How I Came to Own NSF.net⚓︎
Preface⚓︎
I will not disclose the price to acquire this domain to preface this post. The magnitude of it still hasn't quite hit me yet. I spent money that I truly hope I'll never need one day.
I fully acknowledge that I have a problem with compulsive behavior, specifically with gambling-related to purchasing domain names. I'm in therapy and working towards becoming a better version of myself. I am and will always be a work in progress.
The following is the story of how I came to acquire one of the oldest domains on the internet.
Searching for Hidden Gems⚓︎
Part of my problem with acquiring domains is that every so often, I feel as though another "better" domain is out there waiting for me. A "white whale," if you will. I get an idea about something, and I look to see if the domain is available. Most of the time, it isn't, and that's a good thing. I don't need any more domains. At the time of this writing, I own 33 domains. ⅔ of these domains are custodial domains that I'm holding onto for my kids or domain redirects.
However, it doesn't stop me from looking, which brings us to Saturday, March 26th.
I've been looking for a short 3-letter .com domain for some time now, but the entire process has made me apprehensive. These domains are not cheap, no matter where you look. At best, you're looking at a minimum of 5 figures. Domains such as this are wildly expensive, but it's something that you want to be selective about and take your time if you're going to go through with it.
In my opinion, buying a 3-letter domain with an arbitrary array of letters is a bit of a waste. Sure, it's nice to have that 3-letter .com, but I feel as though if you're going to own a domain, it should mean something to you. Most of my domains mean something to me, and I wanted this to be no different.
When looking for domains, I make use of Namecheap and Dan.com. I use Namecheap to look up the keyword or string of letters to see if it's available and then use Dan.com to know if they have it any less expensive or if they have it available for lease.
This is where I keep getting pulled back in. I see something shiny on Dan.com that can be leased for something I can afford each month, and I get an urge to buy it. It's a problem. Again, I'm getting help. Moving on...
In looking for 3-letter .com's on Dan.com, I noticed that a company listed the most affordable ones called Domain Empire. Their website is trash, but they have a price list containing scores of domains they have for sale.
I figured I'd take a good look through it and see if anything catches my eye. As I was getting to the bottom, I saw a section titled "Aged Domains - Registered Before 1994". My oldest domain is levine.org, registered in 1995. Having a domain older than that is enticing, so I begin looking through the list.
What jumps out of the list is the following:
Sesqui.net 70000 (1987 - The 3rd oldest .Net in the world)
I figured, damn, that's pretty cool to have a domain that old, but that price tag is way too much. I looked it up on Namecheap and Dan.com, and both had it listed for at or around the same price. It didn't make a difference; I wasn't buying it. Regardless of the cost, I was not too fond of the name.
As a side note, sesqui.net is not the 3rd oldest .Net in the world, but rather the 6th.
I got an idea to see the oldest domains on the internet and if any of them are available. Most are company names and many familiar names in the .com space. Figuring this is likely beyond my reach; even if they are available, I move on to the .org and .net sections. Most of the .org's are registered to companies that still exist, while the remaining ones are just gone forever.
This leads me to the .net's. It's a shortlist comprised of only 13 domains (excluding darpa.net). I start going down the list. First is nordu.net, which is still active and registered to the company NORDUnet. The following is broken.net; it wasn't available. The next was NSF.net, the program to create backbone networks that eventually evolved into the commercial internet.
To my surprise, it was available on both Namecheap and Dan.com. To my even greater surprise, it was actually within my reach.
A quick note before moving on. Without considering any .edu, .mil, .int, or .arpa domains that no one person can own, NSF.net is the 45th domain ever registered, and the 3rd .net ever registered. Adding .edu domains into this, NSF.net is the 122nd domain ever created. The significance of this is astonishing to me.
Fork in the Road⚓︎
At this point, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. It was after midnight at the time, and I figured I was seeing things. I did a 'whois' lookup for the domain, and it was the same nsf.net originally owned and operated by National Science Foundation.
I had an immediate urge to buy it right there, but the staggering price tag was not something I would drop at such an hour. I decided to sleep on it.
I woke up the following day and looked to see if it was available. I thought about it for a few hours and came back to it. It was still available, but who knew for how long.
I decided to pull the trigger.
Because of the amount of money, I couldn't put this on a credit card; instead, I had to do a bank wire. I don't particularly like doing bank wires because there's a significant risk involved as they're often a one-way street. The money only goes out, but you can't reverse a bank wire.
I decided to buy it through Dan.com because I've purchased several domains from them, and they're a fantastic service. I also knew that if they were unable to acquire the domain from the seller, the transaction would be canceled, and the bank wire would not transfer.
I completed the bank transfer and sent them information regarding the transaction to help speed it along. The information wasn't enough because the bank hadn't processed it yet. I got a call Monday morning from my bank about it and confirmed that I was doing the transfer. They had me sign a release to allow the bank wire to proceed. The transaction was on its way a few hours later.
Ownership⚓︎
It wasn't long before the 'whois' record for the domain was updated to 'pendingTransfer.' It was a surreal moment. I had initially wanted to send the domain to Cloudflare since all of the domains I own that are currently in use live there, but I had issues transferring a domain that wasn't already under my control. I decided to send it temporarily to Porkbun and then transfer it out. Dan.com was great at helping to expedite the transfer. I keep all my custodial and parked/redirect domains there anyway, so it wasn't a problem.
The domain arrived at Porkbun on Wednesday, March 30th, at 10:10 am. At this point, I unlocked the domain, obtained the authorization code, and attempted to send it to Cloudflare. Interestingly, the domain wasn't flagged with the usual 'serverTransferProhibited' domain status. I immediately renewed the domain for an additional eight years, the maximum amount of time I could.
Somehow, it worked.
The transfer was completed successfully on Wednesday, March 30th at 11:32 am and is now one of the crown jewels of my domain assets.
Closing Thoughts⚓︎
To say how incredibly proud I am to own a relic of internet history is an understatement. I'm unbelievably fortunate to have been able to be in the right place, right time, and swing it financially. As I had mentioned earlier, I hope that I'll never be in a position where I need this money.
I have no plans on selling this domain as it's invaluable to me. I hope to pass it down to my kids and allow them to appreciate the magnitude of something that was a predecessor to the internet they know today.