8 ms·

Cloudflare sells domains at bulk price

CommitSyn 3y ago
By "sells domains at bulk price" do you mean they sell them to you, the customer, at the wholesale price they buy them from the registry?
- mgillett54 3y ago
  Yes > Cloudflare Registrar will only ever charge you what we pay to the registry for your domain. No markup and no surprise fees. https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/ https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/
  - schemescape 3y ago
    Note that you have to use their name servers. Or at least that’s what I read somewhere on HN.
    - gorlilla 3y ago
      Custom/Vanity nameservers are currently business/enterprise accounts only AFAIK.
stevenicr 3y ago
but Cloudlfare isn't really selling the domains- they are essentially registering them and leasing to you.. with the ability and will to backtrack on that. and cloudlfare is no longer the free speech champion they were many moons ago - in fact they have become a 'turn off the speech of those who concern them or others' kind of place. Using their services is contributing to a less open internet.
- natpalmer1776 3y ago
  Do you have any additional information on the first claim you made? I transferred my domain from google domains to cloudflare and this sounds quite concerning to me.
  - stevenicr 3y ago
    They did a 180 in 2019 - DDG search 'Terminating Service for 8Chan' and 'Blocking Kiwifarms'
    - NicoJuicy 3y ago
      That's not a 180, but a business decision when going live on stock exchange. Still doing that would be somewhat controversial and would be a liability for the stock ( + give a wrong impression for normal investors = not in IT)
      - stevenicr 3y ago
        "but a business decision when going live on stock exchange." - I agree - and ain't nothin' wrong with that - be a sell out, and get that paper, lots of it! But it IS a 180 - at least for those of us who watched the early days of cloudlfare, and how they really championed the whole free speech / we are dumb pipe / we don't block things.. way of pushing back on people and org's who demanded they block and censor things.. a lot of people gave massive goodwill to the brand, and were unaware of the changes (see the other comments here where many here were still under the impression they provided services to these and other sorts of things) I agree it could be a liability for the stock - sure - so let's just be honest about what they are now - a semi-censor machine, not too different from godaddy - who also became a slave to wall st and those who use it to push agendas - godaddy is no longer the company that Bob (and many other OGs) created, and Cloudflare is no longer the thing it was. Supporting either of these places today is supporting the censoring of the web by a few, and with consolidated power at this point as well. If you own stock in it, then I'm sure you'd like it that way - and I don't blame you if you are on that side of the glass.
        3y ago
- flangola7 3y ago
  What utter rubbish. Cloudflare hosts 4chan, phishing sites, pirate streams, fake government ID producers, malware delivery, and scammers. If that bar is still too high then whatever content our hypothetical wanker is seeking to host is either very harmful, very illegal, or both.
  - stevenicr 3y ago
    I have proof, it's not 'rubbish' but truth thank you. (see other comments replied with links and read them) your statement of "Cloudflare hosts 4chan..." I did a whois and it says 4chan DNS is CONSTELLIX - I'm pretty sure that's not cloudflare, but I admit I could be wrong on that (I do not know all of CF's nameservers) - (also they publicly booted 8chan, (maybe you did not know this) so similar others I would assume also lost thier ddos protect from CF) If you have proof they protect the other kinds of sites you mention then it would not surprise me to see them all pulled from CF, they are not the free speech champion they were 7 years ago.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - stevenicr 3y ago
    most of what you stated seems to run afoul of their stated "We may block or remove any content we determine": Infringes on intellectual property rights; Contains, installs, or disseminates any active malware, or uses our platform for exploit delivery (such as part of a command and control system); Is otherwise illegal, harmful, or violates the rights of others, including content that discloses sensitive personal information, incites or exploits violence against people or animals, or seeks to defraud the public. ( https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/abuse-approach/ https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/abuse-approach/ ) Perhaps you are thinking of the old cloudflare pre-2017
- fomine3 3y ago
  CF is still the biggest free speech champion compared to other cloud providers. They still provide some contents that some people and content holder want to taken down.
  - stevenicr 3y ago
    Not sure this claim can be made unless we are getting picky about defining cloud providers or how you mean 'biggest'. They can not be the 'best free speech champion' if they block multiple speech platforms and started to work with gov agencies on how to craft rules to force more blocking, imho. every provider hosts some form of something that 'some people and content holder want to taken down.' - some more than others - that has nothing to do with the fact that cloudlflare promoted themselves as free speech champions / we are a dumb pipe - into we block and are making it easier to block things.
- solumunus 3y ago
  Source on first point?
  - stevenicr 3y ago
    their own public posting: https://blog.cloudflare.com/terminating-service-for-8chan/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/terminating-service-for-8chan/ for starters. see also https://blog.cloudflare.com/kiwifarms-blocked/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/kiwifarms-blocked/ - read all the lines.
- NicoJuicy 3y ago
  You're wrong, they are doing what a registrar does https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/products/registrar/ https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/products/registrar/
  - stevenicr 3y ago
    I read the page you linked, I see nothing that says they allow registration of domains or won't remove a domain they kicked off their other services. The page does highlight abuse reporting - from there is a link to a page with a neat graphic that shows some of their services they feel are in a grey area of responsibility (https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/abuse-approach/ https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/abuse-approach/ ) and hand wavy infrastructure is important blah blah.. but then you get to the next section and it lists a to of stuff they block without a court order (and a couple they block with) - Now does that page relate to the other services and not their domain registration is that what you are implying?

By "sells domains at bulk price" do you mean they sell them to you, the customer, at the wholesale price they buy them from the registry?

mgillett54 3y ago
Yes > Cloudflare Registrar will only ever charge you what we pay to the registry for your domain. No markup and no surprise fees. https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/ https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/
- schemescape 3y ago
  Note that you have to use their name servers. Or at least that’s what I read somewhere on HN.
  - gorlilla 3y ago
    Custom/Vanity nameservers are currently business/enterprise accounts only AFAIK.

stevenicr 3y ago

but Cloudlfare isn't really selling the domains- they are essentially registering them and leasing to you.. with the ability and will to backtrack on that. and cloudlfare is no longer the free speech champion they were many moons ago - in fact they have become a 'turn off the speech of those who concern them or others' kind of place. Using their services is contributing to a less open internet.

natpalmer1776 3y ago
Do you have any additional information on the first claim you made? I transferred my domain from google domains to cloudflare and this sounds quite concerning to me.
- stevenicr 3y ago
  They did a 180 in 2019 - DDG search 'Terminating Service for 8Chan' and 'Blocking Kiwifarms'
  - NicoJuicy 3y ago
    That's not a 180, but a business decision when going live on stock exchange. Still doing that would be somewhat controversial and would be a liability for the stock ( + give a wrong impression for normal investors = not in IT)
    - stevenicr 3y ago
      "but a business decision when going live on stock exchange." - I agree - and ain't nothin' wrong with that - be a sell out, and get that paper, lots of it! But it IS a 180 - at least for those of us who watched the early days of cloudlfare, and how they really championed the whole free speech / we are dumb pipe / we don't block things.. way of pushing back on people and org's who demanded they block and censor things.. a lot of people gave massive goodwill to the brand, and were unaware of the changes (see the other comments here where many here were still under the impression they provided services to these and other sorts of things) I agree it could be a liability for the stock - sure - so let's just be honest about what they are now - a semi-censor machine, not too different from godaddy - who also became a slave to wall st and those who use it to push agendas - godaddy is no longer the company that Bob (and many other OGs) created, and Cloudflare is no longer the thing it was. Supporting either of these places today is supporting the censoring of the web by a few, and with consolidated power at this point as well. If you own stock in it, then I'm sure you'd like it that way - and I don't blame you if you are on that side of the glass.
      - 3y ago
flangola7 3y ago
What utter rubbish. Cloudflare hosts 4chan, phishing sites, pirate streams, fake government ID producers, malware delivery, and scammers. If that bar is still too high then whatever content our hypothetical wanker is seeking to host is either very harmful, very illegal, or both.
- stevenicr 3y ago
  I have proof, it's not 'rubbish' but truth thank you. (see other comments replied with links and read them) your statement of "Cloudflare hosts 4chan..." I did a whois and it says 4chan DNS is CONSTELLIX - I'm pretty sure that's not cloudflare, but I admit I could be wrong on that (I do not know all of CF's nameservers) - (also they publicly booted 8chan, (maybe you did not know this) so similar others I would assume also lost thier ddos protect from CF) If you have proof they protect the other kinds of sites you mention then it would not surprise me to see them all pulled from CF, they are not the free speech champion they were 7 years ago.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- stevenicr 3y ago
  most of what you stated seems to run afoul of their stated "We may block or remove any content we determine": Infringes on intellectual property rights; Contains, installs, or disseminates any active malware, or uses our platform for exploit delivery (such as part of a command and control system); Is otherwise illegal, harmful, or violates the rights of others, including content that discloses sensitive personal information, incites or exploits violence against people or animals, or seeks to defraud the public. ( https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/abuse-approach/ https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/abuse-approach/ ) Perhaps you are thinking of the old cloudflare pre-2017
fomine3 3y ago
CF is still the biggest free speech champion compared to other cloud providers. They still provide some contents that some people and content holder want to taken down.
- stevenicr 3y ago
  Not sure this claim can be made unless we are getting picky about defining cloud providers or how you mean 'biggest'. They can not be the 'best free speech champion' if they block multiple speech platforms and started to work with gov agencies on how to craft rules to force more blocking, imho. every provider hosts some form of something that 'some people and content holder want to taken down.' - some more than others - that has nothing to do with the fact that cloudlflare promoted themselves as free speech champions / we are a dumb pipe - into we block and are making it easier to block things.
solumunus 3y ago
Source on first point?
- stevenicr 3y ago
  their own public posting: https://blog.cloudflare.com/terminating-service-for-8chan/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/terminating-service-for-8chan/ for starters. see also https://blog.cloudflare.com/kiwifarms-blocked/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/kiwifarms-blocked/ - read all the lines.
NicoJuicy 3y ago
You're wrong, they are doing what a registrar does https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/products/registrar/ https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/products/registrar/
- stevenicr 3y ago
  I read the page you linked, I see nothing that says they allow registration of domains or won't remove a domain they kicked off their other services. The page does highlight abuse reporting - from there is a link to a page with a neat graphic that shows some of their services they feel are in a grey area of responsibility (https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/abuse-approach/ https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/abuse-approach/ ) and hand wavy infrastructure is important blah blah.. but then you get to the next section and it lists a to of stuff they block without a court order (and a couple they block with) - Now does that page relate to the other services and not their domain registration is that what you are implying?