DomainsIP-2: Initial Hash Registrar

Describes the hash registrar initially used to register Domains.tomi domains .

Abstract

This ERC describes the implementation, as deployed to the main Ethereum network of a registrar contract to govern the allocation of names in the Tomi Domain Name Service (Domains).

For more background, refer to DomainsIP-1.

Registrars are responsible for allocating domain names to users of the system, and are the only entities capable of updating the Domains; the owner of a node in the Domains registry is its registrar. Registrars may be contracts or externally owned accounts, though it is expected that the root and top-level registrars, at a minimum, will be implemented as contracts.

- DomainsIP-1

A well designed and governed registrar is essential to the success of the Domains described in DomainsIP-1, but is described separately in this document as it is external to the core Domains protocol.

In order to maximize utility and adoption of a new namespace, the registrar should mitigate speculation and "name squatting", however the best approach for mitigation is unclear. Thus an "initial" registrar is proposed, which implements a simple approach to name allocation. During the initial period, the available namespace will be significantly restricted to the .tomi top level domain, and subdomain shorter than 7 characters in length disallowed.

Motivations

The following factors should be considered in order to optimize for adoption of the ENS, and good governance of the Initial Registrar's namespace.

Upgradability: The Initial Registrar should be safely upgradeable, so that knowledge gained during its deployment can be used to replace it with an improved and permanent registrar.

Effective allocation: Newly released namespaces often create a land grab situation, resulting in many potentially valuable names being purchased but unused, with the hope of re-selling at a profit. This reduces the availability of the most useful names, in turn decreasing the utility of the name service to end users.

Achieving an effective allocation may or may not require human intervention for dispute resolution and other forms of curation. The Initial Registrar should not aim to create to most effective possible allocation, but instead limit the cost of misallocation in the long term.

Security: The registrar will hold a balance of tomi without an explicit limit. It must be designed securely.

Simplicity: The Domains specification itself emphasizes a separation of concerns, allowing the most essential element, the registry to be as simple as possible. The interim registrar in turn should be as simple as possible while still meeting its other design goals.

Adoption: Successful standards become more successful due to network effects. The registrar should consider what strategies will encourage the adoption of the Domains in general, and the namespace it controls in particular.

Specification

Initial restrictions

The Initial Registrar is expected to be in service for approximately two years, prior to upgrading. This should be sufficient time to learn, observe, and design an updated system.

During the initial two year period, the available name space will be restricted to the .tomi TLD.

This restriction is enforced by the owner of the Domains root node who should not assign any nodes other than .tomi to the Initial Registrar. The Domains's root node should be controlled by Dao.

The Initial Registrar will also prohibit registration of names 6 characters or less in length.

Name format for hash registration

Names submitted to the initial registrar must be hashed using Ethereum sha3 function. Note that the hashes submitted to the registrar are the hash of the subdomain label being registered, not the namehash as defined in DomainsIP-1.

For example, in order to register abcdefg.tomi, one should submit sha3('abcdefg'), not sha3(sha3(0, 'eth'), 'abcdefg').

Auctioning names

The registrar will allocate the available names through a Vickrey auction:

A Vickrey auction is a type of sealed-bid auction. Bidders submit written bids without knowing the bid of the other people in the auction. The highest bidder wins but the price paid is the second-highest bid. This type of auction... gives bidders an incentive to bid their true value.

- Vickrey Auction, Wikipedia