As for the mafia itself? I live in an urban growth neighborhood, and trust me, the same thing is happening there. The corrolation between online domain purchases and actual property is pretty striking. There are so many people buying up land, owning it all, selling it for more than they bought it for… Land Spam. There is actually a double lot near my house that needs to be fixed up and was just bought by a contractor. However, instead of putting two nice houses on it, the contractor is going to put four tall skinnies on it. He’ll make way more money on it, but I am pissed. It’s effectively going to reduce my value and degenerate a blossoming neighborhood. Small skinnies do not increase value or create quality community, they just make more money for the developer. I only bring this up to point out that the developer in general is seen as a savvy business man, while the domain mafia is regarded as a spammer. However, their dealings are very similar, manipulate the inherent value of a property to make money while taking away from the people who try and use the areas for a more ‘noble,’ cause.

Oh Well.

But then again, I guess some people do what they need to do to pay the bills.