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Name.com: Another Unscrupulous Registrar

nathanhammond.com

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Re: Name.com: Another Unscrupulous Registrar

#21

Post by randall »

nbpoole wrote: post #5

As an anecdotal counterpoint, I'm an extremely happy Name.com customer. I transfered several domains to them a year or so ago from GoDaddy. They support two-factor authentication, their interface is uncluttered, I pay them less money than I paid GoDaddy, and I haven't had a single issue. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a registrar. That being said, I don't use them for DNS. If this is a feature of…

Yeah, I'm in a similar camp. I like name, and I set my default nameservers to a hosted DNS service run by my friend.

Pretty lame of them to do though.

Re: Name.com: Another Unscrupulous Registrar

#23

Post by nathanhammond »

endtwist wrote: post #10

It's a simple case of the company lawyer(s) overdoing a CYA clause and standing by it. However, the company seems to have gladly taken your call to discuss it with you, and then consult their lawyers regarding the potential for a change. While you didn't get what you want, it seems like they were fairly considerate. So, just change the nameservers after registration and move on. I understand if you disagree with thei…

I have nothing bad to say about their support, and I hopefully made that clear in my original post. That doesn't, however, relieve them of their responsibility in my opinion to provide good services.

The problem I have is that it wasn't immediately apparent that I was serving ads on my domain because they weren't respecting the way in which DNS is supposed to work--basically typo-squatting me.

Re: Name.com: Another Unscrupulous Registrar

#24

Post by jasonlotito »

shareme wrote: post #3

I am in process of determining which registrar to choose for some startups I am setting up..HN users thoughts on past registrars that you have used?

Name.com is actually an excellent registrar, and I highly recommend them for that. They provide other services, like DNS and hosting which I can't comment on. However, as a Registrar, I've had no issues for the years I've used them.

Re: Name.com: Another Unscrupulous Registrar

#26

Post by pdx »

I use name.com for quite a few domains. They have a very convenient way to do bulk changes, so you can, for example, select 50 domains at once, and tell name.com to change all of them to your name servers. They email you a few minutes later when they've done it. I always just change them to linode as soon as I buy a domain.

I don't begrudge them this income stream from people who buy domains but don't do anything with them for awhile. What's the harm?

Re: Name.com: Another Unscrupulous Registrar

#27

Post by nathanhammond »

jasonlotito wrote: post #18
nathanhammond wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is the predatory behavior that basically amounts typo-squatting a domain that I find most repulsive. I'm completely technically capable and yet I was serving ads on my domain without being aware of it because they aren't respecting the way in which DNS is supposed to work.

Basically, you were using another aspect of their service without being aware of what that service was. Making assumptions isn't smart, no matter what company is involved. Personally, I rank using a registrars DNS beside using a registrars hosting service: it's common sense that you don't do it. I mean, do you really feel sympathy for people who stick with GoDaddy's hosting service?

As with everything, you have to learn the hard way the first time. The difference though is that no other registrar I've used (6 of them) has used such an aggressive tactic that breaks DNS for monetization purposes. Typically you change the default A record and you're rid of their parked page for good.

The conclusion of my post was that one should not use name.com for DNS at all, and, if you have any ethical concerns with their aggressive monetization strategy (which I do) to not use them as a registrar, either.

Re: Name.com: Another Unscrupulous Registrar

#28

Post by nathanhammond »

pdx wrote: post #26

I use name.com for quite a few domains. They have a very convenient way to do bulk changes, so you can, for example, select 50 domains at once, and tell name.com to change all of them to your name servers. They email you a few minutes later when they've done it. I always just change them to linode as soon as I buy a domain. I don't begrudge them this income stream from people who buy domains but don't do anything wit…

The harm is that they're effectively typo-squatting my domain, as well as all the rest of their customers' domains which don't use wildcard A records. They're breaking DNS.

Typo-squatting is addressed by both the ACPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticybersquatting_Consumer_Pro...) and the UDRP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Domain-Name_Dispute-Res...).

And worse, you're held responsible for the content of that page.

Re: Name.com: Another Unscrupulous Registrar

#29

Post by martianpenguin »

varikin wrote: post #14
brucehart wrote: post #4

I've used name.com for many years and have always been satisfied with their service. The advertising the author is complaining about only shows up if you do not configure the DNS records or name servers after buying the domain. Usually I spend 30 seconds setting this up as soon as I buy the domain, so the advertising doesn't even cross my mind. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought this practice was pretty standard…

Actually, this isn't just if you don't setup DNS records for your domain name. If you configure some subdomains with name.com, then all other subdomains for that domain go to a parked page. For example, my wife's website is jesleephotos.com. The subdomains store and www (along with some others that I don't wish to advertise :) go to the correct destination. The subdomain stuff, x, random, mail, etc all go to parked d…

or point it to an error page with your own ads :)

Re: Name.com: Another Unscrupulous Registrar

#30

Post by lurchpop »

TLDR; name.com will insert a page under your domain, against your will, that may or may not have illegal material on it. If it does, YOU ARE LIABLE! Fucking ridiculous.

Wouldn't creating a wildcard subdomain prevent it from hitting one of their parked pages?

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