There are well-funded projects working on creating a better alternative to ICANN, namely https://handshake.org which is creating a distributed alternative root zone. The main benefit is security (the root of trust is a distributed ledger instead of Certificate Authorities which are a huge security hole), but there are additional benefits in that anyone can register their own TLD privately without risk of that TLD being seized or censored.
> Handshake leverages a blockchain based on unspent transaction output (UTXO) and proof-of-work (PoW) similar to Bitcoin for naming capabilities. The naming system features an on-chain smart contract-like functionality called covenants which restrict the future use of outputs of a transaction. Because covenants are built in at the blockchain layer via the consensus protocol, the handshake system enables different types of smart contracts which is used to develop an auction system for individuals to bid on domain naming rights.
> What does the Handshake names auction process look like?
> Users can buy or register domains through a Vickrey auction using HNS coins. All possible names are released weekly over the first year after launch. Users may submit blinded bids on the Handshake blockchain anytime after a name is released for auction. Bidding is open to everyone for ~5 days after the reveal period, and have ~10 days to reveal their bid price. A winner is assigned the name and, as it is a Vickrey auction, pays the second highest bid at the end of the reveal period. The winning bid amount of HNS coins is burned and permanently removed from circulation. Losing bids are returned and not burned.
... and you've lost me, as well as 99.9% of the rest of domain name owners.
It seems anything that involves blockchains at all is built by people living in a bubble and completely oblivious to how the real world works.
