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by lulzury 658 days ago
What is the inherent value Verisign offers here? Is it hosting an entry for my domain in a database somewhere that someone can lookup using DNS?

And if so, why can't we just solve that problem using some sort of decentralized solution?
3 comments
x13 650 days ago
Globally distributed critical infra isn't free.

"As of March 31, 2024, we had 172.5 million .com and .net registrations in the domain name base."

https://investor.verisign.com/static-files/2412702e-e744-485...

"1865 instances operated by the 12 independent root server operators."

Verisign maintains root servers at 209 locations. ("A" and "J") https://root-servers.org/

Latency https://a.root-servers.org/metrics

13 root servers https://www.iana.org/domains/root/servers

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kassner 658 days ago
> What is the inherent value Verisign offers here?

Given most other TLDs have a similar price, it’s fair to assume that’s roughly what it takes to run a TLD. For the 2014-era of gTLDs, you already start with a $180k/year ICANN fee before you even have a DNS server online.

> Is it hosting an entry for my domain in a database somewhere that someone can lookup using DNS?

I’d say the main value comes from making sure the DB record isn’t tampered, so you can trust that you own the domain and no random actor can take it from you. Value would tank significantly if you couldn’t trust that. Although most of that work is done by the registrars nowadays, it’s on the registry’s behalf.

> can't we just solve that problem using some sort of decentralized solution

There are over 1500 TLDs and Verisign controls only a handful of them. For me that can be seen as decentralized already.

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hulitu 658 days ago
> And if so, why can't we just solve that problem using some sort of decentralized solution?

Because _we need to make a profit_.

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