Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Sell your name and make rent
I don't think this will make as much money for the second person who tries.
Jax
US software engineer Matthew Jean Rouse faces an uncertain future as he waits to discover what his new name will be.
After years of hating the middle name Jean, given to him in honour of a grandfather he did not like, the 31-year-old decided to take action.
He used the auction site eBay to sell his middle name, vowing to replace it with any name the highest bidder chose.
On Monday a company that hosts web sites placed a winning bid of $8,000 for the chance to rename Mr Rouse.
Brother's bid
But he will have to wait to find out what LucaHost.com want to call him.
"I'm guessing it will be LucaHost.com,'' Mr Rouse told the Associated Press news agency.
Also trying to win the auction had been Mr Rouse's brother Bill, who offered $1,500 to keep the name Jean in the family.
"Basically, he's trying to dump our grandfather's name, and I'm trying to buy it and make it stay as it is," his brother said.
The middle name was taken from his late grandfather, Jean Stelter.
Just short of 40 bids were made before the bidding was cut off by the web host company agreeing to pay the full "Buy it now" asking price.
"I guess I'm just surprised that this would generate that much interest,'' Mr Rouse told AP news agency. (Link)
Jax
US software engineer Matthew Jean Rouse faces an uncertain future as he waits to discover what his new name will be.
After years of hating the middle name Jean, given to him in honour of a grandfather he did not like, the 31-year-old decided to take action.
He used the auction site eBay to sell his middle name, vowing to replace it with any name the highest bidder chose.
On Monday a company that hosts web sites placed a winning bid of $8,000 for the chance to rename Mr Rouse.
Brother's bid
But he will have to wait to find out what LucaHost.com want to call him.
"I'm guessing it will be LucaHost.com,'' Mr Rouse told the Associated Press news agency.
Also trying to win the auction had been Mr Rouse's brother Bill, who offered $1,500 to keep the name Jean in the family.
"Basically, he's trying to dump our grandfather's name, and I'm trying to buy it and make it stay as it is," his brother said.
The middle name was taken from his late grandfather, Jean Stelter.
Just short of 40 bids were made before the bidding was cut off by the web host company agreeing to pay the full "Buy it now" asking price.
"I guess I'm just surprised that this would generate that much interest,'' Mr Rouse told AP news agency. (Link)
