The Florida man who squatted on half a dozen possible Papal names -- including the one eventually chosen by former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict XVI -- said Thursday that he would be turning over the domains to a New York-based charity.
"I am donating the pope domains and my site's ad revenue from this crazy week to Modest Needs," said Rogers Cadenhead, who describes himself as a writer of technology books, in his blog. Cadenhead described Modest Needs as "like a charitable eBay: They match up donors with people who have short-term, under-$1,000 emergencies (such as repairs to the family's only car), helping them get out of the crisis."
He did make an effort to contact the new Pope via Benedict's brand-new e-mail address to ask if the church wanted the benedictxvi.com domain. "I am concerned that my 'Subject: Free Domains' e-mail might not get through the Holy See's spam filters," Cadenhead said.
The Vatican, which has its own top-level domain of .va, assigned [email protected] as Ratzinger's inbox. (In Italian, it's [email protected].)
Earlier Thursday, Cadenhead said he'd grabbed the winning domain, and the five others, "to keep them away from pornographers, not grab a domain for some kind of papal superstore."
Cadenhead did acknowledge getting at least one offer: from a gambling site.
"I am donating the pope domains and my site's ad revenue from this crazy week to Modest Needs," said Rogers Cadenhead, who describes himself as a writer of technology books, in his blog. Cadenhead described Modest Needs as "like a charitable eBay: They match up donors with people who have short-term, under-$1,000 emergencies (such as repairs to the family's only car), helping them get out of the crisis."
He did make an effort to contact the new Pope via Benedict's brand-new e-mail address to ask if the church wanted the benedictxvi.com domain. "I am concerned that my 'Subject: Free Domains' e-mail might not get through the Holy See's spam filters," Cadenhead said.
The Vatican, which has its own top-level domain of .va, assigned [email protected] as Ratzinger's inbox. (In Italian, it's [email protected].)
Earlier Thursday, Cadenhead said he'd grabbed the winning domain, and the five others, "to keep them away from pornographers, not grab a domain for some kind of papal superstore."
Cadenhead did acknowledge getting at least one offer: from a gambling site.
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