Pioneer in cybersquatter
A cybersquatter who grabs web domains for potential presidential tickets has raked in a hefty sum of money by selling the domain HarrisWalz.com for $15,000.
The domain was purchased four years ago by Jeremy Green Eche, along with 14 other Harris-related domains, in preparation for the future presidential campaign of current Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Harris recently selected Tim Walz as her vice presidential candidate, with an anonymous buyer claiming the domain shortly thereafter.
Cybersquatting buying spree
In real life, Eche is a trademark lawyer, but he also runs a domain name marketplace where people can buy and sell domain names and trademarks. He is known as a domain investor there.
“I also call myself a domain squatter or a cyber squatter. It’s a pejorative term, but I don’t mind using it because it’s still accurate,” he said, speaking to NPR.
This isn’t the first time Eche has bought a winning domain, with his ClintonKaine.com domain also selling for $15,000 in 2016. He initially wanted to sell the domain directly to the Clinton campaign for around $10,000, but was only offered $2,000. The $15,000 bid came from an anonymous buyer, which turned out to be the Trump campaign, which was using the site to post anti-Clinton messages.
Eche spends about $10 per domain and renews them annually, hoping his presidential ticket predictions will come true. So far, it’s paid off.
Apparently, the buyer of the domain HarrisWalz.com is a Harris supporter who did not want a repeat of the 2016 domain debacle.
“I feel like someone who went to the Olympics eight years ago and did well, missed out in Tokyo and then came back and won another gold medal. I feel like the GOAT of this very, very small niche of cybersquatting,” Eche said.