
Ask HN: SSL is free now, why domain names are not - tuyguntn
Thanks to letsencrypt and others, now SSL is free, but why same is not happening with domain names?<p>I think if fraudulent (or lots of) name registrations will be fixed, then it is possible to make domain name registration free (like telegram did for their bot names, max was 20name last time I checked)
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smt88
OK. Let's say domain registration becomes free. Now I want to register all
remaining domain names. What's stopping me? Artificial limits of domains per
person? That's not really fair, because some people really need to buy domains
to prevent cybersquatting.

The current system isn't perfect, but it's better than open, free
registration.

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anonx
There is Freenom that let you register free .tk, .ml, .ga, .cf, .gq domains.
And the number of scam web-sites IMO discredit those domain zones.

Though according to the feedback online, Freenom to domains is not what
Letsencrypt is to SSL. Their business model (cancel domain name registration
then ask $xxxx to register it again) looks like fraud to me [1].

[1]: [https://www.quora.com/Is-Freenom-a-fraudulent-
company](https://www.quora.com/Is-Freenom-a-fraudulent-company)

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stepanhruda
What stops anyone from squatting all the domain names possible?

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jklein11
arent there an infinite number of domains?

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tuyguntn
event though you can generate more than 36^63 combinations, it doesn't make
sense to use 63 character long domain name and even now it is difficult to
find & register representative domain name.

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jklein11
It would definitely make bookmarking a more important feature for browsers,
but we remember street addresses that are longer than 36 characters, why not
longer domain names?

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stepanhruda
I sure don't remember those anywhere near the scale of app and domain names

