The case for a new protocol (dap://)

[netopwibby]

For an alt-root, barrier to entry is an uphill battle. By default, no one can reach the domains on your system and asking people to download some weird app that will let them access said domains is a LOT. As untrusting as people are of existing tech companies, unknown systems/companies are a major red flag for most, especially the technically-inclined. This is why alt-root systems try to work within existing ecosystems/protocols as much as possible; get potential buy-in from curious onlookers with less convincing.

Explicitly adding a new namespace is a death knell, right? Well, depends on your perspective.

On 2026.03.16, L'Oreal won a cyber-squatting case involving more than seven HUNDRED domains using their name to scam people...this is on the default web, the DNS root. You see this in other naming systems like Ethereum and Handshake too, first-movers/crypto enthusiasts who think they'll get a payday by registering domains of corporations. The reason why these particular domains haven't garnered a single sale is because there's nothing being built on those platforms. No reason to go there, no reason to invest.

With Dap, I intend to build an ecosystem of products, a refuge for folks who are sick of the existing web and the endless fear-mongering, doomscrolling, invasive privacy/tracking, &c. I foresee a future where Dap becomes a compelling internet that people choose to build and collaborate and enjoy leisure on...so when I saw that L'Oreal case, I realized I had to do more than present a Neue Internet using existing protocols. Unlike most blockchain-based alt-roots, Dap doesn't respect ICANN; no kings have reserved seating here. As such, opportunists could register .com and quickly setup shop with Fortune 100 domains and wait, giving Dap the reputation of "the squat chain."

With dap://, that possibility still exists but the financial incentive to do so dissipates. Any tech noob will see that and know immediately not to click on it because it's "scary" (different). Tech novices and advanced will understand this is something else and may investigate further.

The internet we currently have was the default and for a time, it was decent. Banner ads were all over the place and Flash widgets made sites slow but we could manage. As technology has gotten better, the internet has gotten worse and even the tech literate are giving up. This isn't the internet I wanted. Evolution happens, sure, but this shit is disgusting. The idea of "changing things from the inside" is cute in theory but will not work here. The corporations making the internet a terrible place to be fund lobbying groups to entrench themselves further through law. David vs Goliath isn't an apt analogy here, it's more like Mega Man vs a consortium of Dr Wilys and each Dr Wily has several boss underlings and those underlings have spike traps and lasers and okay this is basically Mega Man Legacy Collection. So like, not insurmountable but MAN, what a slog!

Dap is opt-in, intentionally.

This self-imposed friction is to remove an easy phishing vector and to signal that Dap is worth checking out, if only to understand WTF it is.