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SamyPesse

We've just published a postmortem: https://blog.gitbook.com/tech/post-mortems/06-20-gitbook-dom...

let us know if you have any questions!

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Ok, we'll change the URL from https://twitter.com/GitBookStatus/status/1268528465990619137 to that.

I know it moves the rug under the existing discussion, but it's better than having two separate threads.

I'm curious how you feel about CloudFlare as a registrar not allowing GitBook to use an external root nameserver.

Being forcibly stuck on CloudFlare's own nameservers only sounds very nefarious, and isn't a limitation I've ever heard of with any other registrar. For instance, it would break my tooling that uses my host's APIs to control DNS records through their nameserver.

I'd be very appreciative if eastdakota or jgrahamc could elaborate on what possible reasoning there is for this restriction as well.

Cloudflare sells the domain at cost. I think the idea is that its an extra service meant for their customers, not a service for the general public. As they are a DNS provider, their customers will use cloudflare nameservers. If they didn't, they would no longer be customers.

That does make sense. If I were using Cloudflare I suppose it would be a no-brainer, and if I were Cloudflare and didn't want people not routing their traffic through me on my registrar, that would be an excellent way to discourage it. If they're forced to offer to everyone as part of being a registrar, then the combination of all of the above is my answer. Thanks!

Exactly, huge red flag. Google domains it's risky because they can ban your entire Google account including personal Gmail and any linked business ones. Can be pretty bad I'd say.

Seems like you should also move off of Google Domains, unless you have some compelling reason to use them.

In the postmortem it states that they are moving to Cloudflare

I'd like to interrupt all the sanctimonious blathering in this thread to note that Cloudflare domain registration terms and conditions are almost a verbatim copy of Google's, and includes the same unilateral cancellation clause for phishing.

Cloudflare: "Cloudflare and Registry Operator may deny, cancel, suspend, transfer, redirect or modify the Registrar Services or a Registration, or place any domain name(s) on lock, hold or similar status, as either deems necessary, in the unlimited and sole discretion of either Cloudflare ... for distributing malware, abusively operating botnets, phishing, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement, fraudulent or deceptive practices, counterfeiting or otherwise engaging in activity contrary to applicable law."

Google: "We may in our sole discretion, deny, suspend or cancel any registration or transaction, or place any domain name(s) on registry lock, hold or similar status if ... engaging in spam, phishing, or other deceptive practices."

I think the primary issue with Google Domains here is not that they have these kinds of terms, but that they enforced them in a particularly incompetent way. The original report of the phishing site was over a week old and had already been resolved, when google shut down the domain. Hopefully the people at Cloudflare are a bit better at their jobs.

Oh, I don't know that we have enough unbiased information to conclude what you concluded. One of the first comments posted in this thread today was "Is it related to the countless phishing pages hosted on your service?" from which we can deduce that the phishing problem on Gitbook is well-known to random members of the public.

Think you should investigate other options such as the known brand protection/domain asset management companies (MarkMonitor, CSC, easyDNS or their European equivalents)

EDIT: I see you're moving to Cloudflare, but I wish you the best of luck

How did you arrive at choosing Cloudflare? It's clear Google Domains has broken processes not conducive to running a business centered on user content. How do you know Cloudflare does not suffer from similar broken processes?

I doubt CloudFlare Registrar would be better in terms of customer support—unless said customer has an Enterprise plan—as their prices are just the registry + ICANN fee, no surcharge for them to make money.

Doesn't seem conducive to great customer support, but maybe I'm wrong cause I've never had to contact them.

Two years ago, support for paid (peanuts-level, $20/mo?) plan was... not great.

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