4 ms·

I think we should institute a Homesteading Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_principle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_principle) for domains.

I think we should institute a Homesteading Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_principle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_principle) for domains. You can claim a domain as long as you use it for a legitimate purpose instead of just parking on it. There would be details to hash out for sure, but in the end I think we would have a much better system in place.

Dramatize 14y ago
That's a terrible idea. People would just create fake purposes for the websites.. and then who would be responsible to decide if a purpose is legitimate or not?
- rachelbythebay 14y ago
  Wouldn't it just be a return to the days when domains were free? Back in the mid-'90s, when people I knew registered vanity domains, they tended to come up with some ridiculous expansion of the name to make it look official. Nobody ever checked that "foo" really meant "fraternal otter organization" (or whatever), so those would become the top line in whois.
  - eli 14y ago
    Was that before Network Solutions? I bought a domain in maybe 1996 or 1997 and it was decidedly not free
    - rachelbythebay 14y ago
      Yep. Then it jumped to $100/2 years before competition brought the prices down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Solutions#Registry_and_registrar_business http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Solutions#Registry_and_... IP space used to be free, too, as long as you could justify it. What times those were.
elliotanderson 14y ago
Easily worked around: set up MX records and claim the domain is for email. Website not required
alastairpat 14y ago
I'm pretty sure for .au domains you need to have a connexion with the domain (either it being your name or the name of a registered business you own.)
- patrickk 14y ago
  Probably the same for many other country domain suffixes. It's the same for .ie (Ireland) for example, you have to have a connection to the country as well as the domain name itself. Typical examples would be your own name or business name.

Dramatize 14y ago

That's a terrible idea. People would just create fake purposes for the websites.. and then who would be responsible to decide if a purpose is legitimate or not?

rachelbythebay 14y ago
Wouldn't it just be a return to the days when domains were free? Back in the mid-'90s, when people I knew registered vanity domains, they tended to come up with some ridiculous expansion of the name to make it look official. Nobody ever checked that "foo" really meant "fraternal otter organization" (or whatever), so those would become the top line in whois.
- eli 14y ago
  Was that before Network Solutions? I bought a domain in maybe 1996 or 1997 and it was decidedly not free
  - rachelbythebay 14y ago
    Yep. Then it jumped to $100/2 years before competition brought the prices down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Solutions#Registry_and_registrar_business http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Solutions#Registry_and_... IP space used to be free, too, as long as you could justify it. What times those were.

elliotanderson 14y ago

Easily worked around: set up MX records and claim the domain is for email. Website not required

alastairpat 14y ago

I'm pretty sure for .au domains you need to have a connexion with the domain (either it being your name or the name of a registered business you own.)

patrickk 14y ago
Probably the same for many other country domain suffixes. It's the same for .ie (Ireland) for example, you have to have a connection to the country as well as the domain name itself. Typical examples would be your own name or business name.