Decentralized Internet Update

We use the Internet for so many things every day, and yet few people realize how old the Internet’s plumbing is. Surfing the web, sending and receiving email, and much more actually work by using a thirty-year-old centralized routing system called the Domain Name System (DNS), which many of us would dearly love to decentralize.
For a quick refresher, the DNS basically acts like a giant phone book. If you want to buy rubber chickens online from the Archie McFee store in Seattle, there’s no need for you to remember an IP address like 104.130.59.138. You just have to know a domain name like ArchieMcpheeSeattle.com.
Considerable activity is going on behind the scenes, so I figured I’d offer a survey of current events, instead of taking an in-depth look at various topics individually. A couple more topics will surely require a follow-up later.
I’m only offering a few paragraphs about each news item since this is a summary, but I’ve included some audio files that go into more detail. Apologies in advance for the poor production quality of the recordings, including the sound levels. I simply wanted to provide some additional commentary, beyond the brief text, for those who are interested. Enjoy!
Domain Name Thefts
The Huffington Post carried an article recently about domain name thefts. The main point was that domain thefts happen, and there is often little recourse for the domain registrants. They imply that legal remedies are the way to better deal with this, which misses the point. As long as we rely on registrars to safeguard our domain names, instead of controlling our own, thefts will continue to happen.
I covered this topic earlier, remarking that domain name thefts happen routinely, but we have no data regarding the specifics. Registrars do not disclose domain theft statistics, and ICANN is not likely to compel them to do so.
If anyone would have a handle on this topic, Ron Jackson would. He is the editor and publisher of DN Journal, and an industry veteran who chronicles facts about domain registrations and sales data. I asked Ron about this topic and he summed it up nicely:

This post was published at Lets Talk Bitcoin on October 31st, 2014.