The ".dweb" Special-Use Domain Name

[lidel]

This is similar to #28 (shared stewardship of the "dweb://" protocol handler),
however here we discuss an idea of special-use top-level domain (TLD) for DWeb uses

Summary

There is an interesting precedent of Tor project registering Special-Use Domain Name .onion:

• RFC 7686: The ".onion" Special-Use Domain Name.

I'd like to open a discussion on feasibility of following that example and creating .dweb

Motivation

Main motivation is improved UX and improved migration path:

• .dweb could become the www. for the DWeb, eg:
  • IPFS bafybeiemxf5abjwjbikoz4mc3a3dla6ual3jsgpdr4cjr3oz3evfyavhwq.ipfs.dweb (cidv1b32)
  • DAT 778f8d955175c92e4ced5e4f5563f69bfec0c86cc6f670352c457943666fe639.dat.dweb
• Easy to support in existing software via HTTP Proxies
  • Does not require DNS support, HTTP Proxy can generate responses for arbitrary domains on the fly
    (approach being discussed for go-ipfs)
  • Browser vendors can apply different security rules to *.dweb
    (eg. mark it as Secure Context – .onion example, or enable experimental p2p APIs)
• No registration cost (as long it is Special-Use TLD)

Resources

• RFC 7686: The ".onion" Special-Use Domain Name.
• RFC 6761: Special-Use Domain Names
• IANA: Special-Use Domain Names Registry
• Treat .onion as a secure context

[Gozala]

I would go with something like .p2p or .peer instead of dweb

[kuchta]

I would go with something like .p2p or .peer instead of dweb

For me, peer (p2p) imply some communication with specific peers, like in conferencing, but in this case, you mean to communicate with a network of peers and you probably don't care which "peer" would answer your request.

[hubjacek]

This is similar to #28 (shared stewardship of the "dweb://" protocol handler),
however here we discuss an idea of special-use top-level domain (TLD) for DWeb uses

Summary

There is an interesting precedent of Tor project registering Special-Use Domain Name .onion:

• RFC 7686: The ".onion" Special-Use Domain Name.

I'd like to open a discussion on feasibility of following that example and creating .dweb

Motivation

Main motivation is improved UX and improved migration path:

• .dweb could become the www. for the DWeb, eg:

  • IPFS bafybeiemxf5abjwjbikoz4mc3a3dla6ual3jsgpdr4cjr3oz3evfyavhwq.ipfs.dweb (cidv1b32)
  • DAT 778f8d955175c92e4ced5e4f5563f69bfec0c86cc6f670352c457943666fe639.dat.dweb

• Easy to support in existing software via HTTP Proxies

  • Does not require DNS support, HTTP Proxy can generate responses for arbitrary domains on the fly
    (approach being discussed for go-ipfs)
  • Browser vendors can apply different security rules to *.dweb
    (eg. mark it as Secure Context – .onion example, or enable experimental p2p APIs)

• No registration cost (as long it is Special-Use TLD)

Resources

• RFC 7686: The ".onion" Special-Use Domain Name.
• RFC 6761: Special-Use Domain Names
• IANA: Special-Use Domain Names Registry
• Treat .onion as a secure context

[ghost]

"dweb" looks a bit like "dweeb". Also, I think that this special-use domain name would be used for more than just web-related stuff, no? For example, tor and i2p are used for IRC, and there's also file-sharing protocols like bittorrent which are usually not considered to be part of the "web". I think .p2p is a better umbrella term. Just my two cents.

[ghost]

For me, peer (p2p) imply some communication with specific peers, like in conferencing

I don't think that's the conventional use of the word, for example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer

Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application. They are said to form a peer-to-peer network of nodes.[1]

Skype or other teleconferencing software is only P2P in this sense you're describing because it is used for private streams, so there is not really need or incentive for outsiders to "seed" someone else's skype call. Compare that to public live-streaming software like Peertube, which is also called peer-to-peer.

I think the average person associates the word "P2P" with bittorrent, which IPFS is pretty similar to.

Also, It can't hurt to ask for multiple special-use domain names, can it?