Rush for Katrina domain names

2005-09-04 20:22

Washington - A land rush for Hurricane Katrina-connected Internet domain names has occurred - spurred in part by scammers and squatters looking to cash in with bogus relief websites.

The web-hosting service Aplus.net reported that 440 domains incorporating "Katrina" were registered on the internet in the past five days, including 180 on Thursday.

The owner of Katrina.com has turned her site into a one-stop hurricane-relief-information centre.

Katrina Blankenship, a web designer in Powhatan, said the site was designed seven years ago as part of her business in web design and computer consultation.

"Because my first name is the same as the hurricane ... I have had an overwhelming number of hits,;" she said.

"In an effort to be of some assistance, I have provided links to various government agencies and private entities.

"I also have provided a message board to assist individuals in locating family and friends."

RedCross.org and NOLA.com have seen huge increases in web visits this week, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, a Web-ratings analysis company.

ComScore Networks, another internet-traffic-measurement firm, reported that more than 1.7 million online searches containing the words "hurricane" and/or "Katrina" were conducted last week.

Traffic to RedCross.org skyrocketed on Wednesday, attracting 1.1 million people.

That's as many as visited the site in all of December 2004, the month of the Asian tsunami disaster.

A spokesperson for the Red Cross said 75% of the dollars contributed for hurricane relief have come from online donors.

Advance Internet's Nola.com, affiliated with the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper, drew 1.4 million people on Monday.

The site, maintained by editors and technology people in Advance's office in New Jersey, has published reporters' stories from New Orleans, blog messages, and photos from readers and residents.

The site has also hosted electronic versions of the newspaper.

National Public Radio has begun offering more than 130 podcasts through its website at npr.org.

None of the network's crown jewels like "All Things Considered" or "Morning Edition" are in the package of free programmes available for downloading, but on its Website, NPR hinted they could be coming - for a price.

- Dow Jones