The internet needs a new layer of indirection (Score 5, Interesting)

Many of the problems with DNS are the result of mixing something that looks like a directory with the technical function of providing a layer of indirection above IP addresses.

One of the most successful top level domains is .de, the country code top level domain of Germany. It is run by a cooperative of hundreds of service providers who all want easy automation, minimal administrative friction, and also to keep costs down. If people chose domain names based on the authorities which operate them, I'm sure Verisign (.com, .net) and PIR (.org) would lose most of their customers to DENIC (.de), but of course people care more about the names then about the authorities behind the names. It doesn't matter that you can get .de domains for less than $2 a year: Can't have an American business with a .de domain.

These functions should be separated. There should be a free and decentralized layer of indirection that enables functional equivalents to dynamic DNS, SRV records, load balancing and other technical aspects that deal with abstracting from IP addresses. Then there should be separate naming authorities which would primarily manage name spaces.