It is not so much "capitalism" that demands domains and IP addresses be assigned/paid-for as it is without some kind of authoritative backing, you have a free-for-all
You wish your website was dotcoma.com? So do I!
So which one of us "actually" gets to have it? With static entries in a local "address book" (like /etc/hosts), we both can - but only we get to know we both have it
>There’s absolutely no reason why they couldn’t be a public good, paid for from the public purse.
This changes nothing from the current system - other than introducing additional bureaucratic inefficiencies: who gets to decide whom can have what domain(s)? How many can any given person/entity get? Why that number and not a different number? What about disputes?
Right now, there is no limit to the number of domains you can register - so long as you can pay for them all.
Converting to a taxpayer-funded government entity is going to put limits on who can register what, when, for how long, etc ... in a way that is (at the very least) no better than the current system, and (most likely) far worse than the current system
Add to this the beauty of capitalism: say I register dotcoma.com an you want it - we can come to a private agreement over how much it is worth to you vs to me, you give me a medium of exchange, and I give you rights to the domain.
Simple
Fast
And does not involve uninformed bureaucrats trying to nanny their way into determining who gets what
It is not so much "capitalism" that demands domains and IP addresses be assigned/paid-for as it is without some kind of authoritative backing, you have a free-for-all
You wish your website was dotcoma.com? So do I!
So which one of us "actually" gets to have it? With static entries in a local "address book" (like /etc/hosts), we both can - but only we get to know we both have it
>There’s absolutely no reason why they couldn’t be a public good, paid for from the public purse.
This changes nothing from the current system - other than introducing additional bureaucratic inefficiencies: who gets to decide whom can have what domain(s)? How many can any given person/entity get? Why that number and not a different number? What about disputes?
Right now, there is no limit to the number of domains you can register - so long as you can pay for them all.
Converting to a taxpayer-funded government entity is going to put limits on who can register what, when, for how long, etc ... in a way that is (at the very least) no better than the current system, and (most likely) far worse than the current system
Add to this the beauty of capitalism: say I register dotcoma.com an you want it - we can come to a private agreement over how much it is worth to you vs to me, you give me a medium of exchange, and I give you rights to the domain.
Simple
Fast
And does not involve uninformed bureaucrats trying to nanny their way into determining who gets what