100-Year Domain Renewals?

Ryosen writes "I received an email this morning from Network Solutions. Seems they are offering their current customers the ability to renew their domain names for 100 years. Is this is a realistic investment considering most companies don't last 100 years? Given that the Internet is a recent phenomenom, is it realistic to expect it to be the same in 100 years? Will Verisign be around that long? Does this make sense?"

I think they know something we don't!

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they are better informed than us /.'ers and everything is going to change in the near future rendering your 100 year domain useless.

Synical, me? Naaaa.

i think im going to register

[FS1]

I thought about registering iamanidiot.com, but found it is already registered to network solutions. Oh well should have seen that coming.

What happesn if

[Fisher99]

your one of those small scam campanies who change their name every year?

This is hysterical...

[Noryungi]

In other news today, I just found this in my inbox:

• Increase the size of your love tool!
• Cheap drugs from overseas! Our doctors will write the prescription!
• Even better than Vi@gr@!
• Win '000s of $$$ on Ebay!
• Act now and protect your domain name for 100 years!

Or, in the immortal words of P.T. Barnum: " A sucker is born every minute ".

Re:well why not?

[shione]

yea especially so for Microsoft. Who else remembers this: oh oh... [google.com]

From the book of Genesis...

[slycer9]

And thus Cain rose up and slew Abel for their father had given Abel his birthright, the domain name of Abraham.Com, and witheld FTP rights from Cain.

And God said unto Cain, 'Why aren't thou using the latest kernel as they brother?'..............

Re:Where does the ownership go?

[Tomahawk]

One last thing - it's spelled PHENOMENON.

Do doo d' do do!


Do you really need Sandra Bullok and a few pink muppets to get the effect.

Re:100 years of interest loss

[boer]

In other words, the $1000 now would be worth some $131500 in 100 years assuming 5 per cent annual interest rate, so effectively one is paying $1315 per year for the registration.

Obligatory SouthPark reference

[D4MO]

Ladies and gentlemen this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk, but Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about that. That does not make sense. Why would a Wookiee, an eight foot tall Wookiee want to live on Endor with a bunch of two foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense!

Re:well why not?

[Anonymous Coward]

One hundred years from now nobody at the company will know anything about renewing domain names, since they've never had to go through the process. They'll laugh at the renewal invoice, and think it is a scam.

Re:well why not?

[metamatic]

Yeah, but if you're a company like IBM, it's worth $1000 not to have to do business with Network Solutions.

Ive finally solved the equation

[t_allardyce]

1. Charge lots of money for a 100 year domain.
2. Know in your head your not really going to be around that long.
3. Profit.

Re:Um...no

[KamuSan]

Imagine the problems they will have after 100 years. Do you think anyone will remember to renew the domainname 99 years from now?

Boy, have _I_ got a deal for you...

[dpbsmith]

...I will least you any requested domain name that meet my approval for the period 2700-2800 AD inclusive for just $229.95. That's less than $2.28 per year! And, of course, what with inflation, who knows what GoDaddy may be charging by then?

I will not actually register the domain names now, of course. I will only accept domain names I think are unlikely to get taken. As the year 2700 approaches I, or, um, rather, my company, will research the status of your domain name and either register it or buy it from whomever owns it.

And for just $108 more, I'll throw in a free Star Registration. That's right, I'll have the International Star Registry [starregistry.com] name a star after your URL! That... almost like... getting two registrations for the price of one!

But wait, there's more. Act now and also get a 100% valid title deed for one square inch of land zoned residential on planet Smegma, I mean Sedna. Now how much would you pay?

MS will bite

[stm2]

I think MS will buy this service. Some years ago the forgot to pay a domain affected to hotmail and produce an outage. It was "fixed" by a linux user who paid the domain. Isn't it ironic?
(btw, he was compesated by Ms and he resold his check at ebay).

Re:One Winner

[xarak]

But that excludes all possibility of company turnover. I foresee that in 100 years there will be a micro-fibre toilet-paper manufacturer that will have its web home on www.microsoft.com

Re:Um...no

[AKnightCowboy]

Who says domain names will even exist 100 years from now?

Good point. DNS will likely be replaced by a huge globally distributed Active Directory implementation by then.

Re:Um...no

[eryk]

that makes me think about "+1 Scary" modifier.

DNS Zones, a new family heirloom

[nutznboltz]

Take good care of this DNS Zone, it's been in the family for generations.

Re:Family Names

[zephc]

My name is Conner McLeod.com of the clan McLeod.com

I am an Immortal. That is why i signed the VeriSign 100-year contract.

Re:Um...no

[tekunokurato]

Help me out -- what is an active directory implementation?

Re:Dead

[corbettw]

Having said that, I can't imagine that people will access web sites in fifty years (if there's even anything that still exists that's remotely analagous to a website by then) by typing text into an address bar.

Well, in all likelihood, they'll be too busy trying to survive day by day, while keeping on the run from the zombie horde that wants to eat their flesh.

Man, this documentary [dawnofthedeadmovie.net] really freaked me out.

Re:One Winner

[Vindicator9000]

I dunno... I think that in 100 years, we'll all be using the three seashells.

Re:Dead

[Throtex]

Having said that, I can't imagine that people will access web sites in fifty years (if there's even anything that still exists that's remotely analagous to a website by then) by typing text into an address bar. I don't know what they'll be doing instead, but I get the feeling that owning a cool domain name will be about as valuable as having the rights to a particularly catchy morse code callsign would be now.

You should print this comment out, put it in a shoebox somewhere (or a time capsule!) and open it up in 50 years. You'll probably have a good laugh. I'm not sure exactly what part of this will be funny in fifty years, but more than likely it'll somehow be funny. ;)

Re:Um...no

[1iar_parad0x]

Of course my job will be replaced by AI by then. However, the server will be in India. Probably be designed by some genius at IIT.

Of course the internet will probably be as useful as the telegraph.

Of course Skynet will have become sentient and I'll be nothing more than some mainframe's meatpuppet servant.

Of course the companies will no longer exist and we'll all be living on Mars because we destroyed Earth in nuclear Holocaust.

Of course I'll be dead long before then -- so sure, why not?

Re:One Winner

[Tokerat]

Frankly, for all the stupid and evil things that NetSol does, this is a brilliant marketing move and more power to them.

Yea, hopefully all the companies that can afford it re-register their names for 100 years and then Network Solutions goes under in 10 years from lack of revenue since most of the Internet is locked in until 2104, heh.

Re:Um...no

[edrain]

Just set a reminder in Outlook and hope that's still the dominant mail client in 100 years, right?

Maybe not...

I have a better deal!

[Atario]

I'll give you half off the already incredibly low low price of $9.99/yr when you renew for a million years! That's right, only $4.99 per year for a million-year renewal*! Think of the convenience! No more tiresome renewal reminders -- for a million years!

* All sales final. Domain names not transferrable.