Hacker Steals MakeUseOf.com Domain, Blackmails Owner

It would've been very impressive if this incident were a staged PR stunt.

This is not blackmail. Blackmail is when the villain demands money to refrain from releasing injurious or compromising injurious information.<p>This is better described as stealing and ransoming the domain name. If it becomes popular, then perhaps we can coin the term "namenapping".<p>But it isn't blackmail. (Well… arguably the revelation that they use GoDaddy as their registrar is pretty embarassing, but that was public information already.)

That sucks... it seems if you are featured on their great site it funnels to larger tech sites.<p>HOpe they get everything straighten out.<p>A PR stunt ...anything is possible..maybe, but I doubt it!

I think I would pay the $2000. With hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue on the line, it seems like a good investment. Plus, once the hacker cashes the check, he is that much easier to trace.

Changing my gmail password right now.. k thanks.