8 ms·

Namecoin: distributed domain registration system based on Bitcoin

81 points by llambda 15y ago

rfugger 15y ago
Brilliant. This is an equally useful application of the block chain concept as the Bitcoin currency, and should be much less controversial.
- polarized 15y ago
  Maybe but things like domain squatting and the inability to shut down domains pointing to illegal or controversial sites is likely to be quite controversial.
  - hollerith 15y ago
    Good point. If I'd designed this, I would have considered restricting the name space to strings of digits to avoid the opprobrium when some domain-name speculator holds redcross.bit or teachforamerica.bit hostage.
  - DennisP 15y ago
    I think the inability to shut down domains is the main point. (And quite a good one, in my opinion.)
chalst 15y ago
This text uses language I've seen a lot in discussion around Bitcoin: >It allows you to ... be the only person to be able to modify it (no possible external control) Using the cryptographic algorithms believed to be the best does not make bad things impossible, for three reasons: 1. Encryption is rarely the weakest point in security. How do the authors of Namecoin know that I won't manage my keys incompetently if I use their software? 2. We don't know what unknown flaws there are in our most trusted algorithms. The worst flaws in RSA were discovered a long time after the algorithm were made public; perhaps we will find worse flaws in AES quite soon. 3. Moore's law tells us that keys have a lifetime. The Bitcoin reaction to this and other protocol problems involves something based on network majority consent. This does not sound safe to me. I know that anyone who uses such language as "no possible external control" is either ignorant or careless. Even careless bothers me.
X-Istence 15y ago
So does this mean that to keep a domain I have to keep running the namecoin service thereby using up CPU time that could be better spent serving requests from users?
- thwarted 15y ago
  You could outsource that just like you can currently outsource DNS.
- Groxx 15y ago
  Not really. It's bitcoin-like, so "the network" of miners would collaboratively re-enforce your control of your domains. You'd only need to use up CPU (/GPU) time to create new name coins for free - you could also purchase them from people who had mined them previously, and hadn't used them.
- polarized 15y ago
  Running the service does not use very much CPU time. Mining is separate, and you don't even need to do that just to keep the domain up.
tectonic 15y ago
Has anyone setup a .bit proxy yet so I can browse them without setting it up?
- ptarjan 15y ago
  bitname.org
Locke1689 15y ago
This was submitted 12 days ago (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2546815 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2546815) I'm so thrilled that instead of reading almost identical bitcoin stories I can now read actually identical bitcoin stories. At this point I'm almost hoping everyone who uses bitcoin gets picked up by the IRS for tax evasion just so no one will submit any more stories to HN.
- pnathan 15y ago
  There once was a bot which caught the reposts and commented on them. But it was so offensive to have the reposts mentioned that the author shut it down, and perhaps even left HN. I haven't seen him around for a long time.
  - Locke1689 15y ago
    That was RiderOfGiraffes. He left a while ago for greener pastures. To be honest, my comment is probably one he would have objected to and I'm personally surprised at all the upvotes it has gotten. I think it reflects that there is an extremely vocal minority of people who care about Bitcoin and a lot of people don't care and just want them to take it somewhere else.
astro1138 15y ago
Can't resolve any of those. Not on my Internets.
sneak 15y ago
If you ignore it, it will disappear.
gyom 15y ago
It's funny how the word "coin" in that name is essentially used to refer to this distributed computational process whose purpose it is to get people to agree on some version of the state of things (i.e. what is "real"). Next thing you know, kids in 2050 refer to reality as some sort of "heavily coined world".
dbaugh 15y ago
Despite people likely being able to break this 50 years in the future, I am willing to bet that ICE couldn't sieze a .bit domain right now.

81 points by llambda 15y ago

Brilliant. This is an equally useful application of the block chain concept as the Bitcoin currency, and should be much less controversial.

polarized 15y ago
Maybe but things like domain squatting and the inability to shut down domains pointing to illegal or controversial sites is likely to be quite controversial.
- hollerith 15y ago
  Good point. If I'd designed this, I would have considered restricting the name space to strings of digits to avoid the opprobrium when some domain-name speculator holds redcross.bit or teachforamerica.bit hostage.
- DennisP 15y ago
  I think the inability to shut down domains is the main point. (And quite a good one, in my opinion.)

chalst 15y ago

This text uses language I've seen a lot in discussion around Bitcoin: >It allows you to ... be the only person to be able to modify it (no possible external control) Using the cryptographic algorithms believed to be the best does not make bad things impossible, for three reasons: 1. Encryption is rarely the weakest point in security. How do the authors of Namecoin know that I won't manage my keys incompetently if I use their software? 2. We don't know what unknown flaws there are in our most trusted algorithms. The worst flaws in RSA were discovered a long time after the algorithm were made public; perhaps we will find worse flaws in AES quite soon. 3. Moore's law tells us that keys have a lifetime. The Bitcoin reaction to this and other protocol problems involves something based on network majority consent. This does not sound safe to me. I know that anyone who uses such language as "no possible external control" is either ignorant or careless. Even careless bothers me.

X-Istence 15y ago

So does this mean that to keep a domain I have to keep running the namecoin service thereby using up CPU time that could be better spent serving requests from users?

thwarted 15y ago
You could outsource that just like you can currently outsource DNS.
Groxx 15y ago
Not really. It's bitcoin-like, so "the network" of miners would collaboratively re-enforce your control of your domains. You'd only need to use up CPU (/GPU) time to create new name coins for free - you could also purchase them from people who had mined them previously, and hadn't used them.
polarized 15y ago
Running the service does not use very much CPU time. Mining is separate, and you don't even need to do that just to keep the domain up.

tectonic 15y ago

Has anyone setup a .bit proxy yet so I can browse them without setting it up?

ptarjan 15y ago
bitname.org

Locke1689 15y ago

This was submitted 12 days ago (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2546815 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2546815) I'm so thrilled that instead of reading almost identical bitcoin stories I can now read actually identical bitcoin stories. At this point I'm almost hoping everyone who uses bitcoin gets picked up by the IRS for tax evasion just so no one will submit any more stories to HN.

pnathan 15y ago
There once was a bot which caught the reposts and commented on them. But it was so offensive to have the reposts mentioned that the author shut it down, and perhaps even left HN. I haven't seen him around for a long time.
- Locke1689 15y ago
  That was RiderOfGiraffes. He left a while ago for greener pastures. To be honest, my comment is probably one he would have objected to and I'm personally surprised at all the upvotes it has gotten. I think it reflects that there is an extremely vocal minority of people who care about Bitcoin and a lot of people don't care and just want them to take it somewhere else.

astro1138 15y ago

Can't resolve any of those. Not on my Internets.

sneak 15y ago

If you ignore it, it will disappear.

gyom 15y ago

It's funny how the word "coin" in that name is essentially used to refer to this distributed computational process whose purpose it is to get people to agree on some version of the state of things (i.e. what is "real"). Next thing you know, kids in 2050 refer to reality as some sort of "heavily coined world".

dbaugh 15y ago

Despite people likely being able to break this 50 years in the future, I am willing to bet that ICE couldn't sieze a .bit domain right now.