Another company is offering free domains.

April 8, 2000 2:10 PM

Another company is offering free domains. This time, the server is actually up. I registered a domain, and I wonder if this is for real or not.
posted by Mark (12 comments total)

it looks like they get to own the domain name, and even worse, if you decide to ditch them before a year is up, you have to pay them to get out of the "contract" - I can't tell if you get ownership of the domain at that point or not.
posted by novarese at 2:30 PM on April 8, 2000

You never get ownership of a domain. They just rent it to you.
posted by hobbes at 4:51 PM on April 8, 2000

Well this was a bum link.
posted by Mark at 5:45 PM on April 8, 2000

T.I.N.S.T.A.A.F.L.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch"
posted by tomcosgrave at 6:29 PM on April 8, 2000

They say you own the domain in the FAQ...but they will just place a banner on your page.
posted by Mark at 6:34 PM on April 8, 2000

If they can put a banner on your page, it seems to me that you don't technically own the page. But it still seems like a great deal. I've applied for a free address, I wonder when they're gonna give it to me...
posted by premiumpolar at 7:25 PM on April 8, 2000

http://www.henny-savenije.com/ is a Namezero site; its owner posted a warning to the Monkeyjunkies list saying "THEY DON'T OFFER WEBSPACE" ... apparently the best you can do is customize the links on the page they've laid out.

A whois at NSI seems to indicate it's Namezero that owns the domain.

On the plus side, now *everyone* can have a portal, and if that's not what the internet is all about, I don't know what is.


posted by Sapphireblue at 7:35 PM on April 8, 2000

If anyone is still interested in this free service, here is a link to how to remove their banner from your site:
Remove NameZero Banner.

Now, if anyone can tell me how to get rid of the NetZero Banner without getting disconnected... I would be overjoyed.
posted by da5id at 9:04 PM on April 8, 2000

well. i registered a domain. it links to my real one.
http://www.rudebwoy.com is the netzero one. http://i.am/mrshady is the real one.

it looks like i wasted a domain on a company that never said anything about a HUGE banner at the bottom.

now it is un-recoverable. oh well.
live and learn.

http://i.am/mrshady
i don't suffer from insanity..
i enjoy every minute of it.
posted by mrshady at 10:32 PM on April 8, 2000

I like the way they say "make a domain name be your place on the web". It's incredibly dishonest to my view. mrshady, did you get ANY kind of terms of service prior to signing up? If so, could you post them somewhere (or mail them to me and I'll do it)?

If you don't own the domain, they should say so right on the front page. In every other case where you register a domain, it's registered TO YOU. Concealing this change is underhanded.
posted by dhartung at 1:51 PM on April 9, 2000

Their terms of service seemed pretty clear to me.

As someone noted above TANSTAAFL; you don't own the domain. This is strictly for dilettantes; if you're serious about the net game, pay the price. I do.

Cheers,
-- jra
posted by baylink at 2:04 PM on April 9, 2000