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Year in Review: Domain names and free speech

by — Policy & Law 12 Comments

Registrars continue to grapple with thorny questions about content.

Free Speech

What role do domain name organizations play when it comes to free speech? This continued to be a hot topic in 2018.

In the United States, the government cannot limit free speech. But businesses are not obliged to do the same.

Domain name companies try to stay out of thorny issues about content on websites but they have limits. Last year, GoDaddy told the operator of the white nationalist site Daily Stormer to move his domain off the platform after the death during the Charlottesville rallies. The website’s content wasn’t hosted at GoDaddy, but GoDaddy faced lots of pressure. The kicker was when GoDaddy determined that the site was inciting violence.

This year GoDaddy took similar action with Gab.com after the person who murdered people in a Pittsburgh synagogue was found to have posted hate speech on the site.

Rob Monster, the founder and CEO of domain name registrar Epik, welcomed Gab.com onto his platform. Although he doesn’t agree with much of the commentary on the site, he believes that sites should not be “de-platformed”. The decision to accept the domain brought a lot of heat and a subpoena from Pennsylvania’s attorney general.

It will be interesting to see how domain companies approach this thorny issue going forward. Will registries get more involved on various types of domain takedowns?

Pennsylvania Attorney General subpoenas Epik over Gab.com domain name

by — Domain Registrars 35 Comments

AG asks Epik to hand over communications with Gab.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has asked domain name registrar Epik to send it information about its interactions with Gab, the social network that came under fire after one of its users shot people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Gab.com was registered at GoDaddy before moving to Uniregistry, and then to Epik. Epik founder Rob Monster got in touch and invited Gab to move the domain to its service, but he said he didn’t take the decision lightly.

It’s not clear what the Attorney General is looking for, but he is asking for all communications between Gab and the company, information about people working at Gab, and any complaints about Gab that Epik has received.

Gab disclosed the subpoena on twitter.

Update: Gab has deleted the tweet about the subpoena.

Rob Monster explains why he accepted GAB.com domain at Epik

by — Domain Registrars 40 Comments

Controversial site moves its domain name to Epik.

Rob Monster, CEO of Epik, believes in “Digital Sovereignty.”

Most domain name registrars don’t like a hot potato, but Epik founder Rob Monster has decided to serve as the registrar for one–Gab.com.

If you aren’t familiar with the site, the “free speech” social network has been in the news because the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter ranted on the site.

The domain was at GoDaddy, which asked Gab.com founder Andrew Torba to move the domain elsewhere after the shooting. The domain moved to Uniregistry before finding a home at Epik.

I’m not surprised that Epik CEO Rob Monster accepted the domain transfer. Monster often uses terms like “digital sovereignty” and promotes decentralization. Epik has promoted itself as “The Swiss Bank of Domains”.

In a blog post this weekend, Monster wrote that “De-Platforming is Digital Censorship. Blacklisting is Digital Shunning.”

He wrote:

As the news broke, and as some elements in the mainstream media rendered their judgement, I embarked on my own search for truth. Along the way, I did have an opportunity to meet with the Founder of Gab, Andrew Torba, an entrepreneur who was willing to swim against the tide for what he believes is right, namely empowering netizens to discuss openly about matters of mutual interest with limited risk of censorship.

Although, I did not take the decision lightly to accept this domain registration, I look forward to partnering with a young, and once brash, CEO who is courageously doing something that looks useful. As I reflect on my own journey as a truth-seeking tech entrepreneur, I have no doubt that Andrew will continue to develop not only as tech entrepreneur but also as a responsible steward — one that can balance bravado with diplomacy and who tempers courage with humility.

I’m curious if other registrants of controversial sites will move to Epik as a result of this decision. Many of these sites cost more to be the registrar of than the $10 or so they pay each year. They come with headaches. But those are apparently headaches Monster is willing to handle in furtherance of his beliefs.

Epik takes Whois search counts to another level

by — Domain Registrars 10 Comments

Domain name registrar provides additional Whois data that could help you identify domain buyers.

Last week Alvin Brown published a tutorial on how to get Whois search counts for your domain names at GoDaddy. This data can be helpful when considering the value of your domain names and potential buyer interest in them.

Rob Monster, who runs the domain name registrar Epik, commented about the approach Epik takes with Whois data and I found it interesting.

In addition to providing Whois search counts, Epik color codes them based on how frequently the same IP address is checking the Whois record:

Then you can view the actual IP addresses of Whois searches. Think about how this could be helpful: you receive an anonymous inquiry for one of your domains and you’re trying to figure out who the buyer is. Take a look at recent IP addresses and they might tie back to a particular company.

This is a unique value-add and fairly innovative.

A strong month for .com; here are the winners & losers

by — Domain Registrars 1 Comment

A strong month for .com domain name registrations.

ICANN has published the latest official .com transactions report from Verisign, which includes data by registrar for March 2017.

March was a strong one with 3.22 million new .com domain registrations. Compare this to March 2016 when there were 3.08 million new .com registrations.

The top registrars in terms of new registrations saw little movement. HiChina and PublicDomainRegistry swapped places but there were no new entrants:

1. GoDaddy* 1,044,706
2. Tucows** 243,851
3. HiChina 157,460
4. PublicDomainRegistry 131,107
5. Namecheap 130,995

Here are the top five registrars (open to the public) for net inbound transfers during the month:

1. HiChina +19,877
2. Epik +8,405
3. NameBright +8,347
4. Google +8,199
5. XZ.com +5,306

On the flip side, these five registrars saw the biggest net outflow of .com domain names due to transfers:

1. Web.com*** -10,452
2. Tucows -7,137
3. PublicDomainRegistry -5,912
4. Fabulous -5,685
5. 1&1 -4,759

*Includes GoDaddy and Wild West Domains **Includes Tucows and eNom *** Includes Network Solutions and Register.com, but not drop catching registrars.