[bnewbold]

dropped domains will be a bit of a UX problem.

the human root of identity is the handle (memorable/recognizable), but the real identity root for the account is a DID. which is a pretty open/wild spec, so we mostly use did:plc ("placeholder"), which is a self-authenticating tricky tricky.

withing the protocol and applications, everything under the hood works via DID references, not handle references. a domain handle works by pointing at a DID, but does not control the actual DID ("DID document"). so any old users/followers/href will still be attached to the "old account". and it would be possible for the old account to recovery and set up a new handle.

but the superficial bits (anchor text), and human identity for new lookups, are attached to the handle, and could get pointed to a new DID, or just not resolve. that would be messy.

[ryan29]

I’ve been thinking about this a bit more. What happens if the server operator bans a DID? Does that ban the DID across the whole network via federation? What if I run my own server? Does that make me un-bannable?

Is there even such a thing as DID bans or is everything handled via moderation and filtering? I’m guessing impersonation would still be an issue even if domain based handles solve most of the impersonation problem.

[ryan29]

So the domain is a mutable pointer to an immutable DID? That’s pretty much how I’d do it too [1]. Very cool!

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32755618