IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rcybxx/v8y2023i2p142-164.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Web 3 disruption and the domain name system: understanding the trends of blockchain domain names and the policy implications

Author

Listed:
  • Georgia Osborn
  • Nathan Alan

Abstract

Blockchain or Web3 technology has the potential to disrupt the everyday use of the internet. The polarized discussion around blockchain technology makes it notoriously difficult to navigate between the opposing narratives of blockchain evangelists and skeptics. This article provides a data–led approach to blockchain domain names, a rapidly growing trend that is currently non–interoperable with the Domain Name System. Alternative DNS roots have previously not become popular due to the lack of supporting browsers. Blockchain domain names could offer an exciting prospect of a decentralized and novel way to manage online naming and addressing according to one view, others regard them as insignificant and undeserving of attention. This study explores their burgeoning growth, assesses the challenges of blockchain domain names and provides five recommendations to address them. A pragmatic response should be adopted to blockchain domain name as, even if it is not clear that blockchain domain names solve any problems not currently solved by the DNS, the registrations continue to rise. Furthermore, the technologies will continue to advance, and due to the decentralized nature of the blockchain, developments or changes can be more rapidly implemented than within the DNS.

Suggested Citation

  • Georgia Osborn & Nathan Alan, 2023. "Web 3 disruption and the domain name system: understanding the trends of blockchain domain names and the policy implications," Journal of Cyber Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 142-164, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rcybxx:v:8:y:2023:i:2:p:142-164
    DOI: 10.1080/23738871.2023.2294759
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/23738871.2023.2294759
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/23738871.2023.2294759?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rcybxx:v:8:y:2023:i:2:p:142-164. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rcyb .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.