[Freedombox-discuss] FreedomBox/Unhosted/PageKite for Access Innovation Prize 2012

[Michiel de Jong]

On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 1:41 AM, Bjarni Rúnar Einarsson <bre at pagekite.net> wrote:
> To make this e-mail not a complete waste: random useful thing:
> badger.com provide an API for registering domains.  Others may as well
> (gandi.net?).  This means if someone writes the software, then buying
> a domain could be handled entirely within the UI of the box itself.

that would be amazingly awesome actually. IndieWeb in a box! it will
also feel nice to really have your own website. and we can add a few
basic fedsocweb features.

previously i was thinking of subdomains because they don't cost money
to renew. but there are two advantages of proper domain names:
- the user directly deals with the domain name registrar. they can
even transfer to another registrar without interrupting anything. it's
as decentralized as we can make it.
- what if we also automate startssl as Michael Rogers suggested?
startssl's identity check they do now relies on an email conversation
with a supposed human agent (i always wonder if i'm talking with a bot
during those), but the fact that a physical object was purchased and
shipped can effectively work to establish legitimacy of the user
(buying the plugserver is like resolving a captcha, it proves that you
are human).

as Bjarni and i also already discussed, maybe we need to reach out to
startssl and find out if they could cooperate to make this really
work. wouldn't that be amazing? each freedombox coming with a real
https-enabled domain, which makes you a first-class citizen on the
(social) web. if we can automate the two registration steps (DNR and
SSL), then it could be feasible. if people think this could work then
i'll contact startssl about it, and see what they say. they might say
no, for reasons we can't predict, but i think it's worth a try.


cheers,
Michiel