Limits on Responsible Profitability?

This past weekend, I participated in my first Relay for Life, sponsored by the American Cancer Society at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH. Spending time with people I usually would not hang out with turned out to be a new and fun adventure. It was true, I hadn’t used a computer the entire time I was there, but it didn’t stop me from thinking about the usual things I would do when I am working. Being a web developer and also being in the domain business, I have seen certain trends come and go.

But after this weekend, I feel that one in particular (although it has settled down) has been taken for granted.

Mesothelioma

Many people were going crazy about how much money it paid per click, and with economic just cause - it seemed like people were getting in excess of $70 USD per click, by getting traffic to their information site with a topic they saw as a business opportunity, and nothing else. I didn’t have my own mesothelioma site to cash in, but I also didn’t give it much thought. It wasn’t until this past weekend I looked from a different and enlightening perspective.
Mesothelioma is a cancer (although rare) that is caused by exposure to asbestos, which damages the mesothelium, which are the membranes that surrond a very good portion of your internal organs. So what does this have to do with a trend I am talking about that caused mass commotion within the domain name and PPC industry?

Where to draw the line on responsible profitability.

My grandfather died in July of 1991 (When I was five years old) of lung cancer. I didn’t get to know him as well as I should have, especially when those five years I spent developing and not truly understanding situations to their full degree.

My grandfather died of lung cancer due to smoking, but he was also exposed to dangerous amounts of asbestos. So my question is this:

Where do we draw the limits on responsible profitability? Of course it is going to be different for everyone, but shouldn’t we try to take into consideration the pain and suffering of families who are slowly losing their loved ones, the lawyers advertising to get a just amount of compensation (if that could ever equal a human life) for a family member and even those support groups who spend their non-profit money helping those in need for the common good?

I have thought more and more about this every day since the Relay for Life ended. Today on NamePros, I was reading a thread that showed the top dropped domain auctions and their prices, and another issue flagged itself on the grounds of (lacking) responsible profitability.

The domain name UNICEF.com was being auctioned off at well-to-do drop catcher SnapNames at $679.00 with just about eight hours left in the auction.

UNICEF.

UNICEF stands for United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and is a non-profit organization. I understand that people are out there to make a profit, as is the goal to survive, but at what extent and to whose expense will you continue to do so?

Domain Names at SnapNames have seemingly been going crazy lately. So a price of only $679 seems to make me a little happier and make me think people are seeing one of two things:

1. They also share some of the same morals I have talked about here on responsible profitability.
2. They are concerned that UNICEF will come after them, and take the domain name via legal actions.

Unfortunately, I believe for most number two is true more so than number one. I made a post in the thread at NamePros expressing how I felt, which is what led to this posting.

UNICEF.com was eventually taken off the auction block, but due to a dispute rather than a responsible profitability issue.

I personally own three domain names that are typos of popular sites (that I had purchased long before my realization). I don’t make a killing on them, but even though those names are incorrect spellings of for-profit companies, I see the harm.

Next time you think about registering a typo or developing a site based on ad revenue profit, think about your limit on responsible profitability and where the norm should be.