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Simply regulate domains like we already regulate business addresses and trademarks. You open an LLC, and if you continually fail expectations of profit, you los

by tjs8rj 5y ago

Simply regulate domains like we already regulate business addresses and trademarks. You open an LLC, and if you continually fail expectations of profit, you lose it, along with your trademarks and domain. At the end of the day: domain squatters create negative value for society. They shouldn’t be allowed to exist

CydeWeys 5y ago
So you would really want to change domain ownership, which is a simple $10/yr process, into an onerous hundreds of dollars per year business/TM registration type process? Talk about an anti-democratization of the web. What about all the hobbyists that would be forced out from doing so? Most domains would cease to exist as they simply wouldn't be worth continuing with under this draconian system. "Simply regulate domains" sounds like an absolute disaster to me. > At the end of the day: domain squatters create negative value for society. I don't disagree with you, but your proposed solution creates a much worse negative value for society. As it currently stands, anyone can get a domain name cheaply and easily; it just might not be their first choice. Under your system, no one would be able to get a domain name cheaply and easily. It'd be as much hassle as registering an LLC with your state.
- ericwooley 5y ago
  It's not a 10$ per year thing anymore though, for any reasonable domain it's at least 2k, because of squatters and bullshit. Honestly, I don't think I agree with the solution as proposed, but IMO something does need to change, and this avenue could be refined. EG pay a reasonable fee to have the domains parking status be looked appealed. At the very least, we could probably solve cases where I had ownership, let it lapse and someone re-registered for the purpose of extortion. Even if the fee was the same as the extortion price, at least the squatter makes nothing and has just wasted their time. -- Another thought on expiration squatting specifically, is that there should be a grace period for the original owner to re register. Like 2 weeks. Enough that a site owner could notice the lapse, and get their site re-registered, without needing to compete with the automated bots. -- Another avenue could be domain owner reputation. Where you need to have a reasonable reputation to buy a recently expired domain. A bigger company could co sign for you for a fee, but they would be risking their own reputation. -- I think there are probably a lot of other, better ideas, and we should all persue them. If only there were the political will power to make it happen. There is probably already to many entrenched stakeholders to ever get real change. Maybe there should just be a DNS 2.0, the whole system is rethought from the ground up. Sounds like a potential Blockchain startup idea. I guess I'm about to spend the next week researching, and or writing a white paper.
sfe22 5y ago
llc for a domain? And how you prove expectations of profit? What if one does not have expectation of profit?
fsckboy 5y ago
nonsense, businesses are not regulated like that. I've owned a money losing business for a number of years, one that fails expectations of profit, and nobody is monitoring it or asking or requiring me to close it, nor its trademarks or domains
- rcruzeiro 5y ago
  I wonder what would have happened to Uber if "expectations of profit" were a thing.
  - CydeWeys 5y ago
    They wouldn't have a domain name, clearly. You'd have to type in an IP address manually to see their website.
farmerstan 5y ago
It’s frightening how some people think everything should be about money. Profits are not everyone’s goals nor should they be.

by tjs8rj 5y ago

CydeWeys 5y ago

So you would really want to change domain ownership, which is a simple $10/yr process, into an onerous hundreds of dollars per year business/TM registration type process? Talk about an anti-democratization of the web. What about all the hobbyists that would be forced out from doing so? Most domains would cease to exist as they simply wouldn't be worth continuing with under this draconian system. "Simply regulate domains" sounds like an absolute disaster to me. > At the end of the day: domain squatters create negative value for society. I don't disagree with you, but your proposed solution creates a much worse negative value for society. As it currently stands, anyone can get a domain name cheaply and easily; it just might not be their first choice. Under your system, no one would be able to get a domain name cheaply and easily. It'd be as much hassle as registering an LLC with your state.

ericwooley 5y ago
It's not a 10$ per year thing anymore though, for any reasonable domain it's at least 2k, because of squatters and bullshit. Honestly, I don't think I agree with the solution as proposed, but IMO something does need to change, and this avenue could be refined. EG pay a reasonable fee to have the domains parking status be looked appealed. At the very least, we could probably solve cases where I had ownership, let it lapse and someone re-registered for the purpose of extortion. Even if the fee was the same as the extortion price, at least the squatter makes nothing and has just wasted their time. -- Another thought on expiration squatting specifically, is that there should be a grace period for the original owner to re register. Like 2 weeks. Enough that a site owner could notice the lapse, and get their site re-registered, without needing to compete with the automated bots. -- Another avenue could be domain owner reputation. Where you need to have a reasonable reputation to buy a recently expired domain. A bigger company could co sign for you for a fee, but they would be risking their own reputation. -- I think there are probably a lot of other, better ideas, and we should all persue them. If only there were the political will power to make it happen. There is probably already to many entrenched stakeholders to ever get real change. Maybe there should just be a DNS 2.0, the whole system is rethought from the ground up. Sounds like a potential Blockchain startup idea. I guess I'm about to spend the next week researching, and or writing a white paper.

sfe22 5y ago

llc for a domain? And how you prove expectations of profit? What if one does not have expectation of profit?

fsckboy 5y ago

nonsense, businesses are not regulated like that. I've owned a money losing business for a number of years, one that fails expectations of profit, and nobody is monitoring it or asking or requiring me to close it, nor its trademarks or domains

rcruzeiro 5y ago
I wonder what would have happened to Uber if "expectations of profit" were a thing.
- CydeWeys 5y ago
  They wouldn't have a domain name, clearly. You'd have to type in an IP address manually to see their website.

farmerstan 5y ago

It’s frightening how some people think everything should be about money. Profits are not everyone’s goals nor should they be.