Naughty Words in Domains

benny_c writes "I decided to make an online Christmas card for my friends, and the domain name I was after has the 'Fword' in it. While I am articulate enough to speak without dropping that bomb (most of the time), it is an integral part of the running joke behind the site. I was somewhat disturbed when I tried to search on nsi.com which returned the message 'The domain name requested was not accepted because it was inappropriate.'" The story continues, read on. (Caution: you may see four ascii characters in the range 97-122 which, when concatenated, offend you.)

register.com just said the site is unavailable, as is any other domain which happens to have the wrong string of four letters (even when surrounded by giberish ... try searching for something like ewqsdfuckdfd). I am sure that if I keep looking I will find another registrar who does want my business. I was wondering though whether anybody else has had potential domain names censored for something other than the 'Fbomb', and what else might be taboo amongst the registrars.'

The secret is to speak another language, or find a friend who does, and register your domain using a registrar based in a non-English-speaking country. I speak a little German so I tried it, and while I didn't actually spend the money to take the final steps, I was told by three separate registrars that "Die Domain fuck12065237.com ist noch frei!"

If anyone tries this, let us know how it works. If you find any other taboo words, in English or any other language, tell us the details!

Here's the list of accredited registrars, including many in non-English-speaking countries.

Comments

firstly...

[Wakko Warner]

...why the hell were you registering through NSI? Every single registrar out there is better than NSI, whose customer service is, seriously, the worst in the business.

You'll have no trouble registering domain names with "dirty" words in them (including "fuck" and "shit") with other registrars, such as register.com and joker.com.

- A.P.

--
* CmdrTaco is an idiot.

The Triumph of the Juvenile

[Amphigory]

This story make sme think of how, in our culture, the juvenile and idiotic has triumphed over intelligence, vocabulary, maturity and good taste.

Most people get over potty and shock humor by the time they're twenty. Most people know it's a waste of time, and that a compelling urge to say "fuck fuck fuck fuck" is really an indicator of a limited imagination. Similarly, most people realize some time shortly after they first begin to support their own addictions instead of going to mommy and daddy for it that our rights are not nearly so important as our responsibilities.

So you can't register "I want to fuck your body.com". WHO CARES? If you don't like it, start your own registrar. If anyone cared about enabling this kind of juvenile nonsense, they would add your tld's to their cache.

Guess what: nobody cares.

I've been on Slashdot since pretty close to the beginning (take a look at my user number -- 4 digits, not 6). But I rarely bother to read anything but headlines anymore, and almost never bother to post. This article is a perfect example of why. By perpetuating the whines of emotional and intellectual infants for rights that they don't have to do things that don't matter, Slashdot has itself become nothing more than a forum for the tendentiousness of teenagers.

Kind of sad, ain't it?

The first person to say that "a little bit of censorship is like a little bit pregnant" (or its moral equivalent) gets a sugar coated pacifier and that stinky diaper changed. I've heard it before, and I'm not whelmed.

--

Re:The Triumph of the Juvenile

[American AC in Paris]

Name me a counter-example. Seriously: show me one case where the use of vulgarity (profanity is when you use the Lord's name in vain, not just ordinary cussin') serves to advance a cause that matters where the use of "respectable" language could not work better.

Actually, sacrilegious speech is but a subset of profanity; even "ordinary cussin'" falls in the realm of profanity. The phrase "I don't give a damn" is, indeed, a profane statement, as is swearing in the name of Allah; both are uttered as curses, and both are used simply to emphasize the speaker's conviction. Now, the severity of a profane statement varies greatly from word to word and amongst different audiences; at this point, however, one enters the realm of personal tastes and standards. Just as there are those who use "fuck" in every sentence without batting an eyelid, there do exist people (my great aunt included) who are scandalized by Rhett Butler's famous line of "I don't give a damn" in Gone With The Wind. This said, you'll forgive me if I do not consider your own standard to be definitive, or even representative of the community at large.

There aren't any. All profanity will do, however artfully you use it, is detract from your position among those who still care about it.

I disagree. Profanity detracts from your position among those who take an absolutist view similar to your own; I'd argue that for the vast majority of people, however, profanity is a part of their lexicon. As above, context and audience are everything.

As for your complaints against my elitism... My point was not my "elite" status. My point was that Slashdot has changed. Could it be perhaps that you interpreted it this way because you are insecure about your own status? (If I had wanted to portrary myself as somehow elite, I would have mentioned my 200+ karma.)

...and are you honestly the least bit surprised that Slashdot has changed as it shifted from 3,000 users to hundreds of thousands? You point to the Downfall Of Slashdot, link it directly to the influx of the "nouveau utilisateur", and proceed to lament the fact that it now caters to the tendentiousness of a whole bunch of other classes of user, too. (Don't think for a second that you're not fully and proudly airing your own tendency.) Spin it how you will, but in the end it boils down to elitism.

I think the "Your Rights Online" section has served to seriously weaken Slashdot's potential for social change. It has tended to present a host of "causes" which are simply not important. DeCSS -- sure, critical free speech issue. "Geeks Rights" in the aftermath of Columbine -- definitely. I think Slashdot really helped to raise the flag there, and probably saved a lot of kids a lot of suffering.

Using the "f word" in a domain name for an inside joke because someone is too lame to go to an alternative registrar? Oh spare me.

Since when has Slashdot been about evoking social change in and of itself? Yes, Slashdot has always played a central role in reporting major issues relating to the geek/nerd/techie community. It is not Slashdot's place, however, to set and push any given agenda (despite the fact that agendas do unfortunately sneak their way into news stories with alarming frequency; see some of my other posts for thoughts on this trend.) As for the issue at hand being unworthy of reporting, I must say that the event in and of itself is, in fact, a very silly thing, and does not merit a great deal of attention. Reading beyond the headline, however, it takes only seconds to grasp the broader picture: should it be the right of the registrar to determine the boundaries of taste (and thus act as the de facto censor) when giving out domain names? No matter how trivial the example, the underlying theme decidedly merits of discussion, and as such, a good many posts address just that. Just because the particular instance isn't the most earth shattering news to break on the front page doesn't mean that the underlying issue is equally trivial.

Every time you raise a ruckus over an issue, you use some "capital." If you raise a ruckus over an issue that doesn't matter, you may not have this "capital" when the issue does matter. This is why organizations like the NAACP and ACLU have lost much of their ability to affect social change. Slashdot is rapidly becoming a cry-baby website, and when the issue really does matter -- when there is another Columbine -- nobody will listen. And that is a shame.

Again, Slashdot is not a social activism site. It is a news reporting site. News is a fickle creature, and the world does not generate breaking stories on a daily basis; read through some of the fluff on any other major news site and try to tell me otherwise. To it's credit, Slashdot does an excellent job of keeping interesting, wide-ranging topics flowing through the site, with very little of the "ongoing story" demon that shackles itself to many major news providers (Elian Gonzalez, The Florida vote recounts, etc.) On the other hand, Slashdot has always had a problem with tainting it's source material in an attempt to appease it's readers, which is most evident in the unabashed and ongoing evisceration of All Things M$. Regardless of whether or not social commentary is warranted, it is not the place of Slashdot itself to make such commentary outside of the editorial articles (the community usually does a good enough job of that on their own, as well they should.)

If anything, it is this that is the bane of Slashdot's credibility. It is not Slashdot's place to dictate what we should or should not think about the news it reports; that is an exercise left to the reader. When I come to read Slashdot and see the editors themselves making snide remarks on poorly-proofread, factually inaccurate front page stories, that hurts it's credibility. I wholeheartedly believe that a move to make Slashdot an even more politically charged forum will only serve to push it back into the niche world, and whatever strength of reporting it has gained as a general technology/nerd news site will evaporate faster than you can say "closed source sucks". That is the issue Slashdot must contend with, not making themselves out to be even greater zealots than they already seem.

Or, to put it terms that brains limited to four letters might understand:

NEVER CRY WOLF!

Oops... That's right, 'never' has five letters. Just proves you can't say anything useful in four.

...and after going to such lengths to explain the importance of properly choosing one's speech to evoke respect and intelligence in the mind of the reader, you end with this snide quip. I continue to maintain that you are perfectly content to rest atop your ivory tower, taking the occasional shot at the masses below when the spirit so moves you.

Strangely enough, though, you found it necessary to respond to my post, even though my post contained the foulest of foul words used in a most shocking fashion. Surely, my banal idiocy doesn't merit this level of attention?

$ man reality

Re:The Triumph of the Juvenile

[American AC in Paris]

To think that the use of profanity is an automatic mark of idiocy and immaturity is, in my opinion, a rather idiotic and immature thought.

Profanity, when used with thoughtfully and with moderation, can be an amazingly powerful thing. It is true that the vast majority of profanity use is heavy-handed and ineffectual, and is spouted for the sake of sensationalism; to suggest, however, that the very utterance of a profane word reduces an individual to idiocy smacks of intellectual eletism. To infer that profanity exists only in the realm "potty and shock humor" is akin to thinking that anybody with a classic New England drawl owns a summer house in the Hamptons.

Language is what the speaker makes of it, and profanity is but another form of expression at the speaker's disposal. It is quite difficult to use properly (and all too often abused,) but can be used to formulate powerful, powerful statements in the proper circumstances. In this individual's case, the profanity is intended neither to offend nor sensationalize; it is merely a matter of coincidence that it is part of an inside joke. Suggesting that this cause is infantile and unworthy of notice simply because he wishes to register a profanity in his domain name is absurd.

Your making note your low Slashdot number is just about as impressive as people who point out that their ancestors were royalty, or were amongst the original pilgrims in America. What do you prove by lording your holy four-digit status over us six-digit chattle? Do you somehow think that one is incapable of insightful commentary if one's user account is higher than 9,999? Could we silly six-digiters not possibly grasp the breadth of knowledge you four-digiters are endowed with? Do you enjoy smacking of aristocratic eletism?

So Slashdot isn't the ivory tower it was back when it was just you and your 2,374 best friends. Poor you. May I suggest you take a page from your own book: if you don't like it anymore, start your own Slashdot. If Taco et al. really cared about keeping your mental playground free of us riff-raff, they'd have closed the doors ages ago.

Well? Go on. Scram, ya fucking dolt. You've got a website to build.

$ man reality

four-letter domain

[Chakotay]

This is a nice example that it is definitely allowed elsewhere: fuck.it.

)O(
Never underestimate the power of stupidity

Re:*sigh*

[Zagadka]

the U.S. is the nation that has become the most powerful nation with the highest standard of living (for its size)

When you say "for its size", I assume you mean population-wise. If that's the case, then the same could be said about China.

If you're actually referring to land-area, Canada has a higher standard of living that the US.

My all time favourite

[seizer]

...is the free redirector service, www.isfuckingbrilliant.com. (I have http://andy.isfuckingbrilliant.com). They also have isfuckingshit.com, hadyourmom.com, etc etc. Check it out (blatant plug, and I don't even own it... terrible).

--Remove SPAM from my address to mail me

Re:Sounds like a free speech issue to me

[Another MacHack]

Our supreme court also decided a while back that "obscenity" isn't protected by the 1st Ammendment for some reason.

I wonder if George Dubya's "Strict Constructionists" will revisit THAT one. Heh.

Piss-poor Javascript

[chazR]

So did I. (Netscape 4 on Linux, Flash plugin present).

So I read the HTML source. It's mostly Javascript that appears to be written by a non-idiot. Unfortunately, they overlooked some minor details, so the site won't work unless you run Windows or Mac on a 68k. The URL to try is fucking here.

Fuckwits with Flash can try this fucking url

I wonder who owns FuckNSI.com? That was rhetorical - I know who does now. - that's a cute weasel.

Or, less rhetorically, but rambling:
[chaz@phoebe chaz]$ whois fucknsi.com
[whois.internic.net]

Whois Server Version 1.3

Domain names in the .com, .net, and .org domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

Domain Name: FUCKNSI.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.opensrs.net
Referral URL: www.opensrs.org
Name Server: FRANK.BAZ.ORG
Name Server: SOM-NS-1.FSCK.COM
Updated Date: 20-sep-2000

>>> Last update of whois database: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 07:31:56 EST

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .ORG, .EDU domains and
Registrars.

So, now you know.

Gandi & Core

[Coward, Anonymous]

Gandi and most of the Core registrars will register a domain with fuck in it. Gandi is in Europe so they'll charge you with those silly Euros, but assuming you don't have some real shitty credit card that shouldn't be a problem if you're outside Europe, you should be able to find a Core registrar from your country of origin if that's the kind of thing you're into.

Can anyone explain the logic behind this?

[UnknownSoldier]

So certain words are taboo. Big !@#$ing Deal! (censored so as not to offend anyone ;-)

I really don't understand why the BIG 7 taboo words all deal with sex, and other bodily functions.

I also really don't see the problem. If people are offended at these words, it is NOT like you're FORCING them to visit your site!

Maybe we need to grow up socially, and understand that words are just that: JUST WORDS! (Yes, they carry a conatation behind them, but if you don't like it, stop listening to them. :-)

Live, and let live. People wouldn't be so stressed out then.

Re:Can anyone explain the logic behind this?

[tagishsimon]

What are the seven taboo words? And should they be the subject of a slashdot poll? I think so.

Re:I did this!

[Phrogman]

As part of a study on offensive words for a Linguistics class I circulated a questionaire in the Residences at the University of Victoria. It listed about 20 "offensive" words and asked the user to rate them on a 1 (least offensive) to 7 (most offensive) scale. The results were quite interesting, as was the reception, but I have lost the paper alas.

Hmm, not good...

[deefer]

A poor precedent to set.
This is the first step in censoring; the more that "the authorities" take upon themselves to regulate, the more they will assume to be their right to regulate. Mostly to protect themselves, I think; for example I can see the next logical step in this being "Oh, that's too similar to [large corporation]'s domain name".
The only rule domain registrars should actively enforce, is that the domain itself does not currently exist. That way, they don't have to encase the registration in x different rules and disclaimers to protect themselves from lawsuits.
Scary precedent.

Strong data typing is for those with weak minds.

Re:It seems to have a different meaning in the US.

[laborit]

I don't get it?

None of those words are dirty! Or do you expect someone to be "offended" by nonsense like "feck","cknt", or "c%wboy neal"?

-----
Go ahead, blame me... I voted for Nader!

Historical

[Argy]

Network Solutions initially allowed all words, then banned George Carlin's "seven dirty words," alone or as substrings, with occasional slip-ups and odd exceptions. The seven words were piss, shit, fuck, cunt, motherfucker, cocksucker, and tits, preventing names like "scunthorpe.com" and "shitakemushrooms.com."

In late 1998 NSI started allowing "shit." In July 1999, other registrars were granted authority to register .coms, .nets and .orgs, and many of them took any name you wanted, and most still do. There was a piece in Slashdot about this at the time.

NSI and Register.com still refuse, perhaps to appease current and potential investors. (Register.com had IPO aspirations a while back) On the other hand, I think bulkregister.com, with no rules, has overtaken register.com as the #2 registrar, which can't be appealing to investors.

A lawsuit was filed by a person wanting to register obscene names in early 1998, so NSI registered them on behalf of the United States Attorney General to hold in escrow pending a decision. That's why fuck.com, for example, is registered by NSI to a US District Court. It's been a long legal process, and from what I gather, NSI fucked up and forgot to renew registration on at least some of them. As a result, NoNameCorp (who sucks up most good expiring domains) landed motherfucker.com when it expired in March.

Re:Sounds like a free speech issue to me

[Fester213]

The constitution only protects us from government censorship. Domain registrars are no longer an agent of the government.

-- Fester

A Poem

[Enonu]

The usage of the word fuck

Perhaps one of the most interesting words in the english language today is the word fuck. Out of all of the English words that begin with letter F, fuck is the only word that is referred to as the F-word. It's the one magical word, just by it's sound can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love. Fuck, as the most words in the English languages, is derived from German, the word fricken which means to strike. In English fuck fall into many grammatical categories.

As a transital verb for instance : "John fucked Shirley."
As an intransitive verb. "Shirley fucks."

It's meaning is not always sexual.

It can be an adjective such as "John's doing all the fucking work."
As part of an adverb : "Shirley talks too fucking much!"
As an adverb enchancing an adjective : "Shirley is fucking beautiful!"
As a noun : "I don't give a fuck!"
As part of a word : "Abso-fucking-lutely" or "in-fucking-credible"
And, as almost every word in a sentence : "Fuck the fucking fuckers!"

As you must realize there aren't too many words with the versatility of fuck. As in these examples describing situations such as:

Aggression - Fuck you!
Agreement - Fucking-ay right!
Amazement - Fucking shit!
Annoyance - Don't fuck with me.
Apathy - Who really gives a fuck, anyhow?
Benevolence - Don't do me any fucking favors.
Command - Go fuck yourself!
Confusion - What the fuck?
Denial - I didn't fucking do it.
Despair - Fucked again.
Difficulty - I don't understand this fucking question.
Directions - Fuck off.
Disbelief - Unfuckingbelievable!
Dismay - Oh, fuck it!
Displeasure - What the fuck is going on here?
Encouragement - Keep on fucking.
Etiquette - Pass the fucking salt!
Fraud - I got fucked.
Greetings - How the fuck are ya?
Hatred of chemistry - Thermofuckingdynamics.
Identification - Who the fuck are you?
Ignorance - He's such a fuck head.
Incompetence - He's a fuck up.
Insight - You're out of your fucking mind!
Laziness - He's a fuck off.
Lost - Where the fuck are we?
Panic - Let's get the fuck out of here.
Passive - Fuck me!
Perplexity - I fucking know all about it.
Philosophical - Who gives a fuck?
Pleasure - I couldn't be any fucking happier!
Question - You ain't fucking me?
Rebellion - Fuck the world!
Resignation - Oh, fuck it!
Retaliation - Up your fucking ass!
Suspicion - Who the fuck are you?
Trouble - I guess I'm really fucked now.
Ugliness - You're a dumb looking fuck.
Wisdom - Fuck that shit!
Wonder - How the fuck did you do that?

It can be used in an anatomical description - "He's a fucking asshole."
It can be used in business - "How did I wind up with this fucking job?"
It can be maternal - "Motherfucker."
It can be political - "Fuck Dan Quayle!"

It has also been used by many notable people throughout history:

"What the fuck was that?" - Mayor of Hiroshima
"Where did all these fucking Indians come from?" - General Custer
"Where the fuck is all this water coming from?" - Captain of the Titanic
"Thats not a real fucking gun." - John Lennon
"Who's gonna fucking find out?" - Richard Nixon
"Heads are going to fucking roll." - Anne Boleyn
"Let the fucking woman drive." - Commander of the "Challenger"
"What fucking map?" - Mark Thatcher
"Any fucking idiot could understand that." - Albert Einstein
"It does so fucking look like her!" - Picasso
"How the fuck did you work that out?" - Pythagoras
"You want what on the fucking ceiling?" - Michaelangelo
"Fuck a duck." - Walt Disney
"Why?- Because its fucking there!" - Edmund Hilary
"I don't suppose its gonna fucking rain?" - Joan of Arc
"Scattered fucking showers my ass." - Noah
"I need this parade like I need a fucking hole in my head." - John F. Kennedy

I'm sure you can think of many more examples. With all of these multipurpose applications how can anyone be offended when you use the word? So, use this unique flexible word more often in your daily speech. It will identify the quality of your character immediately.
Say it loudly and proudly : "FUCK YOU !!!"

Re:It seems to have a different meaning in the US.

[plover]

I've heard there are three football club names that can't pass through the "child surf-safe filters":

Arsenal

Scunthorpe

Manchester-fucking-United.

John

On topic at last

[cheekymonkey_68]

One site I feel should be mentioned is mikehuntsonfire and also check out
sickfuckers.com

SickFuckers got registered so you're in with a chance here...

FYI MikeHunt is a cool underground site that in their own words "puts out the evilest books, videos & comix this side of hell!"

Oh and their index page is pretty funny because the opening link is "CLICK TO ENTER MIKE HUNT". I know pretty inane stuff...

I never thought this link would EVER be on topic....time to sit back and watch my kharma burn !!!

Sounds like a free speech issue to me

[tagishsimon]

Fuck is such a useful word. Doesn't your constitution provide for dealing with people who are a bit anal about the fuck word?

Re:It seems to have a different meaning in the US.

[dark_panda]

Since the asterik is usually used for a string of characters in a wildcard situation, it would probably be preferable to use a question mark, no? Otherwise, the poll options could be misconstrued as anything from "Fiddleback" to "Clerihewboy Neal."

J

Offense is relative; you go only where you want.

[Gendou]

Attention to NSI. Not everyone is offended by what offends you. I know it's hard to accept, but everybody has their own relative point of view.

What does it say about people like this? Do they ignore the fact that if you decide you want to walk down a sidewalk to a strip club, the sidewalks don't throw a barracade up that says "your direction is inappropriate, please choose another". It's everyone person's right to choose what they want to expose themselves to.

This form of censorship is utterly redundant and excessive. IF you are offended by something, you are NOT going to go out searching for that thing on purpose. If someone's offended by the word "f*ck", they are not going to type it into a search engine. As for those of us who aren't offended, we don't care either way.

Besides, this kind of blockage at a search engine does nothing to keep you from all the naughty words, porn banners, and so on that will be thrown at your face once you start clicking links.

Why do people think they are going to make some sort of positive influence by trying to censor the Net? Arrogant, conceited, and utterly foolish. Stopping the ocean tides would yield better results.