4 ms·

if they became the owners, they wouldn't have to re-up every period of time.

jackfraser 9y ago
You own the name; the service of actually pointing that name to some nameservers, and maintaining secure control over it, is what you're paying for. I could see a registrar telling you they don't want to do business with you any more; they should have to give you some time to transfer it out. However, it's still a dangerous precedent that people on all sides of the political spectrum would do well to heed as a warning of censorship to come.
- jakelazaroff 9y ago
  > You own the name; the service of actually pointing that name to some nameservers, and maintaining secure control over it, is what you're paying for. If that were the case, letting it expire would result in it just being dead rather than available for others to register.
  - featherverse 9y ago
    > If that were the case, letting it expire would result in it just being dead rather than available for others to register. No, it was always intended that when someone no longer needs a domain name, it would be returned to the pool of available domain names for others to make use of. This is in the very spirit of the internet.
    - jakelazaroff 9y ago
      What do you mean, "it was always intended?" That's certainly not how property rights work. If I legally own something, it doesn't become available to others just because I don't need it myself anymore.
      - featherverse 9y ago
        > What do you mean, "it was always intended?" I mean the internet is a new world which is only about 40 years old. It was created by a lot of really smart guys who mostly don't care about the "traditional market rules" and it was created a specific way to follow specific philosophies one of which is when a domain name is no longer being used it should be available for other people to purchase. It's not exactly counter-culture, but it's completely different. The distributed infastructure, the emphasis on putting equal power in the hands of the smallest operators rather than focusing it on the largest corporations, none of these things mesh with how the offline world has been operating for centuries. People who were aware of the internet before it was cool remember these details. I don't know how to make it more clear for you than that.
        jakelazaroff 9y ago
        I'm aware of the philosophies behind the creation of the Internet. I'm just telling you the system you're describing is mutually exclusive with one in which domains are owned by people who register them.
        featherverse 9y ago
        I absolutely agree there are some loose ends. That's why there were a lot of court cases about 10-15 years ago, mostly spearheaded by large corporations who were late to the game and suddenly realized they needed to protect their trademarks in the domain name market. It's safe to say that it has not been settled yet. But it is in everyone's best interest to do our best to adhere to the intentions of the original creators.
  - leni536 9y ago
    If you don't own the name then how can you sell it for thousands?
    - parenthephobia 9y ago
      You can't. You can sell the right to have that domain name point at nameservers of your choosing.
    - featherverse 9y ago
      You do own the domains you purchase, this is why there were court trials about trademarks. It's a question of property rights.
jakelazaroff 9y ago
This is a good point, but I think you could still make the case that you own it. Is the yearly registration fee analagous to a subscription, or to property taxes? I don't have the answer here; curious to find out what everyone thinks.
- heartbreak 9y ago
  It’s not a matter of what people think it’s a matter of law. When you register a domain name with NetworkSolutions, you do not own that domain name.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    What law are you referring to?
    - heartbreak 9y ago
      Contract law.
featherverse 9y ago
You aren't "re-up"ing. Domain names are not pre-paid cell phone plans. Look at it this way. Until a domain is registered, nobody owns it. When you pay to register a domain, you aren't buying it on the registrar's behalf. When you register a domain name you are purchasing that domain name for the duration of the registration period. You own it. Period. The registrar's role is to handle certain technical functions such as providing PTR service, WHOIS records, and to expire the domain when the registration period expires. They don't own it, and the cost of registration is meant to cover their operating costs. This is also why domains are so cheap. A .com is about $10 per year. That's basically nothing, when you compare to other things you pay for. If there weren't a recurring fee, people would never give up their unused domain names.

You own the name; the service of actually pointing that name to some nameservers, and maintaining secure control over it, is what you're paying for. I could see a registrar telling you they don't want to do business with you any more; they should have to give you some time to transfer it out. However, it's still a dangerous precedent that people on all sides of the political spectrum would do well to heed as a warning of censorship to come.

jakelazaroff 9y ago
> You own the name; the service of actually pointing that name to some nameservers, and maintaining secure control over it, is what you're paying for. If that were the case, letting it expire would result in it just being dead rather than available for others to register.
- featherverse 9y ago
  > If that were the case, letting it expire would result in it just being dead rather than available for others to register. No, it was always intended that when someone no longer needs a domain name, it would be returned to the pool of available domain names for others to make use of. This is in the very spirit of the internet.
  - jakelazaroff 9y ago
    What do you mean, "it was always intended?" That's certainly not how property rights work. If I legally own something, it doesn't become available to others just because I don't need it myself anymore.
    - featherverse 9y ago
      > What do you mean, "it was always intended?" I mean the internet is a new world which is only about 40 years old. It was created by a lot of really smart guys who mostly don't care about the "traditional market rules" and it was created a specific way to follow specific philosophies one of which is when a domain name is no longer being used it should be available for other people to purchase. It's not exactly counter-culture, but it's completely different. The distributed infastructure, the emphasis on putting equal power in the hands of the smallest operators rather than focusing it on the largest corporations, none of these things mesh with how the offline world has been operating for centuries. People who were aware of the internet before it was cool remember these details. I don't know how to make it more clear for you than that.
      - jakelazaroff 9y ago
        I'm aware of the philosophies behind the creation of the Internet. I'm just telling you the system you're describing is mutually exclusive with one in which domains are owned by people who register them.
        featherverse 9y ago
        I absolutely agree there are some loose ends. That's why there were a lot of court cases about 10-15 years ago, mostly spearheaded by large corporations who were late to the game and suddenly realized they needed to protect their trademarks in the domain name market. It's safe to say that it has not been settled yet. But it is in everyone's best interest to do our best to adhere to the intentions of the original creators.
- leni536 9y ago
  If you don't own the name then how can you sell it for thousands?
  - parenthephobia 9y ago
    You can't. You can sell the right to have that domain name point at nameservers of your choosing.
  - featherverse 9y ago
    You do own the domains you purchase, this is why there were court trials about trademarks. It's a question of property rights.

jakelazaroff 9y ago

This is a good point, but I think you could still make the case that you own it. Is the yearly registration fee analagous to a subscription, or to property taxes? I don't have the answer here; curious to find out what everyone thinks.

heartbreak 9y ago
It’s not a matter of what people think it’s a matter of law. When you register a domain name with NetworkSolutions, you do not own that domain name.
- icebraining 9y ago
  What law are you referring to?
  - heartbreak 9y ago
    Contract law.

featherverse 9y ago

You aren't "re-up"ing. Domain names are not pre-paid cell phone plans. Look at it this way. Until a domain is registered, nobody owns it. When you pay to register a domain, you aren't buying it on the registrar's behalf. When you register a domain name you are purchasing that domain name for the duration of the registration period. You own it. Period. The registrar's role is to handle certain technical functions such as providing PTR service, WHOIS records, and to expire the domain when the registration period expires. They don't own it, and the cost of registration is meant to cover their operating costs. This is also why domains are so cheap. A .com is about $10 per year. That's basically nothing, when you compare to other things you pay for. If there weren't a recurring fee, people would never give up their unused domain names.