http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20050206_buddy6.222b3aa.html
http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20050206_buddy6.222b3aa.html
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Cianci isn't master of his Web domain
A Newport entrepreneur has put VincentCianci.com on the eBay auction block.
01:00 AM EST on Sunday, February 6, 2005
BY CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY
Journal Staff Writer
Former Providence Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci's cyber name is for sale, and it is cheap.
John Ackerman, a Newport resident who buys Web site domain names in hopes of selling them for a profit, is unloading VincentCianci.com to the highest bidder.
"I don't feel like the value is going to rise on this particular domain," said Ackerman. "The name recognition is going to fade over time."
Ackerman put VincentCianci.com on the eBay auction block yesterday. So far, one person has submitted the minimum bid of $88.50. The auction ends Thursday.
Ackerman is a 34-year-old property manager who dabbles in Web site design and domain-name speculation. Domain speculators register names of sites that they think someone will want, and then sell them back for the right price.
Has Ackerman made any money?
"I'm in the hole, hole, hole," he said.
He has spent about $7,000 to reserve hundreds of Web sites, including names of local media personalities, like Mario Hilario and Frank Coletta, he said. It costs $7 a year to hold each name, Ackerman said.
Ackerman's most profitable purchase was jwcorp.com. A Minnesota company called J.W. Media paid him $1,500 to get control of the Web site. The domain jwmedia.com was already taken by the Jehovah's Witnesses media site.
It's a long-term investment strategy, Ackerman said.
"I'm registering actual people and actual businesses. It's kind of a precarious situation because there are people who get mad. You've got to say, look, I've put a little money into this, so, you know," he said, his voice trailing off.
Ackerman said he called the Providence Biltmore hotel and left a message for Cianci after he bought the mayor's cyber name two years ago.
"I left a voicemail saying I registered his name in good faith and he could have it, but he never called back," Ackerman said.
It's no wonder. Ackerman bought the site on May 3, 2002 -- the 9th day of the Plunder Dome trial.
At the time, BuddyCianci.com was already registered to a group using it as an anticorruption platform. That site is now promoting a documentary film about Cianci.
Meanwhile, the former mayor is serving a five-year, four month sentence in federal prison for racketeering conspiracy. Cianci is appealing to reduce his sentence.
Filmmaker Michael Corrente is reportedly working on making Prince of Providence, a book about Cianci, into a movie. Ackerman hopes Corrente will buy his Web site to promote the film.
Just in case, Ackerman also owns MichaelCorrente.com.