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[simple AT sdf.org]

Jeff Taylor <shdwdrgn AT sourpuss.net> wrote:

> Well damn...  The threat of .free being used by ICANN has been out there 
> for a few years, almost since they opened up their gTLDs, but the 
> application has always fallen through or been dropped. Unfortunately I 
> see that as of November 7th Amazon successfully registered the TLD, and 
> it is in fact resolving from ICANN now.
>
> So we need to discuss the matter, and determine how Opennic wants to 
> proceed.  For reference there are 157 active domains registered under 
> .free (around 8 of those are system domains like www.free).
>
> -- We can choose to ignore ICANN and continue using .free as an opennic TLD
> -- We can move the existing opennic domains to a new TLD and support 
> ICANN's .free
> -- We can drop all opennic domains and support ICANN's .free
>
> Although it is possible to merge the records from both sources, it is a 
> labor-intensive pain in the butt and we would have to consider every 
> domain name that conflicts now and in the future... This is not an 
> option I feel is worthwhile.  Thus, the three options above are really 
> the only choices we have.  There has been some discussion about 
> migrating .free to a new .libre TLD under opennic, and if enough people 
> are interested in migrating then I would take suggestions and a vote for 
> the new TLD name.  If we want to choose option 1 above, then we do 
> nothing and continue to ignore ICANN's TLD.  If we want option 3, then I 
> simply remove .free from opennic, and the ICANN domains will start 
> resolving.
>

What about using the fact that OpenNIC was "there first" WRT .free TLDs
to wring some money out of ICANN in the form of a donation?  There would
likely be some free publicity to be gained as well which might translate
into more awareness and use of OpenNIC TLDs and DNS.

-- Jeff W.