Backlash at “Nazi Twitter campaign gaff” by "Summit London" Domain Name Event
Backlash over "Nazi themed" campaign for London Domain Name Event
Monday 21 August 2023, 15,30
An event geared towards the Internet Domain Name Industry has quickly retracted a tweet showcasing images of Adolf Hitler and soldiers in Nazi uniforms, which was meant to promote the upcoming event.
Posted by the @summitlondonuk Twitter ("X.com") account last Saturday, the tweet shocked and upset several prospective attendees. In response to the controversial imagery, some attendees sent emails insisting that the promotional tweets be removed.
This two-day event is labeled as the "annual B2B gathering for the Domain Name sector" by its creator and founder, Helmuts Meskonis, 47. He is also the director of No Stress Limited, which manages two domain name platforms, including dnforum.com which is now considered largely obsolete.
In light of this incident, DomainCrawls contacted Meskonis and some of the advertised participants to ask for their perspective on the promotional approach of the summit. When questioned about the reasoning behind and reflections on the controversial tweet, Meskonis responded:
“We started [by] publishing short videos on various historical facts…” “…Napoleon needed to escape the Elba..” “…Christopher Columbus was rejected by 2 kings…” “…The US allies (Albert Einstein's extended network) helped him to escape the Natzi Germany…”
“[Our] Napoleon’s story…” “…offended French people.” “[Our] Columbus's story got us lots of negativity…” “…We wanted to go safe (avoiding Cleopatra and her bedroom victories) and went with Albert and a true story that he did escape the almost sure death in Natzi (sic) camps (are we wrong?)”
“I have made a decision to delete all 3 history lessons videos on the importance on having as good a network as possible, and further avoid mentioning history facts in order not to offend anyone (definitely not the mission here).”
The summit has secured sponsorship from IT.COM, a domain name that was notably acquired for $3.8 million (USD) in 2021 by Intis Telecom. In an unconventional move, instead of using the domain name as a representation of its brand, Intis Telecom is offering .it.com third-level domain names to the public, with a basic .it.com domain priced at $49 (USD). The exact count of such paid for third-level domain registrations remains undisclosed.
The business strategy and sustainability of this third-level domain registry, which isn't overseen in the manner of ICANN accredited top-level domains (such as .com and .net) or nation-specific domains (like .uk for the United Kingdom or .fr for France), has come under scrutiny. DomainCrawls sought insights from Meskonis on the potential success of the .it.com registry approach and the actual market demand for these domains. Additionally, we asked him if he had personally registered any .it.com domains. At the time of publication of this article we had not received an answer to the questions put to him.
Nominet, a company limited by guarantee, who operate the .uk registry appear to be staying away from the summit in any official or sponsorship capacity. While their name isn't listed among the summit sponsors, Kieren McCarthy, a Non-Executive Director inaugurated into their board in October 2022, is planning to speak at the event. Similarly, Dot London Domains Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of London & Partners, who operate the .london registry also appear to be staying away and are not an official sponsor.
The summit's website showcases a roster of other speakers, including Michael Riedl, CEO of Centralnic, government advisor Nigel Hickson from DCMS. Esteemed domain investor Braden Pollock, alongside Andrew Bennett, CEO of ICANN-affiliated registrar Netistrar and a member of Nominet UKRAC, are among the announced speakers.
Two of the Nominet non executive director candidates, Steven Wright and Thomas Rickett, are listed as planning to be in attendance. DomainCrawls contacted both asking for their comment about the choice of imagery used for the summit publicity campaign as well as the viability and demand for it.com domain names but neither had responded to our questions at the time of publication.
The summit is set for 22nd and 23rd August, and is taking place at the Hilton London Metropole. Tickets are currently available for £50, as indicated on the summit.london website.
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