As a consequence of lending its name to Employ Media for the promotion
of .jobs, SHRM has an obligation to prevent .jobs domain auctions or the
sale of those domains through the sale of Employ Media itself. It
cannot avoid damaging its constituents if it fails to do this.
If SHRM itself were proposing to develop the .jobs domains, there’d be a chance the interests of employers would be served. But, the proposed changes give Employ Media free reign with the domains and that can only end one way. Eventually, the domains will likely end up auctioned to the highest bidder either individually or collectively. As a result, you and I are going to pay a tax one way or another.
For the most part, the buyers will not be employers, neither large nor small. The auction winners will most likely be the largest job boards, domain speculators and SEO pros. But above all, the one winner will be Employ Media, the tax collector.
Why is this a foregone conclusion? Look at the prices on undeveloped domains. The value of a domain property explodes after it’s developed. It’s impossible to apply a rule of thumb but I would be comfortable saying values can easily increase by a factor of 10.
So if Employ Media succeeds in attracting users to its .jobs sites and it has the power to auction the domains whenever it likes, eventually the sites have to be auctioned. No private company can sit on an untapped treasure for too long. it’s like the law of gravity, it never stops pulling. Either the domains will be auctioned or Employ Media will be sold to someone who can fully tap the value in the domains.
SHRM’s response to angry constituents who end up feeling outmaneuvered will be something like this "We’re very sorry that our partnership with Employ Media ended like this — with perfect hindsight, we would have negotiated differently. However, no one could have predicted this chain of events."
I’m not especially opposed to seeing the domains developed if everything is what it seems to be. However, as a longtime contributor to SHRM, I will strongly object to seeing SHRM used to arrange an exit strategy for a private company operating in my backyard. Above all, I will object to SHRM positioning Employ Media to get its hands in my pockets for defensive registrations.
What’s a defensive registration? We operate DiversityJobs.com and might feel compelled to purchase Diversity.jobs to protect our investment in that site. If it did not belong to us, Diversity.jobs would be highly confusing for our users and customers. If we do buy it, it won’t be developed. It will simply be forwarded to DiversityJobs.com. The cost of that domain and its yearly renewal will just be a tax on our business paid to Employ Media (and maybe SHRM if it’s getting a cut).
Either way, companies who do or don’t do defensive registrations will pay a tax of one form or another. Those who choose not to buy .jobs domains will be taxed by competitors and speculators who do buy them. What happens when someone registers or purchases a domain that violates your trademark? Think you can obtain the domain just by asking? No, you don’t. At a minimum, the attempt alone is going to cost you $1,500.
The proposed changes in question are going to benefit Employ Media at the expense of just about everyone else with an interest in job search. In a relatively small niche like the jobs domain marketplace, there’s only one way to make a significant profit — that’s by tapping into the deepest pockets in our industry. And you can only do that by auctioning the top 1,000 domains.
If I’m wrong about Employ Media’s intentions, they can easily demonstrate that by rewriting the amendment accordingly. Make it clear that your partnerships with JobCentral.com and SHRM are not a smokescreen and I’ll gladly admit that I was misguided.
For the record, I see nothing wrong with Employ Media pursuing its exit strategy. That’s capitalism and it’s our system. Employ Media is not a charity or a nonprofit. SHRM on the other hand is a nonprofit and has bigger responsibilities. So, let’s see what you’re made of SHRM.
Want to speak your own mind? Please do it on employ media’s feedback forum or comment on the OnlineRecruitingNews.com .jobs story. Better yet, leave feedback for SHRM on their public comment page.
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