Eu.org, free domain names since 1996 • Hacker News Board

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#151

Post by dontbenebby » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:10 PM UTC

FernandoMax wrote: post #139

It seems more like "free sub-domains" not domains. EU.org is not endorsed to any European Union initiative. These things are quite unstable. I've seen URL shorteners (even one from goo.gl) and URL "redirectioners" and a lot of things like that disappear. Like Geocities in the wind. Sadly only archive.org is a source of memories.

> It seems more like "free sub-domains" not domains.

Is a free subdomain free?

You make it orders of magnitude easier to do weird tracking if you use an overly specific subdomain rather than placing things "after the slash".

To give a case study:

I had an old housemate freak out when I questioned their integrity and they said "that was after the slash" -- I used to pay for the internet and collect $ for it, I didn't log anything and asked folks to not share the WPA(2?) password.

He also told me he took a special route to campus because some of the undergrads didn't close their blinds, then took umbragen I decribed him to others with the wrong adjective.

(At least when I look out my window with a pair of binoculars, it's to look for tacticool weirdos, not titties worse than what you can find for free with a simple Bing search[1])

//[1] and please forgive the wall of text, bootstrapping new social networks post COVID has been harder than expected, since the folks who were very predatory about gatekeeping the definition of espionage freak out if you point out GDPR is a European law, and I've been a permanent resident of Pennsylvania all my life.

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#152

Post by dontbenebby » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:11 PM UTC

southerntofu wrote: post #68

logifail wrote: post #4

> individuals should be able to have and own their own domain names We should probably remember that no-one "owns" a domain, at least not in the traditional sense of ownership.

Ownership is a nebulous concept with many interpretations. I'm guessing your referring to private property (from a capitalist interpretation) as "the traditional sense", in which case domain names are fairly similar: once you acquire the domain, it's reserved for you as long as you pay your dues (just like property taxes for land). If you don't, it will be put back on the market for other people to enjoy. To be clear…

>Ownership is a nebulous concept with many interpretations.

Impersonation is a simple concept.

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#153

Post by qweqwerwerwerwr » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:11 PM UTC

anunay03 wrote: post #93

tasuki wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something something blockchain! I believe for "real" ownership of domain names, a blockchain would actually make sense.

There are already projects like Handshake, ENS, Unstoppable domains that try to do this. Honestly I like the need for renewal fees for domains personally, since it means you can't just buy a domain once and squat on it forever.

yes you can. it costs 10$ a year to squat a 10 million dollar .com, and I bet there's a bunch of them that had been parked since the 90s

the registration fee does prevent someone from squatting the entire Library of Babel though

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#154

Post by jeroenhd » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:13 PM UTC

usr1106 wrote: post #16

SuperCuber wrote: post #6

Looks like they are providing subdomains and sub-subdomains, not domains.

What's the difference for an end user except for the extra dot? Isn't that the same with co.uk or com.au? Americans may find that inconvenient, more radical tongues call it a sign of US imperialism that .com is often associated with the home for US companies. Right, technically and probably legally there was a list of domains that you cannot register because they act as a "top-level" like co.uk. Not sure how official…

The difference is that this is just a website that offers subdomains and not a TLD. co.uk and com.au operate very differently through a network of registrars and such. The same company that put restrictions on the .uk TLD also manages the co.uk domain in a similar fashion to other TLDs, for example.

You won't see co.uk ever expire because it's owned and manages by the same company that manages the TLD, but it's perfectly possible for eu.org to mess up their renewal and disappear from the internet. There's no direct connection between .org and the company managing these subdomains.

Calling American TLDs like com/net/org imperialism is too extreme. The internet was developed by Americans for American use and other countries were added to the domain system later. When com/net/org because available, the entire system was completely centralised on the USA so it's not that strange that other countries had to make do with just a national TLD. That's not some kind of attempt of the USA to enforce their rules on the world, that's just historical development. These days, all kinds of TLDs are available, including ones in non-Latin scripts. I don't ever see any .भारत domains on the web (and I wouldn't even know how to type it if I saw it) but it's an available TLD for anyone to use. There are even geographical TLDs like .frl (Fryslân) and .wien (Vienna) that go way overboard with the TLD concept imo.

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#155

Post by jeroenhd » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:16 PM UTC

nix23 wrote: post #11

Just as a reminder, there is https://freedns.afraid.org/ too..with lots of free domains.

And let's not forget the ever popular, ever spam filled domains managed by https://dot.tk

Like always, free domains often come with weird or shady requirements, I wouldn't rely on them too much. That said, they're great if you're not willing to spend money on a domain yet and just want to experiment.

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#156

Post by dontbenebby » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:16 PM UTC

guerrilla wrote: post #92

southerntofu wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's debatable, but in all cases domain name fees is certainly not "rent" in the traditional sense. At least most registries cannot by law/contract take your domain away from you as long as you keep paying your dues. Of course the same applies for rent depending on your local housing regulations: the difference is you cannot undergo serious modifications in an apartment you rent, but you can modify whatever you wan…

> That's debatable, No, not really, it's just definitionally false. > A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or national),[2] and tax compliance refers to policy actions and individual behaviour aimed at ensuring that tax…

No post body was provided.

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#157

Post by GTP » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:17 PM UTC

easytiger wrote: post #119

GTP wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Consider the scenario of a domain name owner dying and his relatives not caring/not knowing he/she owned a domain. With the current system the domain will be eventually available again. What alternative to you suggest?

> With the current system the domain will be eventually available again. Why is that a problem? Do you even understand how physical property IRL is owned at a legal or philosophical level?

This is a problem because you risk having domains that nobody can use anymore.

Edit: as I wrote in another comment, I got confused with indentation and assumed that the comment I was replying to was saying that it doesn't make sense to have a recurring fee for domains. I'm sorry. I do agree that a blockchain isn't a good alternative.

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#158

Post by dontbenebby » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:17 PM UTC

qweqwerwerwerwr wrote: post #153

anunay03 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are already projects like Handshake, ENS, Unstoppable domains that try to do this. Honestly I like the need for renewal fees for domains personally, since it means you can't just buy a domain once and squat on it forever.

yes you can. it costs 10$ a year to squat a 10 million dollar .com, and I bet there's a bunch of them that had been parked since the 90s the registration fee does prevent someone from squatting the entire Library of Babel though

They taught us in Appalachia to avoid re-occuring payments at all costs, because if you forget about it they can rapidly drain your bank account.

What is your suggestion for those of us who can't spare an angel investment of "just" ten dollar a year until we die or sell the domain?

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#159

Post by judge2020 » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:18 PM UTC

guerrilla wrote: post #80

southerntofu wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ownership is a nebulous concept with many interpretations. I'm guessing your referring to private property (from a capitalist interpretation) as "the traditional sense", in which case domain names are fairly similar: once you acquire the domain, it's reserved for you as long as you pay your dues (just like property taxes for land). If you don't, it will be put back on the market for other people to enjoy. To be clear…

> it's reserved for you as long as you pay your dues (just like property taxes for land). If you don't, it will be put back on the market for other people to enjoy. No, rent is not tax.

Rent was never mentioned? They said property taxes, where, in owning a house, you must pay property tax to benefit from the the services, courts, and military defenses of the country you live in - and if you don't pay, the country still has to protect that piece of land anyways, so they take it from you for non-payment and/or deprive you of other freedoms by throwing you in jail so that someone else can own the land and pay taxes on it.

Re: Eu.org, free domain names since 1996

#160

Post by dontbenebby » Tue, Jun 07, 2022, 2:18 PM UTC

arnaudsm wrote: post #141

Reminds me of the free .tk domains. It attracted so much spam and malware that Facebook ended up banning the tld. This is why we can't have nice things.

TK was the new .ru, which sucked since while Putin is a jerk, most Russian people are quite nice, just less talkative than people from where I grew up.