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Abidel Bassie-Cripps wrote:
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<div>Don't forget Domains At Cost! That is where I had my .ca. The
only problem is .ca is a pain to deal with cira.ca.</div>
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<br>
That "pain to deal with" is a consequence of .ca being one of the most
secure and trusted top level domains. CIRA is widely regarded as being
one of the most transparent, best-run registries on the planet. Its
requirement of accurate WHOIS information and its strict procedures for
ownership transfers serve to protect both domain owners and the
Internet-using public. Domain kiting and bad-faith use, commonplace in
the wild-west world that is .com, .org and .net, are very uncommon in
.ca, which also preserves what IMO is a reasonable balance between
WHOIS privacy and accountability.<br>
<br>
For what it's worth, I've been maintaining my own domains through
Tucows for more than a decade and find their service quite nice (and
extremely ethical).<br>
I've also used Domainsatcost.ca, which is also good if you don't need
much support.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:600232.28489.qm-pvAMNDiD2Dj5nGHA2nhOEg9VFclH1bkmQQ4Iyu8u01E@public.gmane.org"
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<div> I'm now using a free domain name.<br>
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Given that every registration requires a payment to ICANN and the
appropriate registry, there is no such thing as a "free" domain. You're
paying for it somewhere, often as part of a bundle that includes
hosting.<br>
<br>
I personally consider combo hosting/domain deals to generally be a
Very Bad Idea. Be sure to check the details; in some of these packages
you don't even own "your" domain and are locked into the hosting
service if you want to keep using it. In many cases, transferring a
domain to a different registrar is deliberately made very difficult. I
personally think it is far better to keep your hosting and domain
registration as completely separate transactions, preferably with
different vendors. It may be more hassle but you know exactly what you
have.<br>
<br>
<br>
Evan Leibovitch<br>
Chair, ICANN North American Region At-Large Organization<br>
<br>
<br>
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