4 ms·

Seems interesting. I've long held the view that DNS is no longer fit for purpose. It made sense back in the day, but what is the real point of TLDs these days?

Seems interesting. I've long held the view that DNS is no longer fit for purpose. It made sense back in the day, but what is the real point of TLDs these days? It means many folk have to register their name multiple times and there's problems with domain-name squatting. It's just a money-making ploy now.

Avamander 4y ago
It actually takes quite a bit of work to operate a registrar. In addition to the technical side, which there is plenty of, there's the human aspect. Imagine the amount of trademark disputes and abuse .com/Verisign has to deal with. Trademark or local law can rarely be automated.
- cowtools 4y ago
  I have no doubt that there is hard work running a registrar, but it is ultimately just meaningless bureaucracy if the system it is servicing (DNS) is not actually useful to society at large. It is in essence, a "Bullshit Job"[0]: >[...] 3. duct tapers, who temporarily fix problems that could be fixed permanently, e.g., programmers repairing bloated code, airline desk staff who calm passengers whose bags do not arrive [...] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs In any case I can only assume it is pretty profitable because I pay them several dollars a month to basically manage a single entry in a database and manage some paperwork. And considering that major businesses will pay big $$$ for (several!) domains...
  - eddieroger 4y ago
    It doesn't seem like bullshit to me to make sure that people claiming to be someone are actually them, and others who claim otherwise are not. With the anonymity the Internet brings, I find comfort in knowing that the URL I type in my browser is actually the endpoint I wish to receive. If that takes humans to deal with, so be it.
    - cowtools 4y ago
      If that brings you comfort, then you should not be comforted as registrars will not do what you're describing. Domain squatters, bitsquatters, impersonators etc. create shell companies and run rampant without consequences, and the most companies can try to do is buy up all the TLDs with their name and hope some don't fall through the cracks. It is literally just racketeering. They can file a legal/beurocratic action, but by time it goes through the damage has already been done to their customers in the form of phishing and MITM attacks. Not to mention that DNS (excluding finnicky DNSSEC) just maps a domain to an IP address. It's not a public key. You could have your connection middlemanned by your ISP or some 3-letter agency and you would be none the wiser. All the actual security is provided by the PKI.
      - Avamander 4y ago
        > If that brings you comfort, then you should not be comforted as registrars will not do what you're describing. That's not true, just depends on the TLD. > Not to mention that DNS (excluding finnicky DNSSEC) just maps a domain to an IP address. It's not a public key. You could have your connection middlemanned by your ISP or some 3-letter agency and you would be none the wiser. All the actual security is provided by the PKI. PKI you can't trust if nobody can trust the DNS.
        tptacek 4y ago
        In practice, nobody trusts the DNS, so this can't really be true. Not trusting the DNS was a design goal of TLS.
        Avamander 4y ago
        That is after issuance though. In this context, if it's your name server that can't be trusted, it's very difficult to bootstrap.

Avamander 4y ago

It actually takes quite a bit of work to operate a registrar. In addition to the technical side, which there is plenty of, there's the human aspect. Imagine the amount of trademark disputes and abuse .com/Verisign has to deal with. Trademark or local law can rarely be automated.

cowtools 4y ago
I have no doubt that there is hard work running a registrar, but it is ultimately just meaningless bureaucracy if the system it is servicing (DNS) is not actually useful to society at large. It is in essence, a "Bullshit Job"[0]: >[...] 3. duct tapers, who temporarily fix problems that could be fixed permanently, e.g., programmers repairing bloated code, airline desk staff who calm passengers whose bags do not arrive [...] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs In any case I can only assume it is pretty profitable because I pay them several dollars a month to basically manage a single entry in a database and manage some paperwork. And considering that major businesses will pay big $$$ for (several!) domains...
- eddieroger 4y ago
  It doesn't seem like bullshit to me to make sure that people claiming to be someone are actually them, and others who claim otherwise are not. With the anonymity the Internet brings, I find comfort in knowing that the URL I type in my browser is actually the endpoint I wish to receive. If that takes humans to deal with, so be it.
  - cowtools 4y ago
    If that brings you comfort, then you should not be comforted as registrars will not do what you're describing. Domain squatters, bitsquatters, impersonators etc. create shell companies and run rampant without consequences, and the most companies can try to do is buy up all the TLDs with their name and hope some don't fall through the cracks. It is literally just racketeering. They can file a legal/beurocratic action, but by time it goes through the damage has already been done to their customers in the form of phishing and MITM attacks. Not to mention that DNS (excluding finnicky DNSSEC) just maps a domain to an IP address. It's not a public key. You could have your connection middlemanned by your ISP or some 3-letter agency and you would be none the wiser. All the actual security is provided by the PKI.
    - Avamander 4y ago
      > If that brings you comfort, then you should not be comforted as registrars will not do what you're describing. That's not true, just depends on the TLD. > Not to mention that DNS (excluding finnicky DNSSEC) just maps a domain to an IP address. It's not a public key. You could have your connection middlemanned by your ISP or some 3-letter agency and you would be none the wiser. All the actual security is provided by the PKI. PKI you can't trust if nobody can trust the DNS.
      - tptacek 4y ago
        In practice, nobody trusts the DNS, so this can't really be true. Not trusting the DNS was a design goal of TLS.
        Avamander 4y ago
        That is after issuance though. In this context, if it's your name server that can't be trusted, it's very difficult to bootstrap.