names for their clients for much less than asking price. They do things for companies who want results and who may not care to know the details of how the job was done. Their perspective on domain names and domainers is probably unique, and it’s of interest because it comes (in their domain name work) from direct interaction with domain owners.

Belying their dour metier, the Marksmen staff are a blast. If for some reason you end up at an INTA Annual Meeting, wondering how people so many people, so smart, could be so damned earnest, head on over to the Marksmen booth for a breath of fresh air. You’ll know it when you see a bunch of smiling people in wacky themed uniforms, enjoying themselves. The Marksmen booth always seems smugly content with their bustling business at the crossroads where domain name sellers and assorted infringers meet rich, desperate clients. See their case studies for examples.

If Kelly Hardy at NameSmash can get Marksmen to share some of their stories, we’d all learn something. Meanwhile, she’s invited some luminaries of the corporate domain name world (plus me) to give their opinions on various issues, and she provides news updates herself. I wish her and NameSmash the best of luck.

Tags: NameSmash, Marksmen, Kelly Hardy, Ken Taylor, INTA

Posted by Antony in: Domains