Domain name confusion

by sans
7 replies
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I would like to know why when you buy a domain name you cant have it for life?
I am confused as I understand when you buy something you own it, right?

So how come you lose the domain name if yo don't renew it every year?
Should the registrants not call it leasing or renting a domain name?

I think its unfair to sell something then say you have to keep paying for it
and believe it is misleading.

If you make a name up and register it then you should own it out right.

What do you think?
  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    If you did that there would be so many wasting domains out there when people buy them and then don't use them. At least when you only pay for it for a year if you don't use it then it expires giving someone else the opportunity to use it, rather than just letting it go to waste.

    Also, if they were to sell a domain name for life it would cost a hell of a lot more to buy.
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    • Profile picture of the author sans
      Thank you Sheryl, I get it now,
      I just did not understand how you can buy and sell a domain name but not actually own it.
      I see you are right that some people would let the names go to waste and stop another using it.
      But I still think it should be called leasing to stop newbies getting confused.
      The reason I posted this is a friend got upset when asked to renew her domain name when she thought she had bought it and owned it.
      She asked me why, but I could not answer so here I am I knew I would get an answer here.
      So thank you once again.
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  • Profile picture of the author theentry
    You own it only for the period you have bought it. I don't have a problem calling it buying/selling not renting..
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  • Profile picture of the author Sergiu FUNIERU
    Originally Posted by sans View Post

    I would like to know why when you buy a domain name you cant have it for life?
    I assume that you are asking about a .com domain name. Some domains can be bought for life, but are more expensive.

    For instance, you can buy a .ro (standing for Romania) for life, for about $63 (including VAT)
    Romania Top Level Domain

    Some persons don't want to pay $63 once and prefer to pay less yearly.
    When you buy a .com domain, the registrar usually asks you for how many years would you like to pay for it. That means it's not for life.


    Regarding the difference between renting and owning:
    (this is my opinion - I'm not a laywer)
    Let's say you rent an apartment. You can live in it, but you can't sell it.
    If you buy a car, even for one year, it's yours in that year. You can sell it, if you want.

    Owning, even for a period, gives you extra rights compared to renting. If a domain is rented, the registration info is of the person who owns it, even if is for a limited period, like 1 year.
    If you want to know the difference regarding domains, here's my experience with a rented domain, which I did not own.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post2819443

    Sergiu FUNIERU
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  • Profile picture of the author seoiwc
    Hi,

    Is there any special ideas for choose the relevant business & services domain names with Eco friendly..??? meet again.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Think of it more as RENT! There IS a cost involved with the domain name. They have to use space on several drives, handle bandwidth, etc... And it HAS to be a monopoly, so microsoft.com only goes ONE place and the authoritative entry is only in ONE place! People today are SPOILED! It used to cost $70 for 2 years and THEN, there was NOPLACE you could go to get it for less. NOPLACE!!!!! As I understand it, at one point, they cost as much as $150/year!

    And Sergiu FUNIERU is wrong. You can RENT an apartment and get the right to sublet(effectively SELL a portion of the rental period). The SAME is true of a domain name. You have the right to transfer it, effectively resell it, but they only get whatever time you had left.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      So how come you lose the domain name if yo don't renew it every year? Should the registrants not call it leasing or renting a domain name?
      You don't "buy it" - you "register it". That's why it's called "domain name registration".

      kay
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