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Comment by walrus01 | Hacker News Reader

> I want to eventually move away, especially gmail

take some basic security precautions on your domain registrar account, use a long complex password that's not used for any other service anywhere else on the internet, and set up some form of 2FA for logins as well.

control your own authoritative DNS zonefile and choose where to set your MX records

choose a 3rd party email service such as the other recommendation here, fastmail, and set the MX records, SPF and DKIM appropriately

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> register your own domain name, either for personal or professional purposes

I have a question about domains, for whoever might be able to answer. I've had my own domain for a few years, a .se domain (only because it's .se and my middle name ends in that, so I was able to make the whole thing read like my name but with a dot in it)

This is the Swedish TLD, which doesn't require you be a citizen to register. Is there any chance that the requirements for a TLD can change in the future and revoke my ability to own it? i.e. they start requiring you be a Swedish citizen to own a .se domain? Cause as it stands I just use the domain for my portfolio website which I could change whenever I want, but if I start tying my entire internet identity to that by registering it as my email everywhere, then it seems just as risky as using a gmail account that could get banned at any time.

If you're greatly concerned about that, choose a .net/.com/.org or similar, or a TLD belonging to your actual country of citizenship/residence.

Yes it's theoretically possible the Swedish authorities who control .se could do something else policy wise in the future.

Good to know. I suppose my next question is: is there any known instances of this happening in the past?

I suppose regardless, if it ever actually happened, it's not like you wake up one day and lose your domain. There would probably be time to buy a new domain and point all your accounts there before your next renewal.

I remember the sex, tech and sextech journalist had a domain, vb.ly, listed in Libya because of the .ly suffix, much like oreil.ly is today. When the PTPB found out she talked about <GASP!>sex</GASP!> they pulled her domain.

So yes, The Swedish government could revoke your domain because they're the government.

maybe buying a domain controlled by the "government" in a place that has two warring claimants-to-government engaged in a civil war isn't the best idea ever.

if somebody were to ask "what's the least politically stable nation on earth right now?", libya would certainly rank in the top 10

I could think of the Brexit: Britons lost the access to the .eu tld. But there was a really long sunset phase. More than two years I think?

I'd sayx it is not really probable that you'd would immediately be nuked off your tld. And I also can't see the Swedes pulling this move.

> Is there any chance that the requirements for a TLD can change in the future and revoke my ability to own it?

yes, see the EU commission forcing new rules on the company running the .eu tld after brexit

Seems like this is the only case of this happening. [1]Wikipedia:

> British citizens had their .eu domains suspended on January 1, 2021 for three months and then deleted on March 1, 2021 after a grace period to allow EU/EEA citizens to update the registration information to show their non-UK address. This is the first case of its kind where an institution managing an internet Top-level domain has withdrawn domains en masse for an entire country.

However, this seems like it wasn't actually a change in domain registration requirements. It was the fact that the peoples' citizenship status was changed. The original requirements[2] of .eu domains from launch was it was only for EU citizens, so it was really just keeping in line with its original requirements.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.eu

[2] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_06_...

it's fair enough to prevent new registrations, or even renewals

but they deleted domains people had legitimately purchased prior to usual expiry (in violation of existing contracts with the registrants)

standard EU commission pettiness

(meanwhile even the soviet union's .su is still usable)

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