The Shenzhen Graduate School at the Peking University, a major Chinese academic institution, is now proposing to use the blockchain technology as a more efficient way to manage web domain names that we currently use. The institution has recently filed a patent on the U. S. Patent Trademark Office to examine how a “consortium blockchain” can be used to improve the security and top-level domains.

At the moment, the current domain system being used on the internet is already based in a system that is distributed, however, some technical problems get in the way, the team at the university defends. For instance, the current method of distribution of root name servers is unevenly distributed.

This issue, they believe, means that internet users in Asia, for instance, face a significantly slower domain name resolution than users in North America. This means that domain name resolutions in Asia will have a significantly lower reliability using this system.

How can the blockchain solve this kind of issue? The blockchain, they defend, shares data in a public and immutable way, so trusted agencies and individuals will be able to access this ledger and create a seed file database in which the mapping relations between the top and sub-domain name systems can be improved.

This way, all regions would be able to set up domain name servers in accord with their needs to ensure that their internet would not be limited by other institutions.

The system proposed by the patent also separates the domain name system into two layers, this way a sub-domain name can be either designed as either a centralized system or a decentralized system, as the institutions will choose.

Another advantage, the patent claims, is that by using a system of distributed nodes, no small group could be in charge of the whole process and this could prevent 51 attacks on the network, which would allow only trusted nodes to secure the network.

According to the patent, this technology would be completely compatible with the existing internet, more concise and more efficient than the current consensus mechanism, which would bring more reliability and security for the lives of people.

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