Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 25 seconds

It’s a really good point regarding domain registrations and one I’ve pointed out to folks in the past as well. A frustrating reality of how the internet exists today that it’s not possible to permanently own a domain registration. But I do think the language here goes beyond just domain registrations and where something is hosted. Ownership over your data is at the heart of Domain of One’s Own (In fact many schools we work with don’t offer top level domain registrations, but they all provide cPanel and open source applications). Governments seize property by eminent domain (there’s that word again!) in the US all the time so even the idea of owning your own house isn’t without its caveats. But the ability for me to take my data, have it backed up in many locations, and move seamlessly between spaces is just as much if not more important than the question of where it is hosted at a certain point in time (heck if I were a real masochist I guess I could run a server out of my closet and not be beholden to any company). Too many other silos, especially social media, simply don’t offer the same level of flexibility because of the proprietary software they use to run those system.