Can someone read my E-Mail if I lose ownership of my domain?
Let's assume I have a server set up with an email address like me@mydomain.tld. Now I have distributed my business card with the e-mail address to all people all over the world and they keep sending me confidential emails. But now I don't feel like paying for the domain mydomain.tld anymore.
Now if someone buys the domain and creates a mx record pointing to the his own mail server he can read all my confidential emails the people are sending me right?
No, I can't tell them to stop sending confidential mails because I can't contact them.
Are there ways to prevent that or is the only option I have is to pay for the domain until I die?
email domain
edited 4 hours ago
Mawg
698724
asked yesterday
Skiddie Hunter
18829
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show 5 more comments
Let's assume I have a server set up with an email address like me@mydomain.tld. Now I have distributed my business card with the e-mail address to all people all over the world and they keep sending me confidential emails. But now I don't feel like paying for the domain mydomain.tld anymore.
Now if someone buys the domain and creates a mx record pointing to the his own mail server he can read all my confidential emails the people are sending me right?
No, I can't tell them to stop sending confidential mails because I can't contact them.
Are there ways to prevent that or is the only option I have is to pay for the domain until I die?
email domain
edited 4 hours ago
Mawg
698724
asked yesterday
Skiddie Hunter
18829
New contributor
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
3
About $14. Still pretty much for a student. But thanks for your answer. I'll probably pay for it another 5 years and then I'm gonna let it expire.
– Skiddie Hunter
yesterday
24
$14 a year is nothing. Paying $140 over a period of 10 years is nothing (you won't be a student forever!). Forgo a cup of coffee during one day only once every three months and it'll pay for itself indefinitely.
– forest
yesterday
2
Have you considered paying for a few more years and setting an "out of office" or "vacation auto-reply" saying that the domain will be dead after X years? That's what I did with my Gmail account when I divorced Google. It won't guarantee 100%, but how many people are likely to not contact you for 5 years, then suddenly do so after that? I guess it depends if this is a real life question or just academic.
– Mawg
yesterday
7
@SkiddieHunter For sending credit card information e-mail was never an advisable choice. A website should use HTTP GET/POST over TLS for exchanging credit card information. And for a side business while you're a student, you really should probably use something more like PayPal where you never need to know or touch customers' credit card info at all. Even if you continue to own the domain, e-mail has never been a secure way to exchange information. It's generally unencrypted and viewable by anyone anywhere along the transmission path. Also, SMTP is about 37 years old, not over 50. :)
– reirab
23 hours ago
2
@SkiddieHunter: Re: "Why hasn't e-mail been abolished and replaced by something newer and better that is, for example, based on security?" How do you expect to retain ownership of an identifier by which you can be reached without some sort of system equivalent to domain registration, in a way that's permanent across decades? Email addresses at domains registered 25+ years ago are still accessible. Do you honestly think you'll get that from anyone offering privately-controlled joke-of-a-service stuff intended to replace email?
– R..
16 hours ago
|
show 5 more comments
Let's assume I have a server set up with an email address like me@mydomain.tld. Now I have distributed my business card with the e-mail address to all people all over the world and they keep sending me confidential emails. But now I don't feel like paying for the domain mydomain.tld anymore.
Now if someone buys the domain and creates a mx record pointing to the his own mail server he can read all my confidential emails the people are sending me right?
No, I can't tell them to stop sending confidential mails because I can't contact them.
Are there ways to prevent that or is the only option I have is to pay for the domain until I die?
email domain
edited 4 hours ago
Mawg
698724
asked yesterday
Skiddie Hunter
18829
New contributor
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Let's assume I have a server set up with an email address like me@mydomain.tld. Now I have distributed my business card with the e-mail address to all people all over the world and they keep sending me confidential emails. But now I don't feel like paying for the domain mydomain.tld anymore.
Now if someone buys the domain and creates a mx record pointing to the his own mail server he can read all my confidential emails the people are sending me right?
No, I can't tell them to stop sending confidential mails because I can't contact them.
Are there ways to prevent that or is the only option I have is to pay for the domain until I die?
email domain
email domain
edited 4 hours ago
Mawg
698724
asked yesterday
Skiddie Hunter
18829
New contributor
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 4 hours ago
Mawg
698724
asked yesterday
Skiddie Hunter
18829
New contributor
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 4 hours ago
Mawg
698724
edited 4 hours ago
Mawg
698724
edited 4 hours ago
Mawg
698724
698724
asked yesterday
Skiddie Hunter
18829
New contributor
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
Skiddie Hunter
18829
asked yesterday
Skiddie Hunter
18829
18829
New contributor
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
3
About $14. Still pretty much for a student. But thanks for your answer. I'll probably pay for it another 5 years and then I'm gonna let it expire.
– Skiddie Hunter
yesterday
24
$14 a year is nothing. Paying $140 over a period of 10 years is nothing (you won't be a student forever!). Forgo a cup of coffee during one day only once every three months and it'll pay for itself indefinitely.
– forest
yesterday
2
Have you considered paying for a few more years and setting an "out of office" or "vacation auto-reply" saying that the domain will be dead after X years? That's what I did with my Gmail account when I divorced Google. It won't guarantee 100%, but how many people are likely to not contact you for 5 years, then suddenly do so after that? I guess it depends if this is a real life question or just academic.
– Mawg
yesterday
7
@SkiddieHunter For sending credit card information e-mail was never an advisable choice. A website should use HTTP GET/POST over TLS for exchanging credit card information. And for a side business while you're a student, you really should probably use something more like PayPal where you never need to know or touch customers' credit card info at all. Even if you continue to own the domain, e-mail has never been a secure way to exchange information. It's generally unencrypted and viewable by anyone anywhere along the transmission path. Also, SMTP is about 37 years old, not over 50. :)
– reirab
23 hours ago
2
@SkiddieHunter: Re: "Why hasn't e-mail been abolished and replaced by something newer and better that is, for example, based on security?" How do you expect to retain ownership of an identifier by which you can be reached without some sort of system equivalent to domain registration, in a way that's permanent across decades? Email addresses at domains registered 25+ years ago are still accessible. Do you honestly think you'll get that from anyone offering privately-controlled joke-of-a-service stuff intended to replace email?
– R..
16 hours ago
|
show 5 more comments
3
About $14. Still pretty much for a student. But thanks for your answer. I'll probably pay for it another 5 years and then I'm gonna let it expire.
– Skiddie Hunter
yesterday
24
$14 a year is nothing. Paying $140 over a period of 10 years is nothing (you won't be a student forever!). Forgo a cup of coffee during one day only once every three months and it'll pay for itself indefinitely.
– forest
yesterday
2
Have you considered paying for a few more years and setting an "out of office" or "vacation auto-reply" saying that the domain will be dead after X years? That's what I did with my Gmail account when I divorced Google. It won't guarantee 100%, but how many people are likely to not contact you for 5 years, then suddenly do so after that? I guess it depends if this is a real life question or just academic.
– Mawg
yesterday
7
@SkiddieHunter For sending credit card information e-mail was never an advisable choice. A website should use HTTP GET/POST over TLS for exchanging credit card information. And for a side business while you're a student, you really should probably use something more like PayPal where you never need to know or touch customers' credit card info at all. Even if you continue to own the domain, e-mail has never been a secure way to exchange information. It's generally unencrypted and viewable by anyone anywhere along the transmission path. Also, SMTP is about 37 years old, not over 50. :)
– reirab
23 hours ago
2
@SkiddieHunter: Re: "Why hasn't e-mail been abolished and replaced by something newer and better that is, for example, based on security?" How do you expect to retain ownership of an identifier by which you can be reached without some sort of system equivalent to domain registration, in a way that's permanent across decades? Email addresses at domains registered 25+ years ago are still accessible. Do you honestly think you'll get that from anyone offering privately-controlled joke-of-a-service stuff intended to replace email?
– R..
16 hours ago
3
3
About $14. Still pretty much for a student. But thanks for your answer. I'll probably pay for it another 5 years and then I'm gonna let it expire.
– Skiddie Hunter
yesterday
About $14. Still pretty much for a student. But thanks for your answer. I'll probably pay for it another 5 years and then I'm gonna let it expire.
– Skiddie Hunter
yesterday
24
24
$14 a year is nothing. Paying $140 over a period of 10 years is nothing (you won't be a student forever!). Forgo a cup of coffee during one day only once every three months and it'll pay for itself indefinitely.
– forest
yesterday
$14 a year is nothing. Paying $140 over a period of 10 years is nothing (you won't be a student forever!). Forgo a cup of coffee during one day only once every three months and it'll pay for itself indefinitely.
– forest
yesterday
2
2
Have you considered paying for a few more years and setting an "out of office" or "vacation auto-reply" saying that the domain will be dead after X years? That's what I did with my Gmail account when I divorced Google. It won't guarantee 100%, but how many people are likely to not contact you for 5 years, then suddenly do so after that? I guess it depends if this is a real life question or just academic.
– Mawg
yesterday
Have you considered paying for a few more years and setting an "out of office" or "vacation auto-reply" saying that the domain will be dead after X years? That's what I did with my Gmail account when I divorced Google. It won't guarantee 100%, but how many people are likely to not contact you for 5 years, then suddenly do so after that? I guess it depends if this is a real life question or just academic.
– Mawg
yesterday
7
7
@SkiddieHunter For sending credit card information e-mail was never an advisable choice. A website should use HTTP GET/POST over TLS for exchanging credit card information. And for a side business while you're a student, you really should probably use something more like PayPal where you never need to know or touch customers' credit card info at all. Even if you continue to own the domain, e-mail has never been a secure way to exchange information. It's generally unencrypted and viewable by anyone anywhere along the transmission path. Also, SMTP is about 37 years old, not over 50. :)
– reirab
23 hours ago
@SkiddieHunter For sending credit card information e-mail was never an advisable choice. A website should use HTTP GET/POST over TLS for exchanging credit card information. And for a side business while you're a student, you really should probably use something more like PayPal where you never need to know or touch customers' credit card info at all. Even if you continue to own the domain, e-mail has never been a secure way to exchange information. It's generally unencrypted and viewable by anyone anywhere along the transmission path. Also, SMTP is about 37 years old, not over 50. :)
– reirab
23 hours ago
2
2
@SkiddieHunter: Re: "Why hasn't e-mail been abolished and replaced by something newer and better that is, for example, based on security?" How do you expect to retain ownership of an identifier by which you can be reached without some sort of system equivalent to domain registration, in a way that's permanent across decades? Email addresses at domains registered 25+ years ago are still accessible. Do you honestly think you'll get that from anyone offering privately-controlled joke-of-a-service stuff intended to replace email?
– R..
16 hours ago
@SkiddieHunter: Re: "Why hasn't e-mail been abolished and replaced by something newer and better that is, for example, based on security?" How do you expect to retain ownership of an identifier by which you can be reached without some sort of system equivalent to domain registration, in a way that's permanent across decades? Email addresses at domains registered 25+ years ago are still accessible. Do you honestly think you'll get that from anyone offering privately-controlled joke-of-a-service stuff intended to replace email?
– R..
16 hours ago
|
show 5 more comments
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
Now if someone buys the domain and creates a mx record pointing to the his own mail server he can read all my confidential emails the people are sending me right?
If they register the domain name, they will receive all email being sent to it from that point on. They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails. There is nothing to fundamentally prevent this.
Are there ways to prevent that or is the only option I have is to pay for the domain until I die?
You can request that all contacts to you encrypt their communications with PGP using your public key, which will prevent anyone who obtains the domain later from reading new messages, but it requires people actually use PGP, which may not be likely if you are distributing the address to average people in a business card. However, if you maintain or at least renew the domain for, say, 20 years, then what are the chances that anyone is going to seriously send an email to such an ancient address?
I asked the question on the Law Stack Exchange whether or not there would be any legal recourse to someone using your domain, and the answer was no: https://law.stackexchange.com/q/35917/15724
answered yesterday
forest
32.5k15105111
2
Unless OP already happens to have one, registering a trademark costs a lot more than registering a domain.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
@FedericoPoloni You do not need to explicitly register a trademark. Just use the trademark symbol (™) next to a logo or phrase and you will get a certain level of protection in many countries. However, getting a registered trademark (®) does cost money. Lack of a registered trademark might, however, prevent you from seeking damages under 15 U.S. Code § 1117 in the USA, and protections would be weaker. See also here.
– forest
yesterday
3
Trademark protection against other people registering a domain has its limits. It will work against lego.newtld as Lego is a world wide brand and a registered trademark, though they might have to claim it when newtld is created to be sure to have it. It might not work with speterson.com, even if there is a company called Speterson with a trademark. If Steven Peterson registers it and uses it for something that is not in conflict with that trademark the Speterson company will not have an easy case.
– Bent
yesterday
3
"They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails." That statement should come with a bit of a caveat. Suppose OP has a webmail account somewhere, which is tied to this domain for password recovery purposes. Unless OP makes very sure to remove that e-mail address from the webmail account recovery process, having control of the domain may allow an attacker to take control over the webmail account, thus enabling access to any old e-mails stored in the webmail account. Now, is this a particularly likely scenario? I'd say no. But it's possible.
– a CVn
23 hours ago
2
@hiburn8 That is incorrect. There is a domain name dispute process specifically for cases like that, and bad-faith use of a domain (selling fake lego from lego.com, for example), is explicitly a reason for a domain name to be taken away from its current owner.
– mbrig
19 hours ago
|
show 7 more comments
As others already mentioned: Yes keeping a domain name is the only way to be sure that nobody is going to receive emails sent to there.
That being said:
Just keeping a domain is often cheaper than using it
Of course everything depends on the provider, but as I understand you currently have currently more than 1 service (domain name, redirect?, email server?, hosting space?).
When your only objective is to prevent others from receiving your emails, it is sufficient to only renew the domain name, and you can avoid the costs for any further service.
answered yesterday
Dennis Jaheruddin
1,043713
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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active
oldest
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Now if someone buys the domain and creates a mx record pointing to the his own mail server he can read all my confidential emails the people are sending me right?
If they register the domain name, they will receive all email being sent to it from that point on. They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails. There is nothing to fundamentally prevent this.
Are there ways to prevent that or is the only option I have is to pay for the domain until I die?
You can request that all contacts to you encrypt their communications with PGP using your public key, which will prevent anyone who obtains the domain later from reading new messages, but it requires people actually use PGP, which may not be likely if you are distributing the address to average people in a business card. However, if you maintain or at least renew the domain for, say, 20 years, then what are the chances that anyone is going to seriously send an email to such an ancient address?
I asked the question on the Law Stack Exchange whether or not there would be any legal recourse to someone using your domain, and the answer was no: https://law.stackexchange.com/q/35917/15724
answered yesterday
forest
32.5k15105111
2
Unless OP already happens to have one, registering a trademark costs a lot more than registering a domain.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
@FedericoPoloni You do not need to explicitly register a trademark. Just use the trademark symbol (™) next to a logo or phrase and you will get a certain level of protection in many countries. However, getting a registered trademark (®) does cost money. Lack of a registered trademark might, however, prevent you from seeking damages under 15 U.S. Code § 1117 in the USA, and protections would be weaker. See also here.
– forest
yesterday
3
Trademark protection against other people registering a domain has its limits. It will work against lego.newtld as Lego is a world wide brand and a registered trademark, though they might have to claim it when newtld is created to be sure to have it. It might not work with speterson.com, even if there is a company called Speterson with a trademark. If Steven Peterson registers it and uses it for something that is not in conflict with that trademark the Speterson company will not have an easy case.
– Bent
yesterday
3
"They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails." That statement should come with a bit of a caveat. Suppose OP has a webmail account somewhere, which is tied to this domain for password recovery purposes. Unless OP makes very sure to remove that e-mail address from the webmail account recovery process, having control of the domain may allow an attacker to take control over the webmail account, thus enabling access to any old e-mails stored in the webmail account. Now, is this a particularly likely scenario? I'd say no. But it's possible.
– a CVn
23 hours ago
2
@hiburn8 That is incorrect. There is a domain name dispute process specifically for cases like that, and bad-faith use of a domain (selling fake lego from lego.com, for example), is explicitly a reason for a domain name to be taken away from its current owner.
– mbrig
19 hours ago
|
show 7 more comments
Now if someone buys the domain and creates a mx record pointing to the his own mail server he can read all my confidential emails the people are sending me right?
If they register the domain name, they will receive all email being sent to it from that point on. They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails. There is nothing to fundamentally prevent this.
Are there ways to prevent that or is the only option I have is to pay for the domain until I die?
You can request that all contacts to you encrypt their communications with PGP using your public key, which will prevent anyone who obtains the domain later from reading new messages, but it requires people actually use PGP, which may not be likely if you are distributing the address to average people in a business card. However, if you maintain or at least renew the domain for, say, 20 years, then what are the chances that anyone is going to seriously send an email to such an ancient address?
I asked the question on the Law Stack Exchange whether or not there would be any legal recourse to someone using your domain, and the answer was no: https://law.stackexchange.com/q/35917/15724
answered yesterday
forest
32.5k15105111
2
Unless OP already happens to have one, registering a trademark costs a lot more than registering a domain.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
@FedericoPoloni You do not need to explicitly register a trademark. Just use the trademark symbol (™) next to a logo or phrase and you will get a certain level of protection in many countries. However, getting a registered trademark (®) does cost money. Lack of a registered trademark might, however, prevent you from seeking damages under 15 U.S. Code § 1117 in the USA, and protections would be weaker. See also here.
– forest
yesterday
3
Trademark protection against other people registering a domain has its limits. It will work against lego.newtld as Lego is a world wide brand and a registered trademark, though they might have to claim it when newtld is created to be sure to have it. It might not work with speterson.com, even if there is a company called Speterson with a trademark. If Steven Peterson registers it and uses it for something that is not in conflict with that trademark the Speterson company will not have an easy case.
– Bent
yesterday
3
"They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails." That statement should come with a bit of a caveat. Suppose OP has a webmail account somewhere, which is tied to this domain for password recovery purposes. Unless OP makes very sure to remove that e-mail address from the webmail account recovery process, having control of the domain may allow an attacker to take control over the webmail account, thus enabling access to any old e-mails stored in the webmail account. Now, is this a particularly likely scenario? I'd say no. But it's possible.
– a CVn
23 hours ago
2
@hiburn8 That is incorrect. There is a domain name dispute process specifically for cases like that, and bad-faith use of a domain (selling fake lego from lego.com, for example), is explicitly a reason for a domain name to be taken away from its current owner.
– mbrig
19 hours ago
|
show 7 more comments
Now if someone buys the domain and creates a mx record pointing to the his own mail server he can read all my confidential emails the people are sending me right?
If they register the domain name, they will receive all email being sent to it from that point on. They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails. There is nothing to fundamentally prevent this.
Are there ways to prevent that or is the only option I have is to pay for the domain until I die?
You can request that all contacts to you encrypt their communications with PGP using your public key, which will prevent anyone who obtains the domain later from reading new messages, but it requires people actually use PGP, which may not be likely if you are distributing the address to average people in a business card. However, if you maintain or at least renew the domain for, say, 20 years, then what are the chances that anyone is going to seriously send an email to such an ancient address?
I asked the question on the Law Stack Exchange whether or not there would be any legal recourse to someone using your domain, and the answer was no: https://law.stackexchange.com/q/35917/15724
answered yesterday
forest
32.5k15105111
Now if someone buys the domain and creates a mx record pointing to the his own mail server he can read all my confidential emails the people are sending me right?
If they register the domain name, they will receive all email being sent to it from that point on. They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails. There is nothing to fundamentally prevent this.
Are there ways to prevent that or is the only option I have is to pay for the domain until I die?
You can request that all contacts to you encrypt their communications with PGP using your public key, which will prevent anyone who obtains the domain later from reading new messages, but it requires people actually use PGP, which may not be likely if you are distributing the address to average people in a business card. However, if you maintain or at least renew the domain for, say, 20 years, then what are the chances that anyone is going to seriously send an email to such an ancient address?
I asked the question on the Law Stack Exchange whether or not there would be any legal recourse to someone using your domain, and the answer was no: https://law.stackexchange.com/q/35917/15724
answered yesterday
forest
32.5k15105111
edited 11 hours ago
answered yesterday
forest
32.5k15105111
answered yesterday
forest
32.5k15105111
answered yesterday
forest
32.5k15105111
32.5k15105111
2
Unless OP already happens to have one, registering a trademark costs a lot more than registering a domain.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
@FedericoPoloni You do not need to explicitly register a trademark. Just use the trademark symbol (™) next to a logo or phrase and you will get a certain level of protection in many countries. However, getting a registered trademark (®) does cost money. Lack of a registered trademark might, however, prevent you from seeking damages under 15 U.S. Code § 1117 in the USA, and protections would be weaker. See also here.
– forest
yesterday
3
Trademark protection against other people registering a domain has its limits. It will work against lego.newtld as Lego is a world wide brand and a registered trademark, though they might have to claim it when newtld is created to be sure to have it. It might not work with speterson.com, even if there is a company called Speterson with a trademark. If Steven Peterson registers it and uses it for something that is not in conflict with that trademark the Speterson company will not have an easy case.
– Bent
yesterday
3
"They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails." That statement should come with a bit of a caveat. Suppose OP has a webmail account somewhere, which is tied to this domain for password recovery purposes. Unless OP makes very sure to remove that e-mail address from the webmail account recovery process, having control of the domain may allow an attacker to take control over the webmail account, thus enabling access to any old e-mails stored in the webmail account. Now, is this a particularly likely scenario? I'd say no. But it's possible.
– a CVn
23 hours ago
2
@hiburn8 That is incorrect. There is a domain name dispute process specifically for cases like that, and bad-faith use of a domain (selling fake lego from lego.com, for example), is explicitly a reason for a domain name to be taken away from its current owner.
– mbrig
19 hours ago
|
show 7 more comments
2
Unless OP already happens to have one, registering a trademark costs a lot more than registering a domain.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
@FedericoPoloni You do not need to explicitly register a trademark. Just use the trademark symbol (™) next to a logo or phrase and you will get a certain level of protection in many countries. However, getting a registered trademark (®) does cost money. Lack of a registered trademark might, however, prevent you from seeking damages under 15 U.S. Code § 1117 in the USA, and protections would be weaker. See also here.
– forest
yesterday
3
Trademark protection against other people registering a domain has its limits. It will work against lego.newtld as Lego is a world wide brand and a registered trademark, though they might have to claim it when newtld is created to be sure to have it. It might not work with speterson.com, even if there is a company called Speterson with a trademark. If Steven Peterson registers it and uses it for something that is not in conflict with that trademark the Speterson company will not have an easy case.
– Bent
yesterday
3
"They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails." That statement should come with a bit of a caveat. Suppose OP has a webmail account somewhere, which is tied to this domain for password recovery purposes. Unless OP makes very sure to remove that e-mail address from the webmail account recovery process, having control of the domain may allow an attacker to take control over the webmail account, thus enabling access to any old e-mails stored in the webmail account. Now, is this a particularly likely scenario? I'd say no. But it's possible.
– a CVn
23 hours ago
2
@hiburn8 That is incorrect. There is a domain name dispute process specifically for cases like that, and bad-faith use of a domain (selling fake lego from lego.com, for example), is explicitly a reason for a domain name to be taken away from its current owner.
– mbrig
19 hours ago
2
2
Unless OP already happens to have one, registering a trademark costs a lot more than registering a domain.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
Unless OP already happens to have one, registering a trademark costs a lot more than registering a domain.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
4
@FedericoPoloni You do not need to explicitly register a trademark. Just use the trademark symbol (™) next to a logo or phrase and you will get a certain level of protection in many countries. However, getting a registered trademark (®) does cost money. Lack of a registered trademark might, however, prevent you from seeking damages under 15 U.S. Code § 1117 in the USA, and protections would be weaker. See also here.
– forest
yesterday
@FedericoPoloni You do not need to explicitly register a trademark. Just use the trademark symbol (™) next to a logo or phrase and you will get a certain level of protection in many countries. However, getting a registered trademark (®) does cost money. Lack of a registered trademark might, however, prevent you from seeking damages under 15 U.S. Code § 1117 in the USA, and protections would be weaker. See also here.
– forest
yesterday
3
3
Trademark protection against other people registering a domain has its limits. It will work against lego.newtld as Lego is a world wide brand and a registered trademark, though they might have to claim it when newtld is created to be sure to have it. It might not work with speterson.com, even if there is a company called Speterson with a trademark. If Steven Peterson registers it and uses it for something that is not in conflict with that trademark the Speterson company will not have an easy case.
– Bent
yesterday
Trademark protection against other people registering a domain has its limits. It will work against lego.newtld as Lego is a world wide brand and a registered trademark, though they might have to claim it when newtld is created to be sure to have it. It might not work with speterson.com, even if there is a company called Speterson with a trademark. If Steven Peterson registers it and uses it for something that is not in conflict with that trademark the Speterson company will not have an easy case.
– Bent
yesterday
3
3
"They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails." That statement should come with a bit of a caveat. Suppose OP has a webmail account somewhere, which is tied to this domain for password recovery purposes. Unless OP makes very sure to remove that e-mail address from the webmail account recovery process, having control of the domain may allow an attacker to take control over the webmail account, thus enabling access to any old e-mails stored in the webmail account. Now, is this a particularly likely scenario? I'd say no. But it's possible.
– a CVn
23 hours ago
"They will not have retroactive access to previously sent emails." That statement should come with a bit of a caveat. Suppose OP has a webmail account somewhere, which is tied to this domain for password recovery purposes. Unless OP makes very sure to remove that e-mail address from the webmail account recovery process, having control of the domain may allow an attacker to take control over the webmail account, thus enabling access to any old e-mails stored in the webmail account. Now, is this a particularly likely scenario? I'd say no. But it's possible.
– a CVn
23 hours ago
2
2
@hiburn8 That is incorrect. There is a domain name dispute process specifically for cases like that, and bad-faith use of a domain (selling fake lego from lego.com, for example), is explicitly a reason for a domain name to be taken away from its current owner.
– mbrig
19 hours ago
@hiburn8 That is incorrect. There is a domain name dispute process specifically for cases like that, and bad-faith use of a domain (selling fake lego from lego.com, for example), is explicitly a reason for a domain name to be taken away from its current owner.
– mbrig
19 hours ago
|
show 7 more comments
As others already mentioned: Yes keeping a domain name is the only way to be sure that nobody is going to receive emails sent to there.
That being said:
Just keeping a domain is often cheaper than using it
Of course everything depends on the provider, but as I understand you currently have currently more than 1 service (domain name, redirect?, email server?, hosting space?).
When your only objective is to prevent others from receiving your emails, it is sufficient to only renew the domain name, and you can avoid the costs for any further service.
answered yesterday
Dennis Jaheruddin
1,043713
add a comment |
As others already mentioned: Yes keeping a domain name is the only way to be sure that nobody is going to receive emails sent to there.
That being said:
Just keeping a domain is often cheaper than using it
Of course everything depends on the provider, but as I understand you currently have currently more than 1 service (domain name, redirect?, email server?, hosting space?).
When your only objective is to prevent others from receiving your emails, it is sufficient to only renew the domain name, and you can avoid the costs for any further service.
answered yesterday
Dennis Jaheruddin
1,043713
add a comment |
As others already mentioned: Yes keeping a domain name is the only way to be sure that nobody is going to receive emails sent to there.
That being said:
Just keeping a domain is often cheaper than using it
Of course everything depends on the provider, but as I understand you currently have currently more than 1 service (domain name, redirect?, email server?, hosting space?).
When your only objective is to prevent others from receiving your emails, it is sufficient to only renew the domain name, and you can avoid the costs for any further service.
answered yesterday
Dennis Jaheruddin
1,043713
As others already mentioned: Yes keeping a domain name is the only way to be sure that nobody is going to receive emails sent to there.
That being said:
Just keeping a domain is often cheaper than using it
Of course everything depends on the provider, but as I understand you currently have currently more than 1 service (domain name, redirect?, email server?, hosting space?).
When your only objective is to prevent others from receiving your emails, it is sufficient to only renew the domain name, and you can avoid the costs for any further service.
answered yesterday
Dennis Jaheruddin
1,043713
answered yesterday
Dennis Jaheruddin
1,043713
answered yesterday
Dennis Jaheruddin
1,043713
answered yesterday
Dennis Jaheruddin
1,043713
1,043713
add a comment |
add a comment |
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Skiddie Hunter is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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3
About $14. Still pretty much for a student. But thanks for your answer. I'll probably pay for it another 5 years and then I'm gonna let it expire.
– Skiddie Hunter
yesterday
24
$14 a year is nothing. Paying $140 over a period of 10 years is nothing (you won't be a student forever!). Forgo a cup of coffee during one day only once every three months and it'll pay for itself indefinitely.
– forest
yesterday
2
Have you considered paying for a few more years and setting an "out of office" or "vacation auto-reply" saying that the domain will be dead after X years? That's what I did with my Gmail account when I divorced Google. It won't guarantee 100%, but how many people are likely to not contact you for 5 years, then suddenly do so after that? I guess it depends if this is a real life question or just academic.
– Mawg
yesterday
7
@SkiddieHunter For sending credit card information e-mail was never an advisable choice. A website should use HTTP GET/POST over TLS for exchanging credit card information. And for a side business while you're a student, you really should probably use something more like PayPal where you never need to know or touch customers' credit card info at all. Even if you continue to own the domain, e-mail has never been a secure way to exchange information. It's generally unencrypted and viewable by anyone anywhere along the transmission path. Also, SMTP is about 37 years old, not over 50. :)
– reirab
23 hours ago
2
@SkiddieHunter: Re: "Why hasn't e-mail been abolished and replaced by something newer and better that is, for example, based on security?" How do you expect to retain ownership of an identifier by which you can be reached without some sort of system equivalent to domain registration, in a way that's permanent across decades? Email addresses at domains registered 25+ years ago are still accessible. Do you honestly think you'll get that from anyone offering privately-controlled joke-of-a-service stuff intended to replace email?
– R..
16 hours ago