The Two Biggest Web3 Domain Name Providers Are Currently in a Fist Fight…

TL;DR

• There’s something going on between the folks behind the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Unstoppable Domains.

• The clash came when Unstoppbale Domains filed a patent that some of the folks behind ENS felt laid legal claim to innovations they’d made.

Full Story

So there’s something going on between the folks behind the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Unstoppable Domains.

Both sell Ethereum based domain names (e.g. coolguy69.eth) – but the folks at ENS were the first to develop the tech.

The clash came when Unstoppbale Domains filed a patent that some of the folks behind ENS felt laid legal claim to innovations they’d made.

If this were an in person back and forth, it might go something like this…

ENS: Hey, that patent you filed seems awful close to technology that we developed.

Having a patent gives you control, and we don’t want this tech controlled by any one company or entity. We want it to be open.

UD: Ok, well – similar or not – we’ve publicly pledged that we’re going to donate this patent to The Web3 Domain Alliance, which is all about keeping this kind of technology open and free to build upon.

…so we’re good right?

ENS: If those are your intentions, we’re cool with it…

But currently, it’s just a public announcement – which ain’t legally binding.

So if you don’t want us to take you to court, we’re going to need a legally binding commitment that ensures this patent will be made a public good.

UD: Your proposed solution doesn’t take into account the fact that we want there to be multiple Web3 naming systems.

(Think: .eth, .crypto, .nft. Just like there’s .com, .co, .io, etc. in Web2)

…and the only way to ensure that future is to have a place where everyone (not just UD and ENS) collaborate. That’s what our patent is aiming to do.

That’s pretty much where we’re up to as of this writing – we’ll let you know if/when things progress any further.