NFT Domain Service

As a brand owner you should already now consider, how best to protect your IP in Metaverses and on Blockchain technologies. Today, Metaverses are primarily 3D gaming universes, where gamers take on a new persona, or “avatar”, in their interactions with other gamers, but also with brands present in the universes. In these Metaverses (there are several independent worlds of gaming), players can create their own games, buy and own land, build houses, galleries and bars, as well as create digital assets and features, such as tools and clothing. All of these digital assets are created on blockchains as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

NFTs provide proof ownership of the unique asset (be it a digital picture, feature, piece of land, music file, gif, video clip, digital piece of art), and can be bought and sold using cryptocurrencies within the Metaverses or on specialised NFT marketplaces. NFT Domains (or blockchain domains or Web 3.0 domains) are NFTs hosted on blockchains, allowing owners to use the relevant name (e.g., JOHNDOE.nft or BrandName.wallet for receiving payments in Crypto) as usernames in games, or as addresses for websites hosted on a blockchain. Today already more than 7 million such NFT Domains have been registered, and many have been cybersquatted in violation of the intellectual property of well-known brands.

Alias for wallet code

Fees Let’s recall the functioning of traditional domain names. Instead of entering the IP-Address “217.13.58.93” to display the products, services and information you are seeking, you simply type “Thomsentrampedach.com” in the address bar of your browser and are promptly directed to the desired content without intermediate steps.

In the Web 3.0 world you may want to send crypto currency to another wallet. Each of wallet address consist of a 42-bit long complex alpha-numeric string (“1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa” was the world’s first Bitcoin address). With NFT domains it is possible to replace or translate the long string with a simplified name like questel.nft. This is much easier to remember and reduces the risk of payments being made to the wrong wallet in error.

Fees

In the DNS-System you do not own your domain name. In order to keep your right to use the domain, the domain must usually be renewed every year with the payment of a renewal fee. If the fee is not paid, the domain is released again and can be registered by another person or entity. In the blockchain the domain is registered (or “minted”) on a blockchain forever and for the majority of NFT domains no annual fees apply.

Costs

Generally NFT domains cost between 20 and 200 USD, with no renewal fees.

No Censorship

On blockchains it is generally not possible to remove an item once created (“minted”). Therefore, once the blockchain domain is registered, nobody can get your domain cancelled, regardless of the name you registered or what content is associated with it.

No Governance, No Whois

As public (“permission-less”) blockchains are not regulated under ICANN or any other international governance, there is no registrant data, and no dispute mechanisms available to right holders. An NFT domain gets assigned to a crypto wallet. The owner data is simply the 42-digit code of the owner’s wallet. As there is no authority controlling the NFT-Domain market, you may also choose to sell the domain name at any time. Currently, none of the smart contracts (the software rules and terms applicable to each NFT domain extension) prohibit selling or licensing use to third parties.

Multiple App Use for NFT

Domains as ID or Log. In A large number of apps in the blockchain world are already supporting NFT-Domains for log-in purposes, and Twitter already supports connecting an NFT domain to a username.

Decentralized Websites

NFT domains can also be used as a website domain functioning as the address for a website hosted on blockchain.

It is technically possible to setup simple websites on blockchain, using the IPFS protocol (as opposed to http). The data is stored in a decentralized manner across the blockchain and is delivered via peer-to-peer technology. So far, only a few browsers support IPFS, but it is likely that more and more browsers will add this functionality in the future. Currently, Opera and Brave browsers support this protocol, and plugins are available for several other browsers like Chrome, MS Edge or Firefox.

No Dispute Resolution Procedures

As mentioned, the NFT-Market is not controlled, and every registration is owned by the registrant forever. No registration data besides an anonymous wallet address is ever provided. Without any authority controlling the market, and in the absence of any possibility of getting a real company name, name, or address from a registrant, it is impossible for right holders to enforce their rights against existing registrations.

Call To Action

NFTs are a new phenomenon in the tech world that is growing very fast. New companies enter the market and offer new NFT-Domains on a near daily basis. We recommend that our clients register their brands across at least the most popular NFT-domains, even if no current plans exist of engaging with customers in Metaverses, creating and selling NFTs, or receiving payments in crypto currencies. To us, the risk of eventually having to pay large sums to NFT-Cybersquatters at a later stage simply outweighs the risk of having to spend an affordable sum into protecting your brands in the new Blockchain and Web 3.0. space.

However, we do not recommend right holders that cannot be considered to be famous brands to register in all existing extensions. Instead, we can assist you with recommendations on the most popular and affordable NFT Domains. We see the registration of NFT-Domains as in investment into future preparedness in anticipation of the changes in Internet behavior prompted by this new technology.