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Comment by rlpb | Hacker News Reader

I think domains should just be more expensive, with the money going towards something useful. Would you prefer to pay $200/year for a domain or $20000 to get it from a squatter and then $5/year to keep it?

The economy is the system we've used to balance supply and demand for centuries. We should use it to sort the .com mess out.

Companies can afford to pay significantly more for their domains. Personal users can easily use subdomains at a lower cost if they wish, as DNS intended.

To implement, just ramp up the cost of gTLDs every year.

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As someone running a personal .net, I much prefer the $10/yr I'm paying right now. I might be able to afford $200/yr now that I'm working, but I certainly would not have been able to keep that up in college. I don't think cutting students out from being able to have personal domains is at all a good solution.

You're the exception. You got there first. In a couple of decades, nobody in your situation will be able to get any name that makes sense. At this point, people will have to get subdomains anyway.

Actually, the domain market I would say is on the decline as PPC which has been fueling it for many years is spiraling down the drain. That business model will erode and become less and less profitable over time. As that happens, I suspect more domains will cross the margin of profitability and be dropped back into availability. It won't happen overnight or instantly, and the best stuff will not become available, but things at the margins will. I think some registries already manipulate renewal/registration costs to make sure there isn't a decline.

I don't think money is the right solution, there is many other uses for the internet than profitable ones.

Indeed there are. How about we have a separate namespace for commercial stuff then, where these applies, and a separate namespace for non-profitable sites? We could use, say, ".com" to designate the commercial namespace, and something else for the others.

This is what a .org is supposed to be, but it is not, and I suspect you are being ironic?

It needs either cash or regulation, imho.

gTLD prices do go up yearly (7% for .com).

Who captures this extra money for doing nothing? VeriSign just gets this added to their bottom line with no competition in the contract. Is that fair? The fact is, the cost to provide this service is very low and going down, but prices are increasing. There will be economic surplus somewhere, the question is whether it's supply or demand side. I think demand side is far more appropriate. It also allows everyone access to the domain name system. $200 may seem like nothing to you, but in other countries that can be a lot of money. There isn't a shortage of domain names by any means, why create a higher barrier and who does it really benefit?

I certainly don't think that VeriSign should get the money for doing nothing. I think it should go towards something productive. Ending up with excess cash is hardly a problem with any proposed scheme.

> There isn't a shortage of domain names by any means

Sure there is. Just look at how difficult it is to get the domain that you want.

> It also allows everyone access to the domain name system.

Not at all. Domain names are hierarchical. Get one under your ccTLD, or pool your resources with others and use a subdomain.

In any case, I effectively don't have access to the domain name system because of all the squatters! In other words, there is a supply shortage.

The global namespace is not big enough for all of us. If you want a global brand, then you will have to pay for it. At the moment you pay squatters. I'd prefer to put this money into some kind of better cause than squatters.

Do you not see the hypocrisy in your own arguments?

You are complaining you cannot get the domain you want but telling others who might not meet your threshold to get a subdomain. Why don't you drink your own kool aid instead of drawing an arbitrary line that suits you? Stop whining and use a subdomain. If you cannot afford a domain in the secondary market that meets your needs, you probably aren't running a global brand. The average domain sale price in the aftermarket is between $2-3,000.

The argument that you don't have access to the domain name system is hilarious. There are plenty of available domains, I dug up 26,000 short, pronounceable (<5 letters) ones a couple months ago. A single namespace has ~63^37 possibilities, that's plenty big.

There are plenty of available domains, I dug up 26,000 short, pronounceable (<5 letters) ones a couple months ago. A single namespace has ~63^37 possibilities, that's plenty big.

And yet, based on your own website's About Page you yourself can't even find a name for your customer reviews start-up.

Do you not see the hypocrisy in your own arguments?

Not in his, but I sure as hell can see them in yours. Oh, the hypocrisy.

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