[BETA] LowEnd Shortener – A passion project for the community
Hi everyone,
I’m Andy, and today I’m finally doing something I’ve been overthinking for a very long time.
The idea for a dedicated, privacy-focused link management tool for our specific niche has been living in my head for several years. I’ve always felt that as a community of sysadmins, hosters, and tech enthusiasts, we deserve a utility that isn't owned by "Big Tech," doesn't sell click data, and understands the "LowEnd" aesthetic.
A while ago, I finally sat down and built it: LowEnd Shortener.
You might wonder why it took so long to see the light of day. I wanted to do this the right way, so I reached out to the management of LowEndTalk months ago to coordinate a release. Unfortunately, I hit a massive wall.
Despite "LowEnd" being a generic industry term used by all of us for over a decade, WNY IT Services, Inc. (LET owners) claimed that using the name "LowEnd" and domains like lowend.vip, low.ad or lowendspir.it was a trademark violation. I was told that the service would not be allowed on their platform.
I spent weeks in back-and-forth negotiations, even offering to hand over the entire project for free just to ensure it could exist for the community. But communication eventually went silent. This impasse drained my motivation and delayed the launch by months. It felt like a "corporate takeover" of a term that belongs to all of us.
After speaking with Mason (LES Admin), who was incredibly supportive and shared a much more community-oriented perspective, I decided to stop waiting for a "green light" from the corporate side.
I’ve realized that the spirit of this community doesn’t live in a trademark office – it lives right here on LowEndSpirit.
The system is currently in Beta. It is built on secure infrastructure, uses deSEC.io for DNS integrity, and is designed to be a bridge between our platforms.
- Branded Domains: Use
low.lc,lowendspir.it,lowend.vip,low.ad, and more. - Provider Features: Verified hosters can request vanity subdomains (e.g.,
yourbrand.lowend.vip) for professional-looking links.
I’ll be honest: I am still worried. I fear that releasing this tool under the "LowEnd" name might lead to the "ban hammer" being dropped on me. I’ve had my share of trademark disputes in the past, and they are exhausting.
Furthermore, I want to apologize in advance if my response time is sometimes slow. Due to health reasons, I occasionally have to step away from the screen, and it might take me a bit longer to reply to requests or support tickets. I hope you can forgive me for that.
But I truly believe this tool is useful. I’ve decided that the community’s need for a clean, free utility is more important than my fear of corporate retaliation.
I am releasing this as a beta because I need your feedback. Most importantly, I hope for some support from the LES family. If you believe that a community tool should be independent and free, I’d love for you to try it out.
You can find it here: https://lowend.vip
Note: I have retired the lowendta.lk domain out of respect for their specific brand, but I am keeping the project name as "LowEnd Shortener" because that is what it is.
Thanks for reading my "Ted Talk." I’m looking forward to your thoughts!
Best regards,
Andy
Comments
Why hijack other people's "name"? Just do something random and short. No one would even care.
Also, personally, I do not use any link shortener that uses tracking. So it's a NO from me.
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
This is pretty funny.
My pronouns are like/subscribe.
Are you never an obnoxious cunt?
My pronouns are like/subscribe.
Thanks for being so straightforward. Maybe you're right; maybe I'll end up regretting it.
Lemme check my calendar.... No, I dont see anytime I am not
Dont take it so seriously. It's just a suggestion.
You already have the software and infra setup, so it's easy to just add a few more easy or random short domains and you're done.
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
Any constructive feedback should be taken seriously, as it can spark new ideas or lead to new directions.
P.S.: If the project isn't accepted, I can redirect the domain to the relevant forums for free and without tracking.
Footer light/dark theme changer broken
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
Dark theme also doesn't work for verification page: https://lowend.vip/page/verification
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
Thank you very much for your test and the information you provided. You’re absolutely right. I’ll look into it soon. As for the verification page, the problem is that it’s an iFrame. So far, I haven’t found an acceptable solution for implementing dark mode there.
Great.
Side note... Fix your signature, check the rules, or lose it
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Erm, I dont see what's wrong with his signature...
No affiliate links
3 lines (since provider)
Creative
No images (all are text fonts)
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
Ah, maybe it's just on mobile my bad, it's 7 lines due to wrapping
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Speaking of which, why not have character limit instead of "3 lines"? Something like 140 chars for regular user, 210 chars for service providers (taking 70 chars per line)?
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
I'd love to know where LET thinks they hold a trademark for "LowEnd", because I can't find one (and I'm 90% sure it's too generic to trademark anyway)
They are not filing for a trademark dispute. They basically said you cant use LowEnd on their forums so people dont think it's a official LET link shortener. They are not stopping him from using LowEnd in the name elsewhere.
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
Ok, the phrase "WNY IT Services, Inc. (LET owners) claimed that using the name "LowEnd" and domains like lowend.vip, low.ad or lowendspir.it was a trademark violation" suggested rather more than that.
They do hold trademarks for lowendtalk and lowendbox, but claiming that covers anything with a "LowEnd" prefix is ... optimistic.
That's probably what @AGXL understood, but is definitely not the case. If it was a violation, legal action would be taken against @AnthonySmith first for LES first
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
I'm really glad that at least one person likes it - and the head honcho himself, no less.
By the way, my signature wasn't supposed to be displayed at all. I've removed it completely now, since it's irrelevant.
From the very beginning, LET gave the impression that they owned the rights to “LowEnd.” However, after I conducted my trademark research, they backtracked a bit. After I mentioned the names @Mason and LES and expressed concerns about the commercialization of LowEnd Shortener, I received no further response to my ticket with LET. I don’t know if this post will have any consequences for me on LET, but I hope not.
@AGXL Go quickly buy the domain highendtalk.com
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
Makes a lot of sense tbh.
>
I would have such fun making them test that in court, but I gave away LES completely, so I doubt I am legally responsible now
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If you do plan to implement it, do revise the char count as the numbers were pulled straight our of my arse
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
I dont have that sort of access these days.
tagging @Mason and @mikho seems like a good idea, I can't remember if it's possible via the UI, but it's almost certainly possible via the database.
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I can't remember if it's possible via the UI, but it's almost certainly possible via the database.
Or just update the rules to say 2 lines and XX chars, 3 lines and XX chars
Yes, i realize i totally derailed this thread... maybe move the convos to offtopic?
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
URL shorteners were an awful idea.
If you ever retire one or more of these domains, would you provide a copy of the short-to-long database to the Internet Archive?
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Looking at the ticket, he made it clear that he owns the trademarks for LowEndBox and LowEndTalk, but at no point did he state that using the name "LowEnd" and those domains mentioned, violates or infringes on his trademark, nor did he claim it constitutes a trademark violation.
That's all I wanted to mention.
Please carry on, and good luck with your project.
P.S. Sorry, not speaking in the defense of Jon or his company, but claiming that someone said something they did not is not only inappropriate, but it's also misleading ✌️
Thanks DP for the clarification!
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.