4 ms·

Ask HN: SSL is free now, why domain names are not

5 points by tuyguntn 11y ago

Thanks to letsencrypt and others, now SSL is free, but why same is not happening with domain names? I think if fraudulent (or lots of) name registrations will be fixed, then it is possible to make domain name registration free (like telegram did for their bot names, max was 20name last time I checked)

smt88 11y ago
OK. Let's say domain registration becomes free. Now I want to register all remaining domain names. What's stopping me? Artificial limits of domains per person? That's not really fair, because some people really need to buy domains to prevent cybersquatting. The current system isn't perfect, but it's better than open, free registration.
stepanhruda 11y ago
What stops anyone from squatting all the domain names possible?
- jklein11 11y ago
  arent there an infinite number of domains?
  - afarrell 11y ago
    > According to the domain registrars, the longest legal domain name is 63 characters starting with a letter or number. So no http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/post/the_worlds_longest_domain_name.html http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/post/the_worlds_longest_domai...
  - tuyguntn 11y ago
    event though you can generate more than 36^63 combinations, it doesn't make sense to use 63 character long domain name and even now it is difficult to find & register representative domain name.
    - jklein11 11y ago
      It would definitely make bookmarking a more important feature for browsers, but we remember street addresses that are longer than 36 characters, why not longer domain names?
      - stepanhruda 11y ago
        I sure don't remember those anywhere near the scale of app and domain names
  - stepanhruda 11y ago
    There is a finite number of words people understand.
anonx 11y ago
There is Freenom that let you register free .tk, .ml, .ga, .cf, .gq domains. And the number of scam web-sites IMO discredit those domain zones. Though according to the feedback online, Freenom to domains is not what Letsencrypt is to SSL. Their business model (cancel domain name registration then ask $xxxx to register it again) looks like fraud to me [1]. [1]: https://www.quora.com/Is-Freenom-a-fraudulent-company https://www.quora.com/Is-Freenom-a-fraudulent-company

5 points by tuyguntn 11y ago

smt88 11y ago

OK. Let's say domain registration becomes free. Now I want to register all remaining domain names. What's stopping me? Artificial limits of domains per person? That's not really fair, because some people really need to buy domains to prevent cybersquatting. The current system isn't perfect, but it's better than open, free registration.

stepanhruda 11y ago

What stops anyone from squatting all the domain names possible?

jklein11 11y ago
arent there an infinite number of domains?
- afarrell 11y ago
  > According to the domain registrars, the longest legal domain name is 63 characters starting with a letter or number. So no http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/post/the_worlds_longest_domain_name.html http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/post/the_worlds_longest_domai...
- tuyguntn 11y ago
  event though you can generate more than 36^63 combinations, it doesn't make sense to use 63 character long domain name and even now it is difficult to find & register representative domain name.
  - jklein11 11y ago
    It would definitely make bookmarking a more important feature for browsers, but we remember street addresses that are longer than 36 characters, why not longer domain names?
    - stepanhruda 11y ago
      I sure don't remember those anywhere near the scale of app and domain names
- stepanhruda 11y ago
  There is a finite number of words people understand.

anonx 11y ago

There is Freenom that let you register free .tk, .ml, .ga, .cf, .gq domains. And the number of scam web-sites IMO discredit those domain zones. Though according to the feedback online, Freenom to domains is not what Letsencrypt is to SSL. Their business model (cancel domain name registration then ask $xxxx to register it again) looks like fraud to me [1]. [1]: https://www.quora.com/Is-Freenom-a-fraudulent-company https://www.quora.com/Is-Freenom-a-fraudulent-company