Why doesn’t every computer have 256 char domain name, along with a private key to prove it is the sole owner of the address?

For those technically inclined: With VOIP I can get phone calls even without cell service, even behind a NAT. Why is the network designed in such a way where that is possible, but I can’t buy a static address that will persist across networks endpoint changes (e.g. laptop connecting to a new unconfigured wifi connection) such that I can initiate a connection to my laptop while it is behind a NAT.

Edits:

  • Yes, it would be a privacy nightmare, I want to know why it didnt turn out that way
  • When I say phone number, I mean including area/country code
  • AFAIK IP addresses (even static public ones) are not equivlent to phone numbers. I don’t get a new phone number every time I connect to a new cell tower. Even if a static IP is assigned to a device, my understanding is that connecting the device to a new uncontrolled WiFi, especially a router with a NAT, will make it so that people who try to connect to the static IP will simply fail.
  • No, MAC addresses are not equivalent phone numbers. 1. Phone numbers have one unique owner, MAC addresses can have many owners because they can be changed at any time to any thing on most laptops. 2. A message can’t be sent directly to a MAC address in the same way as a phone number
  • Yes, IMEI is unique, but my laptop doesn’t have one and even if it did its not the same as an eSim or sim card. We can send a message to an activated Sim, we can’t send a message to an IMEI or serial number
  • jeffhykin@lemm.eeOP
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    6 months ago

    Every phone number has one owner, but MAC addresses can have many owners. They’re categorically different.

    How would the internet know how to find your phone?

    The same way phone calls try to find a phone when its powered off. Attempt, and then fail under a timeout.

    Where would the registery be?

    Same place as the phone number registry. Or the domain name registry.

    That would be one giant database

    Yep the domain name registry and cell phone registry very much are AFAIK

    • ArbiterXero@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      The domain registry is NOT, and it’s categorised by various tld’s the scope of the routing is MUCH higher traffic.

      Your cell phone is run by a provider and has maybe 0.0000001% as much lookups as routing would have.

      These things are all done in various tree light structures to try and eliminate central points of failure . The Internet was designed to try and resist failure, and you are creating some central failure points.

      Even if you created several of them, synchronisation issues would be Basically impossible to fix or take up unbelievable amounts of bandwidth

      • jeffhykin@lemm.eeOP
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        6 months ago

        This I’m interested in, because its at the edge/limits of my knowledge when it comes to domains and cellular networking.

        Are you saying if cell phones had a larger address space, let’s say 32 digits base 10, and every device was given a cell phone number, it would overwhelm the existing infrastructure?