EOSCommunity.org Forums

Eden proposal, buy the EOS gTLD

Would it be good for Eden and EOS if we register the gTLD of EOS?

What is a gTLD? It’s the ending of a web address, the com in https://google.com or the org in http://eoscommunity.org/

I don’t know how complicated the process of registering a new top-level-domain is, but I’m sure it is possible.
You need a company and pass some hurdles and pay some fees. Not sure if it’s in the tens of thousand dollars or more than that.

This could be used for easy onboarding of users, were each account gets an automatic mini page under the {ACCOUNT_NAME}.eos with webauthn biometric keys. And if the account owner wants more capabilities, they can pay a premium to the company managing the .eos top-level-domain.

Some challenges:
How does the private for-profit-company interacts with EdenOnEOS?
What are the mechanisms for secession in case EdenOnEOS or the private company wants that?
Do we really need this? Is this just a publicity stunt? Too centralized and goes against the decentralization of blockchain?
Or is it an intermediate bridge between the (decentralized) future and the (cloud) present?
Maybe this can be realized without a gTLD? Maybe we can have many different regular domains with a standardized stack for people to install and they will be multiple gateways to the eos main net?

I was thinking of this when I realized that webauthn which leverages biometrics in a standard way requires the domain name of the site to work. It is hard wired into the standard. So if we want to make it easy to onboard new eos main net accounts without having to keep a pen and paper backup of 12 words, it will be limited to a specific website.

Perhaps this is not needed as clarion will solve the issue in a whole different way, bypassing the browser and webauthn altogether?

Even if it is criticized as just a publicity stunt, it might still be worth our while to investigate the challenges. It might evolve to an income source for EdenOnEOS

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Webauthn works for most modern cellphones with faceID or fingerprints, creates a private and public key pair. The private key stays in a hardware chip, isolated from the rest of the cellphone operating system and only the public key and signatures are sent out to the website. So this might work without too much overhead on the servers and maybe the sane way to actually do it is to have a DNS on *.eos which will allow others to buy their domain under .eos and manage it separately.

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Would that work together with https://net.inc/ and what this guys are doing?

blockchain powered web hosting by EOS.
Host your website on the blockchain. Pay once, host forever, examples:

https://firstwebsite.dApp.surf
https://eosrodriguez.dapp.surf
https://emptemplate1.eos.cab/
https://isaacvaateos.eos.cab

DNS without the need of an addon (unstoppable domains on stereoids): https://www.reddit.com/r/eos/comments/n5nqwj/first_fully_blockchain_powered_web_hosting_is/ https://www.reddit.com/r/eos/comments/nxpd9s/eos_web_shop_templates_with_hosting_on_eos/

It might, not sure. These are suggestions for a replacement of the basic infrastructure of the web as we know it.
To change the dns base layer requires users to addopt an alternative browser or add a plugin which will translate from the new scheme to an ip address instead of the usual way the web works.

My suggestion is to embrace the dns system and instead of having our regualar domain for eos account under say: accountname.edenoneosfreeaccounts.com we can have accountname.eos which depends on a totally new top level domain, .eos which will be managed by EdenOnEOS.

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I believe the application fee to apply for a new gtld is $185 thousand. While I agree account creation is a hurdle for new users, it is not clear how this would help. To offset the cost of the new extension, New users would have to pay a fee as well as some type of renewal. What happens in the event of trademark issues or UDRP claims? Are user funds somehow connected to that domain? What if the renewal is overlooked? Perhaps a blockchain domain as Unstoppable Domains has done on ethereum might be another way for users to have accounts. This would be a DAPP running on EOS.

Fantastic idea, Ami!

More unstoppable domains…

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I hope the cost is lower, I don’t want the new users to have to pay for this. It should have a freemium model where any user gets a minimal “wallet” service automatically if they have an eos main net account.
This can be restricted to managing key pairs which are convenient as they leverage webauthn but limited since it is tied to a specific domain.
Perhaps the owner key should be managed by Eden bard similar to the 15/21 BPs to handle extreme cases with a built in time delay?
Perhaps accounts using this system will be limited to a low USD equivalent value.
If the user wants to lift the restrictions, they can pay in EOS on a yearly basis.
If the user wants to have their own website under their accountname.eos they can register and pay with EOS for that and then they need to manage their own website. Could be attractive for businesses with short eos names.

Trademark/UDRP issues are a potential problem, are you referring to the lip balm or the camera :wink:
If you are thinking of block.one, I’m sure they will cooperate and not fight this.
Trademarks are not global, the internet is.
I know it is very common in the case of companies wanting their .com domain from squatters trying to extort money from the rightful owner, but not for gTLD. Is that a possible issue with gTLD too?

I did a quick (not-a-lawyer) google and found that the trademark for the lip balm says:
The mark consists of the letters EOS stylized.

Is there a dispute with Canon about the name EOS?
I see that eos.com is taken, but not by the trademark owner.

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Regarding UDRP, if users start registering names like Google.EOS, Microsoft.EOS, Netlix.EOS in theory the trademark holder might try to defend the usage of their trademark. However, words like Apple and Amazon get interesting. The point is most desirable words are used trademarked for some commercial use. If user funds are tied in any way to the domain, this could be problematic. Some companies abuse the UDRP system to steal valuable domains they do not want to pay for. But if blockchain domains are launched, no external entity would be able to take the domain. My .crypto domains are in a Trust wallet which no UDRP can ever reach.

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I was thinking of the eos trademark.
If you’re referring to the part after it, like amazon.eos then I think we can come up with some terms and conditions that will work. If there is a UDRP and the owner of amazon wants to have amazon.eos then we can have a list of domains under eos which are not linked to an eos main net account.
Unless amazon wants to buy the account from the owner, then all is good.

Or we can have all accounts under:
{accountname}.account.eos
This makes the domains a bit uglier but frees amazon.eos for sale as a premium account.

Actually, maybe this is the way to go, freemium accounts automatically created as shadow of the main net accounts and paid accounts directly under .eos unless already taken.

I like the idea of an Eden-funded, and Eden-subcommittee-managed EOS gTLD.

I don’t think we can bridge the DNS world and assume things are “unstoppable”. There’s probably a boatload of legal things you need to sign to have a TLD be granted, like honoring All The Regulations ™ of the world with regards to domain names, trademarks, abuse, etc.

I think it would be really cool to have a globally available service, ran by a few members of the community, that sync’s a bind (or whatever DNS server) instance with some tables on a smart contract, to delegate NS entries. You could pay by entry, or pay by domain, perhaps there’s an auction, and funds keep the system running, pay those hosting the services, and puts money in the Eden pool for more things to happen.

That would replace your common flow of going to godaddy to buy or renew a domain, it would be secured directly by the on-chain smart contract. There’s a good business case to be made because there’s a direct value proposition: pay for an .eos domain, have the .eos domain and control it. With clean methods for resell, auction, etc.

That’s one of the businesses members could run. We’d just need a leader, and an up-front investment of a few hundred thousand USD.

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I agree these domains can’t be “unstoppable”. We need to respect the DNS system and allow for trademark and UDRP processes. Not sure if this is an unknown cost for the company managing the gTLD or just between the current owner of the domain under .EOS and the one claiming ownership.

I was thinking of creating an automatic free page for each eos account under their domain which will allow some minimal functionality and have links to useful websites related to EOS.

If the eos account owner wants, they can pay and manage their domain in a regular DNS way.

There needs to be wording in the agreement that we follow the regular rules for domain names and domain squatting is not allowed. If a trademark owner wins, they get the domain but not the eos account. Perhaps the trademark winner would like to buy the eos account to reduce the chance of confusion but this is not mandatory and unrelated to the gTLD of .eos

Perhaps it is best for the trademark owner to not buy the domain to reduce confusion. I don’t know.

In any case, we can’t and don’t want to force the eos account owner to give it up by force.

Please keep in mind that some companies abuse the UDRP process to claim domains they do not want to pay for. There is nothing illegal about investing in domain names that some future company might want to acquire. If you want a spectacular bay or beach view, you are going to have to pay for it. If you don’t want to shell out that much, there are cheaper accommodations. Likewise for domains.

I think we can make a system where each eos account name is mapped automatically to a .eos domain with free minimal usable site where the account owner can sign transactions.

In case where there is a UDRP, the account’s domain under .eos will be unavailable until resolved. Shouldn’t be an exposed risk for the company managing the .eos gTLD right? This will be an expense to the 2 sides, one is the eos main net account holder and the other one, the company claiming ownership over the name.

Most eos accounts won’t have any such issue. The ones that are disputed will not be available under the gTLD until resolved, if at all.

This could be a cash cow and majority of the profit should go to eden if initial funding is from eden. I saw a proposal for a block producer where 80% will go back to EdenOnEOS.

This can be similar