5 ms·

You technically do not own a domain, but you lease it them. "ICANN's official policy is that domains are not property to be owned. Domain names are registered

You technically do not own a domain, but you lease it them. "ICANN's official policy is that domains are not property to be owned. Domain names are registered (rented) by payment of an annual registration fee."

case 5y ago
.io (like all ccTLDs) is not governed by ICANN, fwiw. But your point is valid that domains are essentially registered according to the terms of a probably-long and verbose agreement.
swalsh 5y ago
Domains should be NFT's
- dreyfan 5y ago
  Yeah, then when someone loses or has stolen the keys to that wallet, the domain is forever gone.
  - jedberg 5y ago
    Like how when someone steals your car it's just gone forever? There still exists a legal system in which the NFT could potentially recovered. Yes it's harder with easy cross border theft, but that just means we need better global treaties.
    - Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
      Apples and oranges. If your car is stolen, there's a potential for it to be physically found and returned. If someone somehow finds the private key to steal an NFT, they could steal the NFT and then delete the private key for the new address that owns it. At that point, treaties don't matter. The ownership exchange is permanent until someone can derive the private key from the public key, which if someone did, then ALL NFTs could be stolen.
      - jedberg 5y ago
        Sure but if they delete the private key then they don't own it anymore either. It would be like destroying the car. And yeah, if someone steals your car and destroys it, you can't have it back. There's also an easy fix for this. Make the NFT include a smart contract that requires periodic "checkins" that require the private key, and if the checkin fails, ownership reverts the previous owner or another address specified in the smart contract. Or attach a smart contract that requires registration with a third centralized party. NFT technology can interplay with existing legal frameworks and protections with the right programming.
        rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
        It can't, and never will. The more you build the central controls, like trademark enforcement, to the system, you might as well replace it with a central database and licensed registrars and thats what we have now. The global DNS namespace is heavily controlled. I very much doubt that these funny namespaces will be anything other than a fad used in niche applications. Metamask supports .eth, fine, but you wont be pointing at your https server with it if you expect grandma to resolve it. We have seen it before, many times. NewNet isnt a thing this decade. You cant invent arbitrary TLDs and expect the internet to use em.
- nso 5y ago
  Nothing should be a NFT
- BayAreaEscapee 5y ago
  Imagine what a train wreck that could be. You just know that some Fortune 500 is going to have someone steal their private keys proving domain ownership. Bankofamerica.com now belongs to a hacker in Tver, Russia? Blockchains are a great idea but some problems are better solved by the brick-and-mortar legal system.
- rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
  Many have tried (they dont need to be NFT's, they just need a record mapping of name->NS IPs). Namecoin tried this. Handshake is trying this. ENS is trying this. IMHO they will fail. You wont see decentralized name registration in the global DNS namespace. Too much abuse potential, too little flexibility with errors, trademarks, etc
  - monkeydreams 5y ago
    > IMHO they will fail. I agree with you there. The key problem is maintaining ownership of a valuable domain, not freeing domain ownership from ICANN or automating dispute mediation. Putting domain ownership on a blockchain just makes it almost impossible to maintain ownership of the domain if someone steals your "crown jewel" certificates.
teeray 5y ago
When existing tenants get to extract arbitrary rent to transfer their lease, it sure looks a lot like property ownership to me.

case 5y ago

.io (like all ccTLDs) is not governed by ICANN, fwiw. But your point is valid that domains are essentially registered according to the terms of a probably-long and verbose agreement.

swalsh 5y ago

Domains should be NFT's

dreyfan 5y ago
Yeah, then when someone loses or has stolen the keys to that wallet, the domain is forever gone.
- jedberg 5y ago
  Like how when someone steals your car it's just gone forever? There still exists a legal system in which the NFT could potentially recovered. Yes it's harder with easy cross border theft, but that just means we need better global treaties.
  - Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
    Apples and oranges. If your car is stolen, there's a potential for it to be physically found and returned. If someone somehow finds the private key to steal an NFT, they could steal the NFT and then delete the private key for the new address that owns it. At that point, treaties don't matter. The ownership exchange is permanent until someone can derive the private key from the public key, which if someone did, then ALL NFTs could be stolen.
    - jedberg 5y ago
      Sure but if they delete the private key then they don't own it anymore either. It would be like destroying the car. And yeah, if someone steals your car and destroys it, you can't have it back. There's also an easy fix for this. Make the NFT include a smart contract that requires periodic "checkins" that require the private key, and if the checkin fails, ownership reverts the previous owner or another address specified in the smart contract. Or attach a smart contract that requires registration with a third centralized party. NFT technology can interplay with existing legal frameworks and protections with the right programming.
      - rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
        It can't, and never will. The more you build the central controls, like trademark enforcement, to the system, you might as well replace it with a central database and licensed registrars and thats what we have now. The global DNS namespace is heavily controlled. I very much doubt that these funny namespaces will be anything other than a fad used in niche applications. Metamask supports .eth, fine, but you wont be pointing at your https server with it if you expect grandma to resolve it. We have seen it before, many times. NewNet isnt a thing this decade. You cant invent arbitrary TLDs and expect the internet to use em.
nso 5y ago
Nothing should be a NFT
BayAreaEscapee 5y ago
Imagine what a train wreck that could be. You just know that some Fortune 500 is going to have someone steal their private keys proving domain ownership. Bankofamerica.com now belongs to a hacker in Tver, Russia? Blockchains are a great idea but some problems are better solved by the brick-and-mortar legal system.
rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
Many have tried (they dont need to be NFT's, they just need a record mapping of name->NS IPs). Namecoin tried this. Handshake is trying this. ENS is trying this. IMHO they will fail. You wont see decentralized name registration in the global DNS namespace. Too much abuse potential, too little flexibility with errors, trademarks, etc
- monkeydreams 5y ago
  > IMHO they will fail. I agree with you there. The key problem is maintaining ownership of a valuable domain, not freeing domain ownership from ICANN or automating dispute mediation. Putting domain ownership on a blockchain just makes it almost impossible to maintain ownership of the domain if someone steals your "crown jewel" certificates.

teeray 5y ago

When existing tenants get to extract arbitrary rent to transfer their lease, it sure looks a lot like property ownership to me.