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0 pointsanoncake6y ago0 comments

> Just using websites of the form barclaysfoo.co.uk is obviously unsafe, because it's rife with phishing opportunities since you're training customers to accept these kinds of domains and then some phisher goes out and registers barclaysblah.co.uk and users don't think twice about entering their credentials there.

This is a case for a better structured web, not for giving up meaningful hierarchies altogether. It shouldn't be possible to register a .co.uk domain unless you are a company that is registered in the UK and can be sued. Ideally companies also shouldn't be allowed to use TLD not designated for them so barclays.awesome etc. is suspicious. A namespace like .bank.uk would be even more secure.

> Subdomains off barclays.co.uk are also not great, because cookies can be shared up to the domain level (intentionally or accidentally),

There is no reason we can't treat barclays.co.uk like a top level domain for some purposes, using a mechanism like the public suffix list.

> But I like cyde.dev better, so I'll be migrating stuff over to it.

So the new TLDs encourage people to migrate, thus changing URLs and frequently breaking them by not bothering with redirects.

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6 comments · 2 top-level

isthisnametaken6y ago· 2 in thread

> It shouldn't be possible to register a .co.uk domain unless you are a company that is registered in the UK

That's literally what .ltd.uk is for, and no-one cares about it

CydeWeys6y ago

There are lots of these TLDs with restrictive registration policies based on who you are and they tend not to do very well because they're too much hassle and they suffer from a chicken and egg problem; not many people use them so there's little added benefit since the average user isn't aware that they're more restrictive, and then since it doesn't really matter to users potential new registrants don't bother with the increased hassle and cost.

anoncakeOP6y ago

The problem here is that the hassle-free alternatives exist and are open to entities for which another namespace has been designated in the first place.

CydeWeys6y ago· 2 in thread

I'm not following this argument, because the kind of reorganization you're asking for here is impossible, whereas simply creating new TLDs is relatively easily and has thus actually occurred. There are how many millions of already-existing .co.uk sites that aren't companies registered in the UK, so how is your suggestion even possible? This horse has long left the barn.

anoncakeOP6y ago

Creating .bank.uk is not impossible. Nor is cleaning up .co.uk -- it would be painful, of course, but sometimes you have to rip off the band-aid.

CydeWeys6y ago

You are proposing linkrot on an unimaginable scale. You're talking about breaking the Web, on purpose. It will never happen, and for damn good reasons. This horse left the barn several decades ago.

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