5 ms·

Best to have your own domain name. Not very expensive and you can't have it ripped from under you for no reason at all.

by Digit-Al 9y ago

rocky1138 9y ago
You can, but it's much more unlikely.
gruez 9y ago
Instead, you're subject to the whims of your domain registrar and your hosting provider (or email provider).
- blfr 9y ago
  Only the registry really. The hosting provider usually doesn't control your domain, and the registrar is bound by the rules set by the registry. It's still a significant counterparty risk though.
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  I strongly recommend people keep their domain registrar and hosting provider as separate entities. It makes it much less likely you'll suffer a catastrophic loss.
- zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago
  Whether the registrar has much power depends on the registry, usually not really (you usually can just move to a different registrar and the old registrar can not legally prevent you from doing so). The hosting/email provider is obviously not a problem at all, as you can switch to a different provider at any time (just make sure to keep the domain registration and the service provider separate) if your current provider is an asshole--or you can just host your own server if you want to avoid any providers messing with your emails.
- jeltz 9y ago
  I run a registrar, and while we can mess with people's domains we would get in serious trouble with the registry and you would get the domain back if we did so. Many registries have rules which protect the domain owners from the whims of registrars, but if you are worried you can look it upf or your specific registry.
elliottcarlson 9y ago
Back in the very early 2000's I owned a domain and a month after renewing it, the registrar refunded me the registration fee and took ownership of it - the new WHOIS entry was for the owner of that registrar. Similarly; you are at the whim of the NICs, with the .ly domains being a great example of a TLD taking back domains for whatever reason. https://benmetcalfe.com/blog/2010/10/the-ly-domain-space-to-be-considered-unsafe/ https://benmetcalfe.com/blog/2010/10/the-ly-domain-space-to-...
- corobo 9y ago
  What domain name and what registrar? Did you contest it with ICANN?
- Animats 9y ago
  If you're using a ccTLD, it's reasonable to expect country-specific policies.
  - dogecoinbase 9y ago
    You wouldn't believe how many folks I've met who have no idea that those are ccTLDs, and not just handy two-letter TLDs. Kind of astonishing.
- morganvachon 9y ago
  > Back in the very early 2000's I owned a domain and a month after renewing it, the registrar refunded me the registration fee and took ownership of it - the new WHOIS entry was for the owner of that registrar. Are you comfortable with sharing their reason (if they gave one) for doing that to you? That seems like a situation that would quickly cause a mass exodus of customers to a competitor. Years ago when I first started helping people build a web presence, I used 1&1 Inc. as both a registrar and hosting provider. When one of my clients wanted to move to a cheaper host, I was happy to help her make the move, however 1&1 did everything short of taking ownership of the domain to stop her from doing so. They would delay the transfer, lock the domain after I'd unlocked it, and wouldn't respond to support requests. I finally had to threaten legal action to make them release the domain to the new registrar. I immediately pulled all of my own domains to a new registrar and moved my sites to a new host. They tried to delay my move as well, and again I had to say "lawyer" a few times before they let go.
borne0 9y ago
I want to do this, but I don't want the hassle of running my own email server. Can someone recommend a good email hosting service for custom domains? Personal email, so needs to be fairly cheap.
- nes350 9y ago
  FastMail - 5$ per month https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/ https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/
  - smcl 9y ago
    I've got relatively simple requirements but I found FastMail to be really good
    - morganvachon 9y ago
      They are hands down the best email provider I've used. I moved from Gmail to them and the speed, support, and reliability is head and shoulders above even the paid Google service.
  - caf 9y ago
    FastMail has been great for me, too. They'll host your DNS as well if you want.
    - type0 9y ago
      Can you add your own TLS cert for your domain with them?
      - caf 9y ago
        They don't really need a TLS cert for your domain - they don't host your website; the MX record in your domain just points at a host in one of their domains (for which they have the TLS certificate); and the 'mail.yourdomain' address just redirects to https://www.fastmail.com https://www.fastmail.com.
matheweis 9y ago
Yep. I changed over years ago and haven't looked back. Also reup the registration whenever possible (fun fact, NameCheap won't let you renew a domain more than 10 years into the future).
- jsjohnst 9y ago
  Depends on the TLD. Many (most?) TLDs that's the max duration and thus isn't likely Namecheap being the restrictor there.
  - matheweis 9y ago
    Somehow I didn't know that - thanks for the info!
snakeanus 9y ago
Best to use a tor/i2p address or use a modern p2p communication protocol.

Best to have your own domain name. Not very expensive and you can't have it ripped from under you for no reason at all.

rocky1138 9y ago

You can, but it's much more unlikely.

gruez 9y ago

Instead, you're subject to the whims of your domain registrar and your hosting provider (or email provider).

blfr 9y ago
Only the registry really. The hosting provider usually doesn't control your domain, and the registrar is bound by the rules set by the registry. It's still a significant counterparty risk though.
ocdtrekkie 9y ago
I strongly recommend people keep their domain registrar and hosting provider as separate entities. It makes it much less likely you'll suffer a catastrophic loss.
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago
Whether the registrar has much power depends on the registry, usually not really (you usually can just move to a different registrar and the old registrar can not legally prevent you from doing so). The hosting/email provider is obviously not a problem at all, as you can switch to a different provider at any time (just make sure to keep the domain registration and the service provider separate) if your current provider is an asshole--or you can just host your own server if you want to avoid any providers messing with your emails.
jeltz 9y ago
I run a registrar, and while we can mess with people's domains we would get in serious trouble with the registry and you would get the domain back if we did so. Many registries have rules which protect the domain owners from the whims of registrars, but if you are worried you can look it upf or your specific registry.

elliottcarlson 9y ago

Back in the very early 2000's I owned a domain and a month after renewing it, the registrar refunded me the registration fee and took ownership of it - the new WHOIS entry was for the owner of that registrar. Similarly; you are at the whim of the NICs, with the .ly domains being a great example of a TLD taking back domains for whatever reason. https://benmetcalfe.com/blog/2010/10/the-ly-domain-space-to-be-considered-unsafe/ https://benmetcalfe.com/blog/2010/10/the-ly-domain-space-to-...

corobo 9y ago
What domain name and what registrar? Did you contest it with ICANN?
Animats 9y ago
If you're using a ccTLD, it's reasonable to expect country-specific policies.
- dogecoinbase 9y ago
  You wouldn't believe how many folks I've met who have no idea that those are ccTLDs, and not just handy two-letter TLDs. Kind of astonishing.
morganvachon 9y ago
> Back in the very early 2000's I owned a domain and a month after renewing it, the registrar refunded me the registration fee and took ownership of it - the new WHOIS entry was for the owner of that registrar. Are you comfortable with sharing their reason (if they gave one) for doing that to you? That seems like a situation that would quickly cause a mass exodus of customers to a competitor. Years ago when I first started helping people build a web presence, I used 1&1 Inc. as both a registrar and hosting provider. When one of my clients wanted to move to a cheaper host, I was happy to help her make the move, however 1&1 did everything short of taking ownership of the domain to stop her from doing so. They would delay the transfer, lock the domain after I'd unlocked it, and wouldn't respond to support requests. I finally had to threaten legal action to make them release the domain to the new registrar. I immediately pulled all of my own domains to a new registrar and moved my sites to a new host. They tried to delay my move as well, and again I had to say "lawyer" a few times before they let go.

borne0 9y ago

I want to do this, but I don't want the hassle of running my own email server. Can someone recommend a good email hosting service for custom domains? Personal email, so needs to be fairly cheap.

nes350 9y ago
FastMail - 5$ per month https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/ https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/
- smcl 9y ago
  I've got relatively simple requirements but I found FastMail to be really good
  - morganvachon 9y ago
    They are hands down the best email provider I've used. I moved from Gmail to them and the speed, support, and reliability is head and shoulders above even the paid Google service.
- caf 9y ago
  FastMail has been great for me, too. They'll host your DNS as well if you want.
  - type0 9y ago
    Can you add your own TLS cert for your domain with them?
    - caf 9y ago
      They don't really need a TLS cert for your domain - they don't host your website; the MX record in your domain just points at a host in one of their domains (for which they have the TLS certificate); and the 'mail.yourdomain' address just redirects to https://www.fastmail.com https://www.fastmail.com.

matheweis 9y ago

Yep. I changed over years ago and haven't looked back. Also reup the registration whenever possible (fun fact, NameCheap won't let you renew a domain more than 10 years into the future).

jsjohnst 9y ago
Depends on the TLD. Many (most?) TLDs that's the max duration and thus isn't likely Namecheap being the restrictor there.
- matheweis 9y ago
  Somehow I didn't know that - thanks for the info!

snakeanus 9y ago

Best to use a tor/i2p address or use a modern p2p communication protocol.