4 ms·

Why does this need to be a thing that exists? Also, why hasn't one or more independently wealthy folks disrupted this by obtaining their own TLD and running it

Why does this need to be a thing that exists? Also, why hasn't one or more independently wealthy folks disrupted this by obtaining their own TLD and running it on donations. Allow the registrar give out names for free. The only rules would be "no spam or activity illegal in <Country>".

airstrike 4y ago
because virtually all .com domains are already taken / squatted and other tld's are useless
dekken_ 4y ago
you can get what you want when you can bribe enough people apparently
- ncpa-cpl 4y ago
  For a $185,000 application fee https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/global-support/faqs/faqs-en https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/global-support/faqs...
CoastalCoder 4y ago
> Why does this need to be a thing that exists? My guess is that it's an outgrowth of the fact that .edu, .com / .co, and .org weren't rigorously enforced. So except for .gov, the TLDs were no longer a reliable source for any important information. But I'm just speculating; perhaps someone can correct me.
- Eleison23 4y ago
  Around 1992, I applied for and obtained a .com domain name and a Class C network, free of charge, no expiration dates. I had seen (probably on Usenet) a little tutorial about what information was expected in the applications and so I faked up a consulting company with a catchy name, and explained how our board met N times per year. I was never once able to use the Class C - I worked for an ISP but I still didn't have enough clout to get a BGP announcement for my 28.8k SLIP dialup. I think I sort of used the domain name, at least as a reply-to email address, but I don't remember operating authoritative NS or anything. They were both eventually reaped. The Class C was under 192.x.x.x and surely was hot property within a few years. My boss engaged in a little speculation and snagged some really hot domain names, and probably did better than I had done.
jedberg 4y ago
To make ICAAN money. That's why they started doing this. You have to pay them a lot of money for the privilege.
KyeRussell 4y ago
You could say that about 99.9% of the stuff on HN.
kristopolous 4y ago
The initial goal was to try to remove the artificial scarcity and value of .com domains by opening up the field. This would also avoid the onslaught of startups with weird spellings of uncommon words because everything is being squatted. It would also permit per tld rules. For instance, you could require someone looking for say .salon to submit documentation showing they're a salon. So then sassysalon.com may be $15,000 but sassy.salon requires documentation that you're doing salon business and it's $10 because someone can't just squat on 10,000 of them and then auction it off. Noble goal and things like this are a consequence of it. It's fine
elliottcarlson 4y ago
Freenom has free domain registration under a a handful of TLDs (.TK / .ML / .GA / .CF / .GQ) with various requirements for registration. https://www.freenom.com/en/freeandpaiddomains.html https://www.freenom.com/en/freeandpaiddomains.html

airstrike 4y ago

because virtually all .com domains are already taken / squatted and other tld's are useless

dekken_ 4y ago

you can get what you want when you can bribe enough people apparently

ncpa-cpl 4y ago
For a $185,000 application fee https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/global-support/faqs/faqs-en https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/global-support/faqs...

CoastalCoder 4y ago

> Why does this need to be a thing that exists? My guess is that it's an outgrowth of the fact that .edu, .com / .co, and .org weren't rigorously enforced. So except for .gov, the TLDs were no longer a reliable source for any important information. But I'm just speculating; perhaps someone can correct me.

Eleison23 4y ago
Around 1992, I applied for and obtained a .com domain name and a Class C network, free of charge, no expiration dates. I had seen (probably on Usenet) a little tutorial about what information was expected in the applications and so I faked up a consulting company with a catchy name, and explained how our board met N times per year. I was never once able to use the Class C - I worked for an ISP but I still didn't have enough clout to get a BGP announcement for my 28.8k SLIP dialup. I think I sort of used the domain name, at least as a reply-to email address, but I don't remember operating authoritative NS or anything. They were both eventually reaped. The Class C was under 192.x.x.x and surely was hot property within a few years. My boss engaged in a little speculation and snagged some really hot domain names, and probably did better than I had done.

jedberg 4y ago

To make ICAAN money. That's why they started doing this. You have to pay them a lot of money for the privilege.

KyeRussell 4y ago

You could say that about 99.9% of the stuff on HN.

kristopolous 4y ago

The initial goal was to try to remove the artificial scarcity and value of .com domains by opening up the field. This would also avoid the onslaught of startups with weird spellings of uncommon words because everything is being squatted. It would also permit per tld rules. For instance, you could require someone looking for say .salon to submit documentation showing they're a salon. So then sassysalon.com may be $15,000 but sassy.salon requires documentation that you're doing salon business and it's $10 because someone can't just squat on 10,000 of them and then auction it off. Noble goal and things like this are a consequence of it. It's fine

elliottcarlson 4y ago

Freenom has free domain registration under a a handful of TLDs (.TK / .ML / .GA / .CF / .GQ) with various requirements for registration. https://www.freenom.com/en/freeandpaiddomains.html https://www.freenom.com/en/freeandpaiddomains.html