zlacker

One thing about domain names:

Choose both a registrar and top-level domain for your domain name carefully. Neither your registrar nor your chosen TLD registry should be in the habit of suspending domains at the drop of a hat, or be at risk of going out of business suddenly.

For TLDs, I have said before¹ that if you mostly trust your local government, your national ccTLD should suffice. In fact, it should be your default choice unless you have strong indications it does not fulfill the above criteria.

1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21614298

>>teddyh+(OP)
And if you have an exotic/fancy tld, have a backup .com/.net domain ready and maybe live at all times

>>teddyh+(OP)
The ccTLD of Iceland ".is" only suspends domain names after a valid court order in Icelandic jurisdiction.

>>LogonT+n
IIUC, there are many such TLDs, but you should really only use these if you yourself are a citizen, and your organization is based in the country in question.

>>teddyh+(OP)
And to add to that (personal experience):

If you buy everything from one hand at once (server space, domain, associated email), make sure you have a way of changing provider and keep domain and emails without it being a hassle.

>>teddyh+T
Really? What other countries offer such guarantee?

>>nightf+m
I'd argue that on today's Internet, if you don't have a .com domain, you do have an exotic/fancy TLD and therefore need to have the .com domain live and redirecting to your exotic TLD.

>>LogonT+O1
My country's TLD (.pt) holds Portuguese courts as the ultimate arbitrator. There are simpler administrative procedures for suspending or claiming domains, but in case of conflict courts have the final word.

I imagine most countries' TLDs operate in the same fashion.

>>sergio+F6
That's encouraging. I guess I'm wondering if suspension of domains is up to corporate discretion or if the government of Portugal precludes that and requires a court order for suspensions.

>>LogonT+n
Wasn’t there drama regarding archive.is being removed by some TLD operator?

>>teddyh+(OP)
".us" is ostensibly restricted to US-linked parties -- but currently enforcement responsibility rests in the hands of Godaddy:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.us

>>LeifCa+W3
Your local ccTLD is the exception.

>>teddyh+(OP)
Are there aggregated lists of registrar and TLDs that match such criteria? (Read: Has anyone already done this homework for me?)

>>teddyh+(OP)
Note that .us and several other ccTLDs have the unfortunate disadvantage of not allowing "private registration", forcing you to either expose your real name, address, phone number, and email, or violate their terms by providing fake information and risking suspension for that reason.

>>SCLeo+Rt
Unless you somehow live in two countries at once, there should only be one obvious option for you. However, if what you are asking is: “If my local ccTLD is not trustworthy, what TLD should I choose?”, then unfortunately I don’t really have an answer for you.

>>caylus+Pv
If you don’t want anything to be traceable back to you, ever, then I’m afraid that your only realistic option is .onion.

>>riidom+D1
Word. If you have regular backups, and if some downtime is not really a problem, it might be fine to use web server hosting, e-mail (and in extreme cases even DNS hosting), from some fly-by-night el cheapo provider. But your domain name registrar? Pick them carefully, don’t skimp, and make sure they have good support. Because when things go pear-shaped, you really want to be able to actually talk to someone to change your web server or e-mail DNS records (or even DNS servers) to somewhere else.

Full disclosure: I work at such a registrar. No, you’re probably not in our target market.

>>froste+Sg
.us? That sounds like some .gov phishing scam or del.icio.us domain name hack. Sites using .us are the exception.

>>LeifCa+fy1
Except .us because the USA has so many other common TLDs commonly associated with it. In Canada, .ca is the norm, and I tend to associate .com with $USD and expensive shipping.

>>LeifCa+fy1
Your local ccTLD might not be .us. Not everyone lives in the US.