Oz web developer tries to cash in on Brisbane floods with domain name
By ANIThursday, January 13, 2011
MELBOURNE - A web developer in Australia has tried to cash in on the Brisbane floods by offering a domain, named after the tragedy, to the highest bidder.
Samuel Lopez had bought domain name www.brisbanefloods.com.au, three days ago and then tried to sell it.
“I bought the domain name because I am a resident of the affected area in Brisbane,” News.com.au quoted him as saying.
“I’m an Internet programmer by trade and I needed something to fill in the time while I waited it out.
“I knew that this event was going to affect a lot of people and the internet has become so large with communication throughout this whole ordeal, purchasing this domain name seemed like a good idea at the time,” he said.
The Attorney General’s office took steps to take down the website, and Lopez has taken down the “For Sale” sign and diverted traffic from www.brisbanefloods.com.au to News.com.au’s floods coverage.
He took it down after he began receiving calls from media outlets and backlash from Internet users.
Attorney General Robert McLelland condemned Lopez’s behaviour describing it as opportunistic.
“Anyone seeking to profiteer from the suffering of Queenslanders during this crisis should be absolutely ashamed of themselves,” he added. (ANI)
