An Introduction to Decentraweb
As of October 2022 there are 11,029 Decentraweb domains registered and 150,000 subdomains delegated.
DecentraWeb is a decentralized implementation of the DNS base layer protocol on the Ethereum Blockchain Committed to “taking back the internet”. The goal is to create a full ecosystem that will offer email, hosting, token, and domain registration services all in one place. They are trying to create an alternative naming system to the traditional domain name system.
Decentraweb operates similar to ICANN’s new gtlds programme, where you can register your brand as a TLD, e.g .nike, .coke and then delegate your own second level domains, such as shoes.nike, drink.coke etc.. Unlike ICANN;s new gTLD programme, that cost $200,000, and on approval, and at least $25,000 annually, Decentraweb is only a few hundred buck a year and there is no exhausting technical, financial or governance compliance assosiatced with owning your own branded domain name.
Decentraweb intends to return 80% of DWEB (their native token) sales made to stakers and are already cash-flow positive.
How does Decentraweb work?
Decentraweb allows anyone to permissionless claim their own Web3 top-level domain (TLD) as an NFT (non-fungible token), and own it on the Ethererum blockchain. Domain names can be anything you want it to be, your brand name, your product name, an emoji – the possibilities are limited to your imagination.
You can purchase decentraweb domains using their native DWEB token. The DWEB token plays a central role in the Decentraweb ecosystem, and will be used for everything from payments for services to governance, DNS Validator Nodes, Staking etc. $DWEB can be used for payment of products and services, rewards, staking, loyalty and more on the DecentraWeb network! Users who pay with $DWEB to initially register domains through DecentraWeb will receive a 50% discount per year on their order! The max term of registration will be 5 years. Users will have the opportunity to renew/extend the registration at any point in time.
All domains and subdomains on the decentraweb network will be registered as nfts (erc-721) on ethereum. This allows for these domains and subdomains to be easily bought/sold/traded on any nft-based marketplace.
Decentraweb Pros
Control your own brand on web3. For only a few hundred dollars you can delegate as many domain names as you like and create your own domain name ecosystem on an alternative DNS base layer protocol.
Sticking to the plan: The team is clear on its pathway and hasn’t deviated from its plan.
Decentraweb Cons
Ambitious and not first movers Replacing the current DNS base layer protocol is ambitious, and would require a siemic shift in current internet behaviour to achieve its goals? With ENS and unstoppable galloping away with market share, is this another me too blockchain domain?
Survivability? It is not as popular as other blockchain projects and has only recently passed 10,000 domain name registrations, which means it does not have mass appeal, which bring the question of survivability into play.
Decentraweb’s Brand Protection Program
Current top domain names (like apple.com, youtube.com, facebook.com, etc) will be restricted from registration unless user can prove they own the ICANN version. If you try to register .facebook for instance, the smart contract will verify you own the domain by asking you to add a txt record to facebook.com dns with a random string we provide you. If you can’t update the existing dns record, registration won’t continue.
This way we can avoid people squatting on top domains, and it also gives us a way to work with top brands/companies etc and get them into their ecosystem!
Brand Protection Options for Decentraweb
Defensive Registrations: The first step is to register your brand and products in the major blockchain projects. In some cases, you will find that your brand is reserved and can be claimed for free. If your brand is not reserved and available, we recommend registering it as soon as possible to prevent 3rd parties from squatting on it.
No Dispute Mechanism: The growing popularity of blockchain domains has seen a landrush of people registering their stake(s) in the new internet. Unlike traditional domains, there is no dispute mechanism such as the UDRP. The owner of a blockchain domain name is not likely to publicise its identity. Therefore, it is often impossible to ascertain their identity. This presents challenges in determining the proper party, jurisdiction, and venue with respect to anti-cybersquatting, infringement, or other legal claims.
Buying on OpenSea: We are seeing many branded domain names for sale on NFT marketplaces, especially OpenSea. Brandsec can negotiate on our client’s behalf to acquire domain names for a fee for service, which includes defining a budget, communication strategy and purchase management.
Dispute Notice to Marketplaces: Trademark owners cal also send takedown notices to the marketplaces selling infringing .eth domains. OpenSea, Rarible, and Nifty Gateway all have procedures in place (with varying degrees of effectiveness) to deal with intellectual property violations. Once a takedown notice is sent to OpenSea, for example, OpenSea will notify the owner of the domain that the listing has been removed due to a takedown request (meaning it’s no longer for sale to the public). The notice will allow the owner to contact the brand holder, which might spawn more reasonable negotiations since the domain has been delisted. This approach could result in a more permanent remedy.
Other Blockchain Domain Name Projects
