Will you remove users who are name squatting?

Apps Identity
#1

Someone on slack asks:

Any plans on taking out Blockstack IDs with no zone files/ profile pictures? Users who didn’t add any info even name! Username Squatting? They are blocking the usernames and it’s impossible for others to claim

No! Even if we wanted to, there’s nothing we can do. We don’t control the names, the person who holds the name’s private key(s) is the only one that can revoke a name.

Blockstack ID ownership has the same characteristics as Bitcoin ownership. Just like you can’t take someone else’s Bitcoin without their private key, you can’t take or revoke a Blockstack ID without the private key or keys of the Bitcoin address that owns the Blockstack ID

For namespaces (like .id) that have an expiration date, one option is to wait until the name expires and then buy it then.

#2

But I think it’s important to say, that the price of an id decreases with its length (or at least one can set that when creating a new namespace).

But I got some questions:

  • How does the renewal work? I already though that something like this is implemented, but when I bought my id, there was no hint on that in the CLI :slight_smile:
  • Is it possible to buy 2, 3, 4, x years?
  • Is there a redeem period after a name expires in which only the former owner can buy it (again)?
  • Is this above technically possible?
  • Is there a way to prevent name squatting with common words instead of short ids?
    (i.e. blockstack.id and fmwq.id share more or less its price)
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#3

How does the renewal work? I already though that something like this is implemented, but when I bought my id, there was no hint on that in the CLI 

You pay the price of the registration to renew the name.

Is it possible to buy 2, 3, 4, x years?

Not at this time :confused: We could modify the CLI tool to automatically renew over the desired interval of time, however.

Is there a redeem period after a name expires in which only the former owner can buy it (again)?

Not in .id, but we could add this feature to the namespace rules so future namespaces could offer this.

Is this above technically possible?

Actually, we were going to add this feature for NAME_TRANSFER operations in Blockstack Core 0.15. Transfers will take X blocks, during which time the original owner can reverse it.

Is there a way to prevent name squatting with common words instead of short ids?
(i.e. blockstack.id and fmwq.id share more or less its price)

There are a few strategies we’re considering:

  • The namespace creator squats all the popular names preemptively (via NAME_IMPORT), and gives them out to their rightful owners at a later date.
  • We extend the price function to allow the namespace creator to set the prices of names on a per-name basis.
  • We modify Blockstack Core itself to reserve common words.
  • We implement an on-chain auction system for names. More research is needed to figure out how to do this fairly, so e.g. miners can’t interfere with it.
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#4

Ah, I found the command in the CLI. Two short ideas:

  • Adding an (approximate) expiry time (I did a blockstack whois vsund.id but don’t have an idea how long it is until my id needs a renewal)
  • Warning when a name of the wallet is near its expiry

Isn’t it possible to add that later on to namespaces? Are namespaces fixed after initial creation?

#5

We can add those. Want to open an issue on GitHub? :slight_smile:

Isn’t it possible to add that later on to namespaces? Are namespaces fixed after initial creation?

Namespace properties are fixed once created. New properties, like a name-redeem period, cannot be retroactively added to existing namespaces.

#6

@jude done:


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