

Ask HN: Could we make a dns system that steals back domains from squatters? - jayzalowitz

HN, could we create a DNS system that steals back domains that have been determined to be held by squatter/large domain registrar networks that clearly have no intent to use them? Is this morally ok?
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ChuckMcM
No, you can't do that. That said, there is absolutely nothing from preventing
you from creating a parallel DNS infrastructure which copies the part of DNS
you like, and doesn't copy the part you don't like. Running a root server is
not a whole lot different (except in scale) than running a regular DNS server.
Distribute your own root cache to your 'clients' put a copy of the root
servers for the domains you care about into your machines and recursively
resolve the rest with the regular system.

At one time this would have been prohibitively expensive but with Amazon's
EC-2 service you could run a separate namespace for about a million customers
easily for $600/month maybe less.

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ohashi
What happens when someone buys one in the real dns and someone else is using
it in your parallel dns? Who really owns it?

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damian2000
What would then stop the squatters running their own pro-squatter DNS system
in parallel?

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Lasher
Presumably nobody would use the name servers that they knew were on a shadow
DNS being run by "squatters", so there would be no value to the names and no
point squatting them in the first place.

