# Maybe I shouldn't have done this . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2000, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-i-shouldnt-have-done-this/10707 "2000-04-20T01:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-i-shouldnt-have-done-this/10707/1 "2000-04-20T01:21:00Z")
My grandfather wants me to build a web site for his small buisness. Being the tightwad that I am, I didn’t want to pay the 35 bucks a year that all of the domain selling sites I visited wanted. I stumbled apon a site called [www.namezero.com](http://www.namezero.com) who touted free .com adresses. I read over everything pretty carefully (legaleese makes my eyes blur) and I can’t find a catch. I went ahead and signed up, but with all things that seem too good to be true, you can’t be too careful, and now I’m having second thoughts. So, here’s my question: how are they making money? Does it actually cost anything for them to register a domain name? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Sheepshead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@Mr.Sheepshead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Sheepshead)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maybe-i-shouldnt-have-done-this/10707/2 "2000-04-20T02:45:00Z")
After a _quick_ perusal of the ToS, it appears that everything is paid for by the NameZero Passport service (which you must keep open a certain amount of time per month/year), as it regularly feeds you commercials and the like. Also, it mentions reporting “aggregate information” to thrid parties, so they might also sell your info to other companies as well. 'Course, I’m a CIS guy, not a legal guy…