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It’s not apples to apples, a domain name is an asset and a Dropbox account isn’t an asset. However the logic is the same, Dropbox extracts value once they have

It’s not apples to apples, a domain name is an asset and a Dropbox account isn’t an asset. However the logic is the same, Dropbox extracts value once they have a reasonable belief I am so invested into their service I would be more likely to pay to upgrade than migrate my data to another freemium service. Also in my opinion Freenom makes very clear disclosures about the differences in the paid and unpaid features and rights. Just like Dropbox. To say Freenom is defrauding people would be more on par with saying GoDaddy is defrauding customers when they offer a discount on the 1st year registration and then they “extract more money” subsequent years after I have invested in the domain and have something to lose. The complaints against Freenom are clearly manufactured as well, and my guess is people like you calling it fraud haven’t used their service or customer service.

BenjiWiebe 5y ago
I would consider the contents of a Dropbox account to be as much or more so assets than a domain name.
- throwawaycities 5y ago
  Yes, the contents of a Dropbox account can be assets for sure. But a Dropbox account isn’t an asset anymore than a GoDaddy/Namecheap/Freenom account. A domain name on the other hand is an asset, of course like any asset (including Dropbox contents) some are more valuable than others.
matkoniecz 5y ago
> Also in my opinion Freenom makes very clear disclosures about the differences in the paid and unpaid features and rights. They are not making it clear. > would be more on par with saying GoDaddy is defrauding customers when they offer a discount on the 1st year registration and then they “extract more money” subsequent years If it is not made clear to user - then yes, it is a fraud.
- throwawaycities 5y ago
  Perhaps English isn’t your first language or some other issue, but as an example on the homepage under services there is “free and paid domains” with a chart that explains the difference between the free and paid feature akin to any other freemium service that provides a chart to compare free vs paid accounts/features. It’s also in the footer, they also have a price chart under services and in the footer, they also show you these options when checking out. I guess what everyone is arguing here is that they shouldn’t allow any free registration but charge a discounted rate the first year like every other domain registrar. https://www.freenom.com/en/freeandpaiddomains.html https://www.freenom.com/en/freeandpaiddomains.html
  - matkoniecz 5y ago
    now it claims that every single domain name is not available. But when I checked the main flow starting from the main page - there was no clear mention that "your" free domain is not actually yours
    - throwawaycities 5y ago
      I have no idea what you are trying to say, but a domain name is never “yours” they are all licensed. In the page I linked for you which is available on their homepage menu and footer on every page the chart explaining the difference between the free and paid domains contains at least 3 rows on point: > Legal rights: Free: Registrant acts as user of domain name, not as licensee > Transfer rights: Free: None > WHOIS: Free: Freenom or one of its subsidiaries appears as the licensee in the WHOIS Disclosures aside it is immaterial to the more important point, Freenom is not going into user account and taking domain names (free or paid) and selling them to 3rd parties. The review complaining that this happened is fake, hence why they can’t establish this actually happened. Freenom is a legit company with real assets, they are a ICANN licensee of its own TLDs and official servicer of a few country TLDs, if they actually stole someone’s high traffic or high value domain name and sold it to a 3rd party as alleged in the fake review, then the user could sue for damages and specific performance to get the domain back just the same as if Godaddy or Namecheap or any other registrar were to just steal user domain names.

BenjiWiebe 5y ago

I would consider the contents of a Dropbox account to be as much or more so assets than a domain name.

throwawaycities 5y ago
Yes, the contents of a Dropbox account can be assets for sure. But a Dropbox account isn’t an asset anymore than a GoDaddy/Namecheap/Freenom account. A domain name on the other hand is an asset, of course like any asset (including Dropbox contents) some are more valuable than others.

matkoniecz 5y ago

> Also in my opinion Freenom makes very clear disclosures about the differences in the paid and unpaid features and rights. They are not making it clear. > would be more on par with saying GoDaddy is defrauding customers when they offer a discount on the 1st year registration and then they “extract more money” subsequent years If it is not made clear to user - then yes, it is a fraud.

throwawaycities 5y ago
Perhaps English isn’t your first language or some other issue, but as an example on the homepage under services there is “free and paid domains” with a chart that explains the difference between the free and paid feature akin to any other freemium service that provides a chart to compare free vs paid accounts/features. It’s also in the footer, they also have a price chart under services and in the footer, they also show you these options when checking out. I guess what everyone is arguing here is that they shouldn’t allow any free registration but charge a discounted rate the first year like every other domain registrar. https://www.freenom.com/en/freeandpaiddomains.html https://www.freenom.com/en/freeandpaiddomains.html
- matkoniecz 5y ago
  now it claims that every single domain name is not available. But when I checked the main flow starting from the main page - there was no clear mention that "your" free domain is not actually yours
  - throwawaycities 5y ago
    I have no idea what you are trying to say, but a domain name is never “yours” they are all licensed. In the page I linked for you which is available on their homepage menu and footer on every page the chart explaining the difference between the free and paid domains contains at least 3 rows on point: > Legal rights: Free: Registrant acts as user of domain name, not as licensee > Transfer rights: Free: None > WHOIS: Free: Freenom or one of its subsidiaries appears as the licensee in the WHOIS Disclosures aside it is immaterial to the more important point, Freenom is not going into user account and taking domain names (free or paid) and selling them to 3rd parties. The review complaining that this happened is fake, hence why they can’t establish this actually happened. Freenom is a legit company with real assets, they are a ICANN licensee of its own TLDs and official servicer of a few country TLDs, if they actually stole someone’s high traffic or high value domain name and sold it to a 3rd party as alleged in the fake review, then the user could sue for damages and specific performance to get the domain back just the same as if Godaddy or Namecheap or any other registrar were to just steal user domain names.