It's called "CNAME Flattening" (or "ALIAS records") and has been widely available from hosting providers since 2014. I was talking about server-side aliases a

It's called "CNAME Flattening" (or "ALIAS records") and has been widely available from hosting providers since 2014. I was talking about server-side aliases a decade before that, and I was far from the only person doing so. You have the explanation right. But your hypothetical future dystopia is actually the world of today. (-: