ME is about ripping YOU off.

Yesterday I attempted to buy two new .ME domains.  The .ME domain was officially opened to the public yesterday afternoon, as GoDaddy were the main suppliers their servers just ground to a halt.  Processing for two new domains took so long that I doubted if they would ever get processed.  Anyhow, proccessed they were

I received an email shortly after informing me that jonathanclarke.me was mine to own, which was great news.  jonathanclarke.com just points to an empty black page, that kind of waste pisses me off.

Not long after that acknowledgement I received another stating that the second domain I applied for was rejected.  What's the point in accepting payment for a domain that is not available.  Was it available when I searched? GoDaddy claimed it was.  When was it purchased?  During the main landgrab or was it already owned by a citizen of Montenegro?  I was all set to develop a nice little application for it last night, but I decided to just get an early night instead.

I think the main reason I was annoyed was that Blacknight were looking for €20 per year per domain, GoDaddy were seeking $19.99.  It's this kind of bullshit that annoys me about Ireland, rip off Ireland is alive an well.

Anyhow, GoDaddy state the following in their FAQ, perhaps there is still hope after all.

"During the Sunrise and Landrush periods, we may receive multiple applications for the same .me domain. During the Sunrise period, we validate the applications to ensure applicants entered the appropriate trademark information. If an application does not pass validation, we reject it. If we still have multiple applications for the same domain, we auction the domain to the highest bidder."

So right now, you have failed domains.  It would seem that if you really must have that domain you're going to have to buy it from auction.  http://auctions.domain.me/

pri.me, feck.me are still available to be bid on, lastminute.me just fetched $3,605.  Looks like squatters are alive and well.  God help any small business trying to get a decent domain on the cheap.