PROPOSAL: Name Epochs

[johnc]

First it would be more convenient to have the names expire every year or even allow multiyear registration, previous a higher fee payment obviously.

Second you only need to check if the private key changed at all since the time the user was first registered/ login into the website. (renew doesn't change the key right?)

[ryanc]

I don't want to make changes of ownership publicly identifiable because that would harm anonymity.

There are two possible ways to implement this:

1) Provide a name_transfer opcode which is identical to name_update but inserts a "ownership changed" assertion. Using this is not mandatory, but it may be used to tell clients that name ownership has been changed. Privacy conscious people could either always use name_update or name_transfer. Domain owners can hide ownership changes or create bogus ones.

2) Provide some form of "related keys" that demonstrate that the same party has control of all of the private keys. If name_update is used without providing an address, it will continue this shared ownership chain automatically, otherwise it will just transfer to the address provided. Domain owners cannot effectively hide ownership changes but can create bogus ones.

Domain owners can *always* generate bogus ownership changes, the question is whether they should be able to hide ownership changes.

While privacy is an issue, the other side of the coin is that if domains are stolen or sold, a site that used to be trusted may no longer be trusted.

[ryanc]

Second you only need to check if the private key changed at all since the time the user was first registered/ login into the website. (renew doesn't change the key right?)

Renewing changes the key by default, and *should* because it's recommended to not reuse keys.