As a Domainer, Will You Put a NameBlock Block on Your Names?

[bhartzer]

NameBlock is launching soon (expected in the next month or so). NameBlock will allow you to pay to place a block on a series of characters (such as your product name, brand, company name, etc.).

You'll be able to place that block so no one can register a domain that contains those characters, and a ton of common variations. For example, if PayPal would put a block on PayPal, then domains like PayPa1.com, PayPa1.net, etc. couldn't be registered. They'll show up as being not available to register.

You don't have to have a trademark to put a NameBlock on. But you'll pay annually for the block.

As a domainer, are you planning on putting block on your more valuable names?

 

[bmugford]

NameBlock is my service, and I'm no way associated with NameBlock--I'm just going to be a reseller when it launches in the next few months.

So now we have (2) different NameBlock in the same field.

Which NameBlock is going to be the first to block the term with NameBlock?

I think that illustrates the absurdity of this idea.

Brad

 

[Future Sensors]

I think you mean "No, I will definitely not use this service." ?

Nice to see that we agree.

 

[bhartzer]

How would you know when you don't know exactly what they offer and and what fee? Doesn't make sense.

Good question.. I'm considering being a reseller. And have asked a lot of questions.
You, too, could inquire about it and get info about being a reseller

 

[branding]

Definitely not an SEO move LOLOL

Then why post about a controversial subject, a product you intend to resell, not available yet, no hard facts, no known pricing, no verifiable ICANN approval.

Basically all we can gather from this thread is that a service is to be launched, at uncertain terms, that hartzer.com will be reselling?

#seoscam

 

[bhartzer]

So now we have (2) different NameBlock in the same field.

Which NameBlock is going to be the first to block the term with NameBlock?

I think that illustrates the absurdity of this idea.

Brad

That was a typo... it should have read "Nameblock is NOT my service, I'm not associated with it."
As I"m not associated in any way with NameBlock, the domain name blocking service.

 

[branding]

Good question.. I'm considering being a reseller. And have asked a lot of questions.
You, too, could inquire about it and get info about being a reseller

I own a registrar and will direct that question to the registry. I will get back to you about that and see if they even ever heard of them.

Edit: my business partner replied, never heard of it.

 

[Future Sensors]

That was a typo... it should have read "Nameblock is NOT my service, I'm not associated with it."
As I"m not associated in any way with NameBlock, the domain name blocking service.

The same way you weren't associated with Epik...

 

[bhartzer]

Then why post about a controversial subject, a product you intend to resell, not available yet, no hard facts, no known pricing, no verifiable ICANN approval.

Basically all we can gather from this thread is that a service is to be launched, at uncertain terms, that hartzer.com will be reselling?

#seoscam

It's going to be launched soon, and yeah-- controversial subject for domainers potentially. When I make posts I actually like to get engagement and responses from what I post.

Talking about NameBlock, something that has a lot of consequences and potential issues for domainers, is something that needs to be brought up here. It's launching soon.

 

[bmugford]

PS I certainly hope the legal minds at ICA have a close look at this.

I can assure you if NameBlock works even close to what has been represented here, that will certainly be the case.

Many other stakeholders will also have a major issue with this, as the potential for abuse is clear.

Though, I am not going to jump the gun. Again, I lean more towards marketing fluff than being some game changer.

This could be a potential disaster scenario for ICANN, and I don't think they are that stupid to not see the potential abuse of this system.

Brad

 

[branding]

It's going to be launched soon, and yeah-- controversial subject for domainers potentially. When I make posts I actually like to get engagement and responses from what I post.

Talking about NameBlock, something that has a lot of consequences and potential issues for domainers, is something that needs to be brought up here. It's launching soon.

No, not going to happen. Show me ICANN approval or stop making statements like this!

 

[bhartzer]

I own a registrar and will direct that question to the registry. I will get back to you about that and see if they even ever heard of them.

Edit: my business partner replied, never heard of it.

Well you have heard of it now, which is good, which is the point of my post about it. Domain Name Wire wrote about it LAST YEAR, and it's launching. Thought I'd bring it up.

 

[bhartzer]

I can assure you if NameBlock works even close to what has been represented here, that will certainly be the case.

Many other stakeholders will also have a major issue with this, as the potential for abuse is clear.

Though, I am not going to jump the gun. Again, I lean more towards marketing fluff than it being some abusive game changer.

This could be a potential disaster scenario for ICANN, and I don't think they are that stupid to not see the potential abuse of this system.

Brad

I'm interested in hearing what the stakeholders have to say about it.

I'd like to see examples of potential abuse. It's actually designed to prevent DNS abuse, not cause it.

ICANN has approved it apparently.

 

[bmugford]

I'm interested in hearing what the stakeholders have to say about it.

I'd like to see examples of potential abuse. It's actually designed to prevent DNS abuse, not cause it.

ICANN has approved it apparently.

Well, I would like to see examples of what is actually blocked.

Then we can go from there.

Brad

 

[bhartzer]

No, not going to happen. Show me ICANN approval or stop making statements like this!

You should ask NameBlock about it.

Regarding ICANN and NameBlock, I was about to find this:
https://www.adrforum.com/assets/resources/domain/dns-abuse/NameBlockPolicy.pdf

But I'm sure there's something else out there.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Well you have heard of it now, which is good, which is the point of my post about it. Domain Name Wire wrote about it LAST YEAR, and it's launching. Thought I'd bring it up.

Thanks for info. It apparently was officially launched at NamesCon. Can someone who was there tell us more?

I am not sure if allowed to link to DNW article here, but it was end of August 2022. It is fairly brief, including the following general description:

As a blocking marketplace, NameBlock can help registries (including ones with non-new TLDs) create their own blocking options that can be sold by registrars and other partners. Brand owners will be able to aggregate blocks instead of purchasing one-off blocks for each registry.

Apparently the idea was spearheaded by Rolf Larsen, a well-known and respected person in the domain industry.

-Bob

 

[branding]

Well you have heard of it now, which is good, which is the point of my post about it. Domain Name Wire wrote about it LAST YEAR, and it's launching. Thought I'd bring it up.

You are aware you're literally proving my point?

 

[bhartzer]

Well, I would like to see examples of what is actually blocked.

Then we can go from there.

Brad

As I said, I don't think they would put out a list, it wouldn't make sense to do that.

If you pay for a block, they're going to use "an abuse variants algorithm to generate an Abuse Variant List consisting of variants of a Block Label, based on e.g. abuse suffixes, homoglyphs, common misspellings etc, and subsequently blocks a maximum of 500 Domain Names within the same participating TLD as the Block Label."

You're thinking that it is going to be a list of DOMAINS that they're blocking. They're not. They're not blocking a list of domains--they're blocking variants.

Look at the NameBlock website for info on what they're blocking.

 

[bhartzer]

Thanks for info. It apparently was officially launched at NamesCon. Can someone who was there tell us more?

I am not sure if allowed to link to DNW article here, but it was end of August 2022. It is fairly brief, including the following general description:

Apparently the idea was spearheaded by Rolf Larsen, a well-known and respected person in the domain industry.

-Bob

It was launched at NamesCon, but I don't think anyone can actually create a block yet.

 

[bhartzer]

You are aware you're literally proving my point?

What's your point? I don't care if I proved your point or not.

Do you have a problem with me mentioning a service that is going to have an affect on all domainers and anyone who tries to register a domain?

 

[bhartzer]

Thanks for info. It apparently was officially launched at NamesCon. Can someone who was there tell us more?

I am not sure if allowed to link to DNW article here, but it was end of August 2022. It is fairly brief, including the following general description:

Apparently the idea was spearheaded by Rolf Larsen, a well-known and respected person in the domain industry.

-Bob

Good to know. I had no idea who "owns" it or who started it.

 

[branding]

I'm very interested how @Alfa Mod Team feels about promoting a service you will be providing which has no consequence for anyone but those suckered in and posting it under general discussion.

Do you have a problem with me mentioning a service that is going to have an affect on all domainers and anyone who tries to register a domain?

Yes. As what you claim is unbased and unverifiable, promoting a service you will be reselling

See comment above.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks for the document link you posted @bhartzer , that answers some questions, even though it is still vague in some ways.

I am unclear on costs. There has been a lot of talk on the costs, not yet announced, on the block itself. But is NameBlock also planning to charge for the right to appeal a block, so they make money that way too?

The 10 day sounds very tight, and the need to provide business plans is something that many will be unwilling to do for competitive reasons. So I have an early stage startup. A block happy company, or a competitor, gets wind of the name, and buys a block on it. Then I can appeal, but as part of that I need to provide more information than I might want to about my plans as I am securing funding and getting my startup off the ground.

I continue to feel that it will be NameBlock itself, its resellers, and some who plan to profit from blocks that win, and almost everyone with legitimate cases will lose.

I have no problem with them offering software to help registrars and registries identify confusingly similar names. Anything other than that, I am unconvinced is a good idea.

For sure, not enough stakeholder discussion.

Bob

 

[branding]

Look Bill, show some verifiable facts. We can take it from there. Hate it, love it. I don't care. So far there's zero evidence of ICANN approval hence it's going to impact close to zero domainers (unless you're really much invested in .global; big if).

Nothing here to see or worry about, carry on.

 

[Future Sensors]

I have no problem with them offering software to help registrars and registries identify confusingly similar names. Anything other than that, I am unconvinced is a good idea.

Re identifying, this is exactly what FarSight Security (acquired by DomainTools) is already offering with their Newly Observed Hostnames (NOH) offering.

https://www.farsightsecurity.com/solutions/threat-intelligence-team/newly-observed-hostnames/

https://www.domaintools.com/resourc...on-exchange-sie-newly-observed-hostnames-noh/

 

[bhartzer]

Thanks for the document link you posted @bhartzer , that answers some questions, even though it is still vague in some ways.

I am unclear on costs. There has been a lot of talk on the costs, not yet announced on the block itself. But is NameBlock also planning to charge for the right to appeal a block, so they make money that way too?

The 10 day sounds very tight, and the need to provide business plans is something that many will be unwilling to do for competitive reasons. So I have an early stage startup. A block happy company, or a competitor, gets wind of the name, and buys a block on it. Then I can appeal, but as part of that I need to provide more information than I might want to about my plans as I am securing funding and getting my startup off the ground.

I continue to feel that it will be NameBlock itself, its resellers, and some who plan to profit from blocks that win, and almost everyone with legitimate cases will lose.

I have no problem with them offering software to help registrars and registries identify confusingly similar names. Anything other than that, I am unconvinced is a good idea.

For sure, not enough stakeholder discussion.

Bob

I dont' think cost/pricing of NameBlock hasn't been announced yet.

I think there's a charge to remove a block, not a charge to appeal a block. But I could be wrong.