4 ms·

The difference is that there can only be one owner of JohnSmith.com in the ICANN WHOIS database but there can be millions of John Smith on META platforms.

oarsinsync 4y ago
But if there’s a john@smith.net, there can also be a john@smith.com, john@smith.org, john@smith.app, john@smith.us, etc
- bugbuddy 4y ago
  But most people would not be typing john@smith.net or any of the variants you mentioned into their browser address. My point still stands that domain names have a completely different set of constraints.
phs318u 4y ago
Yes, I accept that. I'm personally lucky that all the people alive with my surname in the world are related at the great-grandparent level. There's less than a handful with my firstname. I briefly looked into trademarking my personal name (legal to do in Australia) but its cost prohibitive (vs verifying for multiple online platforms). I even thought briefly about legally changing my name to include a new middle-name that was my PGP short key id. But Australia does not permit the use of numeric symbols in names. (Though I guess you could shift the hex string by 10 so 0-F maps to A-P. That wouldn't break the rules.)
- ml_basics 4y ago
  Interesting idea RE PGP key as middle name... just it would suck to then later on lose access to your private key!
  - hn_go_brrrrr 4y ago
    He can change his middle name again. It's not like the government will require him to produce the private key to do so
- WirelessGigabit 4y ago
  Or generate a vanity key id?
- NineStarPoint 4y ago
  Those are all interesting things you could do, but in what way would they help when we’re talking about the Meta platform? We’re considering the case where someone is actively choosing to use a name that’s not their own for some reason, and if that reason required impersonation they’d just make an account using your publicly available PGP middle name as well.
blibble 4y ago
millions of John Smith all paying $11.99/month

oarsinsync 4y ago

But if there’s a john@smith.net, there can also be a john@smith.com, john@smith.org, john@smith.app, john@smith.us, etc

bugbuddy 4y ago
But most people would not be typing john@smith.net or any of the variants you mentioned into their browser address. My point still stands that domain names have a completely different set of constraints.

phs318u 4y ago

Yes, I accept that. I'm personally lucky that all the people alive with my surname in the world are related at the great-grandparent level. There's less than a handful with my firstname. I briefly looked into trademarking my personal name (legal to do in Australia) but its cost prohibitive (vs verifying for multiple online platforms). I even thought briefly about legally changing my name to include a new middle-name that was my PGP short key id. But Australia does not permit the use of numeric symbols in names. (Though I guess you could shift the hex string by 10 so 0-F maps to A-P. That wouldn't break the rules.)

ml_basics 4y ago
Interesting idea RE PGP key as middle name... just it would suck to then later on lose access to your private key!
- hn_go_brrrrr 4y ago
  He can change his middle name again. It's not like the government will require him to produce the private key to do so
WirelessGigabit 4y ago
Or generate a vanity key id?
NineStarPoint 4y ago
Those are all interesting things you could do, but in what way would they help when we’re talking about the Meta platform? We’re considering the case where someone is actively choosing to use a name that’s not their own for some reason, and if that reason required impersonation they’d just make an account using your publicly available PGP middle name as well.

blibble 4y ago

millions of John Smith all paying $11.99/month