domains Are European domainers going to start getting shunned?

[equity78]

As we get closer to GDPR being official more and more reactions and questions come in. I noticed today that Theo at DomainGang.com is going to block Europe from accessing his blog. Someone told me I should do that two weeks ago. I had a couple readers express their desire to ban Europeans from making offers on or buying their domain names. One reader came from a place of worry and the other a place … [Read more...]

 

[eurorealtor]

EU traffic represents 9% - 11% of annual traffic at DG, with 5% coming from the UK.

You just give up 9-11% of your visitors, because of GDPR? That's your solution?

 

[Acroplex]

European Union countries gave up their individual decision making when they joined the union.

The GDPR was voted by the representatives of each country member. It's questionable how many of these votes were made by representatives that are tech-savvy.

Many of these voting are old men and women that are disconnected from today's technological challenges. The same, of course, applies to US senators.

As Apprich said, large companies with privacy controls in place are in a better position than the small ones. But everyone in the domain industry loses out, whether you "care" about privacy or not. Good luck when your domains get stolen.

 

[Acroplex]

You just give up 9-11% of your visitors, because of GDPR? That's your solution?

Yes. For the content I provide it's safer to block off EU traffic from 28 countries, than to blindly succumb to EU directives. The GDPR is very WIDE in its compliance requirements.Why be the guinea pig, I'll give it time to see how GDPR is played out. Already, European law firms are getting ready to stage lawsuits against US companies.

Expect a US-originating mandate for WHOIS to counter the current mess. ICANN will be under a lot of pressure in the coming months, and they already sued the German .DE registry in order to keep registration information in the WHOIS.

 

[Kate]

Maybe the right question to ask would be, why everybody is scrambling to meet deadlines at the last minute, when they have had 4 years to prepare and anticipate ?

Disclaimer: I have clients in Europe who have been procrastinating just the same *cough*

 

[wwwulff]

I´m from Europe and don´t support GDPR in the form it has now and especially not when it comes to whois information that anyone can make private if they want, but I don´t think there are a lot of European law firms preparing to sue DomainGang

 

[Acroplex]

Opposing something that is cloudy in its far-reaching requirements, means voicing that opposition. My business decision does just that. I'm here to clarify some things, and I don't expect everyone to agree with my decision.

A year from now, hopefully things will be more clear.

 

[golan]

Privacy is one thing, and the crap that Eurocrat bureaucrats [ WHATEVER ] is another.

SO TRUE

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

The www was invented by Europeans in CERN ( Switzerland)

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

And people even don’t know what Europe means

Europe is the name from a phonecian princess

 

[eurorealtor]

If you support the GDPR, you're shooting your own foot as domain investors.

I don't think anyone in this business would support GDPR, but we won't just quit, or cut off from the rest of the world.

I don't expect everyone to agree with my decision.

Perhaps, we would expect just a little more from reputable member offering news for domain community. Members from EU are part of this community too.

 

[Crysis]

 

[stewmath]

This is why the UK is leaving European Union because of crap like this

 

[Galaxy Traveller]

This is why the UK is leaving European Union because of crap like this

It is actually bad. UK can handle them by providing light to them. Now Europe is a run by real idiots.

If the reply looks rude? Please look how much their vision blocked and become frustrated.
Example:
Without English
I dont know how those idiots will communicate with the world, but they tried.
https://www.reddit.com/r/linguistic...sh_will_not_be_an_official_eu_language_after/

European English
I dont know who will follow those idiots, but they tried.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...lish-uk-leave-eu-european-union-a7957001.html

N.B. European people are well educated (also most advance education) people. I am not indicating general people of Europe.

 

[RozasMD]

EU traffic represents 9% - 11% of annual traffic at DG, with 5% coming from the UK.

The benefits of blocking that inbound traffic outnumber the issues imposed by the over-reaching GDPR.

Until it's considerably more clear what is feasible through the GDPR and what isn't, e.g. whether companies in the US should give a toss about GDPR claims, it's prudent to block such traffic. Many US companies already took the same approach.

Privacy is one thing, and the crap that Eurocrat bureaucrats glued together to create a sword hanging over the head of everyone is another. Peter Thiel already called this legislation out as "jealousy" of the Europeans towards US tech companies.

ICANN took a spineless approach as well, rushing a temporary solution that stunts the WHOIS, until it goes fully dark. If you support the GDPR, you're shooting your own foot as domain investors.

To be honest, all of this sounds like an anti-EU rant. Wonder if your Greek origin combined with the harsh 2015 Greek crisis has anything to do with all this fuss.

You choose to block over 500 million people. Well, that's ok. Everyone, every business, has the right to choose what to do with their potential market. Sounds nuts to me, but hey, it's your decision and you know better than me.

Don't get me wrong, all this GDPR-Whois thing is annoying to me too. But all this 'crazy stupid Europeans' stuff I'm reading sounds a bit childish. You're entitled to deeply dislike this law but there's no need to look down on -or even insult- 500 million people.

EU has the highest standards in quality of life, as high as you can find anywhere in the world. We're not a bunch of idiots. We have our own point of view and our own way to do things. And we are entitled to have them. You don't have to like them, and we'll make our own mistakes -GDPR might or might not be one of them-. Some of the things posted in this thread are a massive disrespect.

To some of those the only possible answer I can think of is 'Who the hell do you think you are to judge us?'.

And by the way, Whois is a collateral damage to all of this. EU is not attacking the domaining industry in purpose. Keep calm, guys.

 

[boker]

It is actually bad. UK can handle them by providing light to them. Now Europe is a run by real idiots.

If the reply looks rude? Please look how much their vision blocked and become frustrated.
Example:
Without English
I dont know how those idiots will communicate with the world, but they tried.
https://www.reddit.com/r/linguistic...sh_will_not_be_an_official_eu_language_after/

European English
I dont know who will follow those idiots, but they tried.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...lish-uk-leave-eu-european-union-a7957001.html

N.B. European people are well educated (also most advance education) people. I am not indicating general people of Europe.

Maybe we can speak spanish, which has more native speakers than english, or maybe we can speak french, which is the official language in 29 countries...also, both of them are latin languages, the same as others european languages, so more than 50% of EU is speaking a latin language, so probably it will work better for us.

 

[Acroplex]

I made a business decision, based on the poorly defined terms that the GDPR is based on.

I didn't call you, or any other European 'crazy' or stupid - but those politicians who made the decision on your behalf to create a law that extends far beyond the European Union realm, are definitely dangerous, and not just to the non-Europeans.

Today, I published an article from a Spanish publication, that shows exactly how corrupt the GDPR infrastructure is. Since DG blocks you, here's the original in Spanish: https://www.elconfidencial.com/tecn...s-fraude-multas-millonarias-abogados_1569093/

You can easily translate it using Google Translate.

As I explained, I blocked off 10% on average of my annual traffic. Faithful readers can easily circumvent the block. As you're not a content provider, I do not expect you to understand or agree with why I did it. If you feel defensive about it, read again the reasons behind my decision. I had to read 450 emails because of the GDPR junk.

 

[Galaxy Traveller]

Maybe we can speak spanish, which has more native speakers than english, or maybe we can speak french, which is the official language in 29 countries...also, both of them are latin languages, the same as others european languages, so more than 50% of EU is speaking a latin language so probably it will work better for us.

Sorry Boss, world changed. Everything is online and global. Everything is international. Accept it or stay disconnected and become a person with limited knowledge because it means knowledge from regional source only.

 

[RozasMD]

I made a business decision, based on the poorly defined terms that the GDPR is based on.

I didn't call you, or any other European 'crazy' or stupid - but those politicians who made the decision on your behalf to create a law that extends far beyond the European Union realm, are definitely dangerous, and not just to the non-Europeans.

Today, I published an article from a Spanish publication, that shows exactly how corrupt the GDPR infrastructure is. Since DG blocks you, here's the original in Spanish: https://www.elconfidencial.com/tecn...s-fraude-multas-millonarias-abogados_1569093/

You can easily translate it using Google Translate.

As I explained, I blocked off 10% on average of my annual traffic. Faithful readers can easily circumvent the block. As you're not a content provider, I do not expect you to understand or agree with why I did it. If you feel defensive about it, read again the reasons behind my decision. I had to read 450 emails because of the GDPR junk.

I'm Spanish and I know El Confidencial, no need for Google Translate

Sorry if my post mixed things. I was not speaking about you when I mentioned insulting posts. But there are a couple of posts in this thread which do speak about the whole EU population basically as a bunch of idiots.

Again, I'm not defending GDPR. I'm just asking for a bit of calm and respect. That's all.

Edit: BTW, that El Confidencial article speaks just about lawyers scamming companies by taking advantage of the GDPR requirements, billing loads of money and doing nothing useful, or simply doing a bad job. It has more to do with lawyers tan with GDPR itself.

 

[Acroplex]

Your previous post, however, focused on me, and I didn't call Europeans - of which I am one by birth - "idiots."

But the issue is larger.

At this point, a lot of European countries are re-evaluating their decision to join the Eurozone. The UK is exiting, and the reasons are political and financial.

The GDPR is a bureaucrat's wet dream: created in such vague terms with intent to shift the current economy balance between the US and Europe. If we didn't have such an incompetent government, there would have been a proper response a long time ago.

Now, as domain investors and business owners we have to face a different course in how we conduct business.

 

[boker]

Sorry Boss, world changed. Everything is online and global. Everything is international. Accept it or stay disconnected and become a person with limited knowledge because it means knowledge from regional source only.

I can't see what the language has to do with being global...do you think that South Korea, China, Japan, Germany are disconnected from the world? Also, you being online and a phd doctor doing most of his work offline, do you think that you are smarter? Also, there are huge businesses which don't need to be online, but still they have access to more info than you will ever have....'boss'.

 

[RozasMD]

Your previous post, however, focused on me, and I didn't call Europeans - of which I am one by birth - "idiots."

But the issue is larger.

At this point, a lot of European countries are re-evaluating their decision to join the Eurozone. The UK is exiting, and the reasons are political and financial.

The GDPR is a bureaucrat's wet dream: created in such vague terms with intent to shift the current economy balance between the US and Europe. If we didn't have such an incompetent government, there would have been a proper response a long time ago.

Now, as domain investors and business owners we have to face a different course in how we conduct business.

Lots of discussion about that topic. Are you familiar about how Amazon, Facebook, Apple or Google created a financial structure in order to avoid paying taxes on the EU for all their -huge- business run in the EU?

Honestly, I'm not sure if there's any further, hidden intention behind GDPR. But whatever the case is, online companies have been the first in being shady here.

Anyway, you decided to block all EU users. Fine, that's ok. It won't be the end of the word for you and it won't be the end of the world for any EU user. I'm just asking for some respect. And to accept that everyone is entitled to dance to the tune they choose. Sometimes it looks like if there's only one side here entitled to choose the music for everyone in the party.

 

[Galaxy Traveller]

Now, as domain investors and business owners we have to face a different course in how we conduct business.

The most valuable portion.

 

[Acroplex]

You keep mentioning "respect" with regards to my decision to block 28 European countries.

I didn't create this thread, and its headline does not represent my position. I only commented about my position and went to great lengths to explain it. The rest is Raymond's blog post and the ensuing discussion.

If you know exactly what the GDPR's agenda is, you are lucky; even lawyers aren't familiar with it.

 

[RozasMD]

Sorry Boss, world changed. Everything is online and global. Everything is international. Accept it or stay disconnected and become a person with limited knowledge because it means knowledge from regional source only.

What?

First, I don't think English will stop being an official language. But even if it does, it just means that official communications won't be written in English. It doesn't mean all Europeans will suddenly forget how to speak English.

It won't be banned either. We'll still be able to read and write. No one will be punished for speaking English.

There's 83 million Germans, 67 million French, 60 million Italians, 47 million Spaniards. If UK finally leaves, there will be 4.7 million Irish and 0.4 million Maltese as English native speakers in the EU. That's the only reason why English might stop being an official language.

But you can swear if I ever meet a Dutch guy or a Finnish girl, we'll have a conversation in English. No one will block English in any way.

 

[RozasMD]

You keep mentioning "respect" with regards to my decision to block 28 European countries.

No, I don't.

I mention respect regarding some of the things written in this thread. I've already stated it was not adressed specifically to you.