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by still_grokking 1723 days ago
Is someone going to reinvent Namecoin¹ and IPFS's IPNS²?

At least the abstract of the spec reads like that to me:

  Abstract
  
  Decentralized identifiers (DIDs) are a new type of identifier that enables verifiable, decentralized
  digital identity. A DID refers to any subject (e.g., a person, organization, thing, data model, abstract
  entity, etc.) as determined by the controller of the DID. In contrast to typical, federated identifiers,
  DIDs have been designed so that they may be decoupled from centralized registries, identity
  providers, and certificate authorities. Specifically, while other parties might be used to help enable
  the discovery of information related to a DID, the design enables the controller of a DID to prove
  control over it without requiring permission from any other party. DIDs are URIs that associate a
  DID subject with a DID document allowing trustable interactions associated with that subject.
  
  Each DID document can express cryptographic material, verification methods, or services, which
  provide a set of mechanisms enabling a DID controller to prove control of the DID. Services enable
  trusted interactions associated with the DID subject. A DID might provide the means to return the
  DID subject itself, if the DID subject is an information resource such as a data model.
  
  This document specifies the DID syntax, a common data model, core properties, serialized
  representations, DID operations, and an explanation of the process of resolving DIDs to the
  resources that they represent.
[ Source: https://www.w3.org/TR/did-core/ ]

¹ https://www.namecoin.org/ ² https://docs.ipfs.io/concepts/ipns/

1 comments

You are exactly correct. In fact quite a few implementations rely on IPFS.

The hilarious part is that these supposedly "decentralized" ID systems pull data from the most centralized entity: government's civil register.