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Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#11

Post by PragmaticPulp »

bitxbitxbitcoin wrote: post #4

This is part and parcel of participating in the centralized domain name system.

This is hardly a typical domain registration experience.

Would be truly unfortunate if a hypothetical decentralized alternative had a similar bug that let someone else register and already-owned domain, as that bug would likely invalidate the entire structure of the registration and bring the whole system down as people exploited the vulnerability to steal every possible domain in a decentralized manner. At least this centralized solution can fix it and adapt.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#12

Post by bberenberg »

forty wrote: post #8
wyrm wrote: post #5

If they screwed up somehow, they're kind of obligated to fix it. Otherwise, they just stole somebody else's domain and let you register it. I would be a little skeptical. Make sure that the email really is from your registrar. Also, it's likely that "do nothing" is your best course of action, in any case. If the email is legitimate, there's nothing you can do to stop them. If it's a scam of some kind, you avoid incre…

The thing I'm wondering is whether the registry is not trying to get the domain back for them (which would be possible given the domain). I cannot find any trace of the domain on the internet, so at least I don't think it was used. I don't know if there is some kind of way back machine for domain name records / whois ?

Have you checked a Whois history tool like https://research.domaintools.com/research/whois-history/ ?

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#13

Post by case »

dutchbrit wrote: post #10

You technically do not own a domain, but you lease it them. "ICANN's official policy is that domains are not property to be owned. Domain names are registered (rented) by payment of an annual registration fee."

.io (like all ccTLDs) is not governed by ICANN, fwiw.

But your point is valid that domains are essentially registered according to the terms of a probably-long and verbose agreement.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#14

Post by swalsh »

dutchbrit wrote: post #10

You technically do not own a domain, but you lease it them. "ICANN's official policy is that domains are not property to be owned. Domain names are registered (rented) by payment of an annual registration fee."

Domains should be NFT's

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#15

Post by forty »

bberenberg wrote: post #12
forty wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing I'm wondering is whether the registry is not trying to get the domain back for them (which would be possible given the domain). I cannot find any trace of the domain on the internet, so at least I don't think it was used. I don't know if there is some kind of way back machine for domain name records / whois ?

Have you checked a Whois history tool like https://research.domaintools.com/research/whois-history/ ?

Interesting thanks. This does say there was activity on this domain before

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#16

Post by nso »

swalsh wrote: post #14
dutchbrit wrote: post #10

You technically do not own a domain, but you lease it them. "ICANN's official policy is that domains are not property to be owned. Domain names are registered (rented) by payment of an annual registration fee."

Domains should be NFT's

Nothing should be a NFT

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#17

Post by BayAreaEscapee »

swalsh wrote: post #14
dutchbrit wrote: post #10

You technically do not own a domain, but you lease it them. "ICANN's official policy is that domains are not property to be owned. Domain names are registered (rented) by payment of an annual registration fee."

Domains should be NFT's

Imagine what a train wreck that could be. You just know that some Fortune 500 is going to have someone steal their private keys proving domain ownership. Bankofamerica.com now belongs to a hacker in Tver, Russia?

Blockchains are a great idea but some problems are better solved by the brick-and-mortar legal system.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#18

Post by dreyfan »

swalsh wrote: post #14
dutchbrit wrote: post #10

You technically do not own a domain, but you lease it them. "ICANN's official policy is that domains are not property to be owned. Domain names are registered (rented) by payment of an annual registration fee."

Domains should be NFT's

Yeah, then when someone loses or has stolen the keys to that wallet, the domain is forever gone.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#19

Post by tmaly »

bitxbitxbitcoin wrote: post #4

This is part and parcel of participating in the centralized domain name system.

I think it would be a good use of blockchain to find a way to solve this centralized control. The prices for a domain border on extortion.

Re: Ask HN: I purchased a domain and now the registry wants to take it back

#20

Post by herpderperator »

forty wrote: post #3
slater wrote: post #2

Can you transfer it to a different registry?

The registry is the .io registry so it's bound to the domain (so no) I might be able to transfer it to another registar, but I'm not sure it would help (the registar is Gandi and I trust them)

Careful with Gandi: https://www.theregister.com/2020/01/09/gandi_loses_customer_...

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22001822

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