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Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

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Re: Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

#21

Post by pinhead26 »

danShumway wrote: post #9

The article and Namebase faq go into some details, but just so I understand, what are the practical effects of this beyond decentralization? - If I buy a TLD, will I own it in perpetuity, even after I die? - If we're encouraging people to register their own TLDs, won't we run into the same limited-name/squatter problems as normal domains? I get that names are being released at a trickle, but that seems like it would…

- Handshake TLDs need to be renewed every two years or the names go back up for auction. Renewals must include a recent block hash to prove that the name owner is still active and has _recently_ signed the renewal transaction.

- Yes, names are rolled out over 52 weeks based on the hash of the name (modulo 52), which was designed to prevent squatting. The auction & renewals processes should help as well.

- Yes, Handshake uses proof-of-work. It's a different algorithm (Blake2b keyed with KMAC256) than Bitcoin but still essentially relies on energy consumption for security.

- I'm not aware of any other major integrations. But it is easy for users to run their OWN local light client and use it as the DNS resolver for their OS: https://github.com/handshake-org/hnsd

Re: Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

#22

Post by mugsie »

rasengan wrote: post #17
mugsie wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

then I don't see the point, other than a set of tlds that half the people in the world won't be able to access ...

The DNS ROOT becomes controlled by the people instead of ICANN - it’s the end of ceased and censored domains. Additionally, HNS also fixes the problems the CA system has today. CAs can generate certificates for any domain - even if the domain owner didn’t request it. This has led to countless occurrences of abuse.

> The DNS ROOT becomes controlled by the people instead of ICANN - it’s the end of ceased and censored domains.

Good luck with that. If there is no way to have a US court take ownership of a domain (or force someone to handover a bad faith registration), someone will either end up in jail for contempt, or it will just be banned.

> Additionally, HNS also fixes the problems the CA system has today. CAs can generate certificates for any domain - even if the domain owner didn’t request it. This has led to countless occurrences of abuse.

It fixes the non EV cert situation (kind of - CAA records also help this, and work on the standard internet), but doesn't fix EV certs (i.e. amzon.tld is actually Amazon LLC and not Scammers R Us Ltd.)

It also ignores the reality of most major companies in the world MITM'ing all outbound traffic from offices to ensure sensitive content is not exfilled from the company - there is 0 chance of them allowing traffic out that they could not MITM.

Re: Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

#23

Post by pinhead26 »

mugsie wrote: post #5

Yeah, because I want to have to mine a token every time I update my DNS settings. -_- I get the "global, transparent, append only log" appeal, but for the reality of most people, I don't want to rely on a blockchain converging, or processing my update in a certain amount of time. And that doesn't even cover companies (I don't agree with this, but it is a reality), that consider DNS entries private, and don't want to…

Well you don't need to mine the coin to use the DNS system. You can obtain tokens some other way (an exchange) and buy a name on chain.

Re: Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

#25

Post by mugsie »

StavrosK wrote: post #19
mugsie wrote: post #5

Yeah, because I want to have to mine a token every time I update my DNS settings. -_- I get the "global, transparent, append only log" appeal, but for the reality of most people, I don't want to rely on a blockchain converging, or processing my update in a certain amount of time. And that doesn't even cover companies (I don't agree with this, but it is a reality), that consider DNS entries private, and don't want to…

Isn't this middlebrow dismissal? Like, I get that you don't want to have to "mine a token" if "mining a token" means "waiting half an hour", but if it means "waiting 100ms or paying $0.00001", I'd take that tradeoff to own my DNS.

I wouldn't - it means that I am reliant on a blockchain transaction clearing, and as the chain gets bigger, that time has potential to increase. etherium was really quick and cheap when it launched, and it is not now ...

Re: Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

#26

Post by pinhead26 »

skrowl wrote: post #2

Sounds like BitTorrent DHT, but for DNS. Is that the right take?

Not really, the DNS data is stored in a new data structure called an "Urkel Tree" that offers small proofs and fast lookup times. Full nodes (that archive and process the entire blockchain) can serve these proofs to light clients that use the data to recursively resolve DNS.

Re: Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

#27

Post by crediblewitness »

mugsie wrote: post #22
rasengan wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The DNS ROOT becomes controlled by the people instead of ICANN - it’s the end of ceased and censored domains. Additionally, HNS also fixes the problems the CA system has today. CAs can generate certificates for any domain - even if the domain owner didn’t request it. This has led to countless occurrences of abuse.

> The DNS ROOT becomes controlled by the people instead of ICANN - it’s the end of ceased and censored domains. Good luck with that. If there is no way to have a US court take ownership of a domain (or force someone to handover a bad faith registration), someone will either end up in jail for contempt, or it will just be banned. > Additionally, HNS also fixes the problems the CA system has today. CAs can generate cer…

> Good luck with that. If there is no way to have a US court take ownership of a domain (or force someone to handover a bad faith registration), someone will either end up in jail for contempt, or it will just be banned.

This same argument applies to bitcoin and it has not (yet) been banned in much of the free world.

Re: Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

#28

Post by troquerre »

danShumway wrote: post #9

The article and Namebase faq go into some details, but just so I understand, what are the practical effects of this beyond decentralization? - If I buy a TLD, will I own it in perpetuity, even after I die? - If we're encouraging people to register their own TLDs, won't we run into the same limited-name/squatter problems as normal domains? I get that names are being released at a trickle, but that seems like it would…

I work at Namebase.The other comments address most of your questions, but just to add on: the 52 week rollout will help significantly with preventing squatters. Handshake has designed some other mechanisms that prevent squatting. The first is that the Alexa top 100k domains have been pre-registered (only facebook.com can register .facebook on Handshake). This ensures that existing domain stakeholders can transition to Handshake without worrying about their name being squatted on.

Second, Handshake is airdropping 70% of the mainnet coins to open-source developers. If you have over 15 followers on GitHub, you can claim around $400-800 of Handshake coins (HNS) with no strings attached. Not only will this give developers an incentive to check Handshake out, but also this ensures that the bidding power is spread out at launch. Without this mechanism, a whale could spend $10mm on HNS at launch and outbid everyone.

Re: Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

#29

Post by troquerre »

T1glober wrote: post #7
ryandvm wrote: post #3

Kind of unrelated, but if there was ever a viable use case for blockchain beyond anarchist payment systems, it seems like it would be DNS.

The closest thing there is right now would be ENS - the E stands for Ethereum. ENS domain names can mainly be used for payment for now, so I'd be sending crypto to [domain].eth where the advantage is having a readable address instead of a random-looking string. You can also host web pages on it (which I believe is helped by their IPFS) but that has seen limited use as of yet.

I work at Namebase. Handshake is compatible with ENS actually because Handshake has reserved .eth for ENS names. Since Handshake decentralizes the top-level namespace, Handshake can serve as a gateway to other naming systems like ENS and Namecoin.

Re: Decentralized DNS with the Handshake Naming System

#30

Post by troquerre »

As an FYI for HN, many of y'all are probably eligible for $400-800 of Handshake coins (HNS). Handshake is airdropping coins to open-source developers to incentivize them to check out the project. If you have over 15 followers on GitHub you can use this tool to claim coins. This is a no-strings-attached giveaway so if you want to you can also sell your coins but it'd be worth it to bid on your name before you do. You can also reach out to me at tieshun at namebase.io if you have questions about the airdrop or Handshake itself.

https://github.com/handshake-org/hs-airdrop

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