Re: decentralised

On 13 June 2016 at 20:36, Dave Longley <dlongley@digitalbazaar.com> wrote:

> On 06/12/2016 10:30 PM, Timothy Holborn wrote:
>
>> I'm listening to: http://w3c.github.io/vctf/meetings/2016-06-08/
>> @~40 minutes an issue about whether or not the Decentralised
>> identifier methodology works and until their is something that exists
>> with a million or so use it - it's a research project..
>>
>> So, Internet protocol and the Domain Name Server methodology, how's
>> that not a decentralised identifier system for machines?
>>
>
> It is, but it's not self-sovereign.
>
> http://opencreds.org/specs/source/webdht/
>
> "The Web currently does not have a mechanism where people and
> organizations can claim identifiers that they have sole ownership over.
> Identifiers, such as those rooted in domain names like emails addresses
> and website addresses, are effectively rented by people and
> organizations rather than owned. Therefore, their use as long-term
> identifiers is dependent upon parameters outside of their control. One
> danger is that if the rent is not paid, all data associated with the
> identifier can be made temporarily or permanently inaccessible. This
> document specifies a mechanism where people and organizations can
> cryptographically claim ownership over identifiers such that they
> control them and the documents that they refer to."
>

This is not a significant danger.  It's like saying the google could lose
google.com due to factors outside of their control.  It wont happen, will
it?

The fact is there's a small management fee for maintaining a global lookup
table, which can be as low as $1 a year, and if you want a vanity address
it's a bit more expensive.

What you get for that price is participation in the biggest global network
in the history of the planet, allowing you to publish arbitrary documents
and code, for you, and anyone you wish to put on a subdomain.  We've never
had anything like this before.


>
>
> --
> Dave Longley
> CTO
> Digital Bazaar, Inc.
> http://digitalbazaar.com
>
>