Keeping the DNS Authoritative While Enabling Onchain Innovation
By Inder Singh, Chief Technology Officer, D3
Today, D3 submitted comments to ICANN on the Initial Report of the Technical Study Group on gTLD Integrations with Alternative Naming Systems.
The report considers how a registry operator might connect a gTLD in the DNS with another naming system using the same names. This is an important area of work. Registries and registrars are already exploring how onchain infrastructure can make domains more programmable, transparent, interoperable and useful. A clear technical framework can give them greater confidence to develop and deploy those capabilities.
D3 supports the TSG’s central conclusion that appropriately designed integrations can operate without creating a material risk to DNS security or stability. Our experience building this infrastructure has also shown that the DNS must remain authoritative for domain registration, registrant control and the domain lifecycle.
That does not require every onchain capability to follow one technical architecture. Existing DNS registration and provisioning processes can be supplemented by an onchain usage layer without creating a separate system of registration or ownership. Tokens and other onchain representations can add utility and move between wallets without automatically changing the registrant of record. Registries and registrars should have room to develop different approaches, provided the underlying DNS registration remains authoritative and the integration does not create a material risk to the DNS.
The framework must also distinguish an integration voluntarily offered by a registry operator from an independently operated alternative namespace. Anyone can create an identifier corresponding to an existing or proposed TLD string. That activity should not give the identifier holder a claim on DNS inventory or require an unrelated registry operator to reserve, withhold or reconcile the corresponding DNS name. Integration should begin with an affirmative decision by the registry operator and demonstrable control over the systems included in the service.
Technical requirements should be tied to identifiable risks and measurable outcomes. Questions involving registration priority, rights protection, registration data, fees or the legal effect of token transfers should not become technical requirements simply because they appear in a technical report. Those questions require the appropriate policy or contractual process.
Handled properly, onchain technology can extend the utility of DNS domains without weakening the registration system that gives them global reach and reliability. That creates opportunities for registries and registrars to develop new products, distribution channels and commercial models, while giving registrants and end users greater functionality and control.
That is the balance D3 has encouraged ICANN and the TSG to preserve.
Read D3’s full comment
