Ninjastic
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Board Altcoin Discussion
Re: A better Namecoin
by
Steve
on 12/02/2012, 17:29:24 UTC
I wish this hadn't been moved to Alternate crypto currencies.  It's not about namecoin, but about a better way to more directly use bitcoin to implement a decentralized DNS system.  So, basically, the way it works is:

1. you define several types of DNS transactions…a) initial claim of a name, b) update to the name->address mapping for a name, c) transfer of a name to a new owner (i.e. another address)
2. you come up with a standardized way of hashing those transactions such that they can be included in a bitcoin transaction and embedded in the block chain (like the CommitCoin approach)
3. you implement software that creates, distributes and validates those transactions…transactions are ordered accorded to the bitcoin block in which they appear and within a block according to their position in the merkle tree of bitcoin transactions (depth first, left right traversal)…if there are two conflicting DNS transactions in the block chain, the earliest one wins
4. you implement other software that provides the DNS resolution (based on the validated set of transactions)
5. you convince people that this is a better approach for DNS and to start using it

The cost of an initial claim would just be the cost of getting the bitcoin transaction into the block chain.  The cost of an update to the mapping for a name would also just be the cost of getting the bitcoin transaction into the block chain.  The cost of transferring a domain name to someone else would be the cost of getting the transaction into the block chain, plus whatever the seller is asking.  Note, because the DNS transaction only becomes effective once the corresponding bitcoin transaction is in the block chain, such a transaction would be the means of paying for a DNS transfer using bitcoin.

This concept can be generalized to any form of property.  I really think the block chain, and its ultimate use for this purpose, and the fact that you need bitcoins for all of these transactions, is the biggest asset that the bitcoin system has and will ultimately prove to be the thing that ensures bitcoin has intrinsic value.