.name Termination

3 September 2026 2026年9月3日

Nearly twenty-five years ago I registered neil.fraser.name to provide a stable presence on the Internet. It has been the home of this website, my email address, and a server for APIs. It predates YouTube, Facebook, and smart phones. Minutes after my daughter was born, I also registered beverly.fraser.name. 近二十五年前，我注册了 neil.fraser.name，旨在为我在互联网上提供一个稳定的存在。它一直是我这个网站、我的电子邮件地址以及 API 服务器的所在地。它的出现早于 YouTube、Facebook 和智能手机。在我女儿出生几分钟后，我也注册了 beverly.fraser.name。

On 15 April 2026 Verisign proposed the destruction of the entire 3rd level of the ‘.name’ hierarchy in order to simplify their administration. Astonishingly, on 28 July 2026 ICANN approved this action. I found out about this a few days ago when my registrar emailed me. 2026年4月15日，Verisign 提议销毁“.name”层级中的整个三级域名，以简化其管理工作。令人震惊的是，ICANN 于2026年7月28日批准了这一行动。我是在几天前收到注册商发来的电子邮件时才得知此事的。

Now, it’s worth pausing for a moment to discuss what ‘3rd-level domains’ are. Many people will be familiar with shady operators selling domains like *.uk.co. In that case it’s some random guy who bought the ‘uk’ domain from the country of Colombia, then resells third-levels. If that operator disappears, then so do all the domains he sold. As a result, 3rd-level domains have gotten a dubious reputation. 现在，有必要花点时间讨论一下什么是“三级域名”。许多人可能熟悉那些兜售类似 *.uk.co 域名的可疑运营商。在这种情况下，通常是某个随机的人从哥伦比亚购买了“uk”域名，然后转售三级域名。如果该运营商消失，他所售出的所有域名也会随之消失。因此，三级域名获得了一种可疑的名声。

However, ‘.name’ is completely different. It was setup exclusively as a 3rd-level operation. One registers xxx.yyy.name from any registrar and there is a full whois record. Exactly like *.ny.us, or *.co.uk. 然而，“.name”完全不同。它被专门设置为一种三级域名运营模式。用户可以从任何注册商处注册 xxx.yyy.name，并且拥有完整的 Whois 记录。这与 *.ny.us 或 *.co.uk 完全一样。

One of my original reasons for choosing ‘.name’ was that it was run by Global Name Registry — more specifically, it was not run by Verisign. I had history with Verisign and did not trust them. Unfortunately, Verisign acquired Global Name Registry a few years later. This mistrust was validated by the numerous lies Verisign included in their above proposal to ICANN. 我最初选择“.name”的原因之一是它由 Global Name Registry 运营——更具体地说，它不是由 Verisign 运营的。我与 Verisign 有过往交集，并不信任他们。不幸的是，几年后 Verisign 收购了 Global Name Registry。Verisign 在提交给 ICANN 的上述提案中包含的无数谎言，证实了我的这种不信任。

So what does this mean? First, this website vanishes in February. Despite the fact that it’s registered and paid for until 2040. Second, my email address also disappears. Third, all the IoT devices that use services on this domain become bricks. Basically, I disappear from the Internet. 那么这意味着什么呢？首先，这个网站将在二月份消失，尽管它已经注册并付费到了2040年。其次，我的电子邮件地址也会消失。第三，所有使用该域名服务的物联网设备都将变成砖头。基本上，我将从互联网上消失。

But it gets much worse. Once the 3rd-level domains are terminated, it is assumed that the now vacant 2nd-level domains will become available for registration. Should someone (other than me) scoop up fraser.name they would be able to recreate and control neil.fraser.name. They’d be able to hijack hundreds of accounts that are linked to that address. They could commit code with my authentication. They could seize control of IoT devices. There is no way to enumerate all accounts (online and offline) which have been opened using this email address over the past quarter century. 但情况远不止于此。一旦三级域名被终止，人们推测现在空置的二级域名将可供注册。如果有人（非我本人）抢注了 fraser.name，他们将能够重建并控制 neil.fraser.name。他们将能够劫持与该地址关联的数百个账户。他们可以用我的身份提交代码。他们可以夺取物联网设备的控制权。在过去四分之一个世纪里，使用此电子邮件地址开设的所有账户（线上和线下）根本无法一一列举。

I’m just one of 22,000 people who will lose their domains. This is going to be fun. Time to lawyer up… 我只是将失去域名的22,000人中的一员。这下可有意思了。是时候找律师了……