Why aren't domains free

No, it's not the case. At all.

Look up "DNS", "internet domains", and "TCP/IP" on Wikipedia and that should give you an appropriate answer.

(It's pretty complicated, so it'd be best if you read the real thing yourself and not get a watered down version)

I'm not sure if domains used to be free, but there were cheaper than they are now, and there were rumours that domain resellers might put up prices on them...

It's an interesting question to think about now. What would happen if domain names were free? And if they had to always be free? Would people still squat on a lot of domains? You wouldn't be able to make a profit, so unless you were thinking of developing something for it there wouldn't be much point.

On the other hand, I don't know if there would be any way to stop people from selling domains, even if they were supposed to be free. But let's say there was. Let's say all domains were just free - all you'd have to do is claim it and develop a site for it (nevermind the spam sites that people put up to make it look like there's something there when there's not ... or pointing several domains at the same site .... okay, lots of problems with this theory!). But anyway - no value in sitting on the domain, so no more spam sites (but they make adsense money from them!), okay, let's pretend, no more spam sites, you can get a domain if it's not being used and you need it for something. No more stupid long domains or making up words because you couldn't get the domain you wanted! Everything just gets easier to find and we all have an easier time developing our sites.

But that's a fantasy land... I've often thought that eventually there will need to be a different way of addressing websites. The current system is just too limited, especially since so much of it is just being squatted on...

I seem to rembmer domains being more expensive back when I first started ('97-'98). I might have paid $25 for my first one. I know the .ca's were $50 when they first became available to the public.

Domains used to be WAY more expensive back in the 90's. Registrars used to make huge amounts of profit, a big pricewar in and around the year 2000 drove down the prices massively and now most registrars make very little profit on domain sales, they now have to upsell hosting and other services. Some companies are even selling domains at a loss to get customers over to them!

How do I know? Because I work for a domain registration company!

"surely its just someone sitting at one massive server keying in IPs and domain names."

Yes, you are absolutely right. There's not much work involved. Are you volunteering to do this work and "just" key in a few "IPs and domain names"?

I remember paying $300/£150 for each domain name (to netnames) 9 years ago. Not I buy 'em for less than a 20th of that price. I think they're cheap.

I'd imagine they don't really see the $9 they spend on a domain for their customer as a big cost... when you're paying $20 or more a month, it's really not that much to get a user to signup.

Domains nowadays are relatively cheaper than it was 5 yrs ago. I guess the reason why they are priced as so is that there are also overhead costs that registrars have providing their services. Maybe there will come a time that domains wouldn't just be cheap at all, but rather FREE!

Because somebody figure out how to make a buck!

Quote: How do they afford to offer free domains if in fact you have to pay for each one?

Think of it like a travel agent throwing in a "free" night's accommodation if you buy an expensive holiday. It's just a sweetener to seal the deal.

there are free domains... not top level domains but there are free ones.

domain name market truned to be a huge source of revenue, thats why its my belief that it will never be for free anymore. there is still one way to get a domain for free - it can be included in the web hosting package, but double check if the domain name is registered in your name