Domains weren't decentralized at any point in history. IP address allocation is also managed centrally.
> but at least it means that I have a recourse if something goes wrong
Have you actually tried it out? I lost several domains through no fault of mine (2 times fault of registrar, 1 time fault of national TLD manager) and absolutely nobody helped me. Even tried suing - in 2 cases (the registrar fault) I got small monetary compensation for lost profit (so good luck with personal domains) but the domain was always lost forever. And when it was the TLD's fault I got nothing whatsoever.
> but at least it means that I have a recourse if something goes wrong
Have you actually tried it out? I lost several domains through no fault of mine (2 times fault of registrar, 1 time fault of national TLD manager) and absolutely nobody helped me. Even tried suing - in 2 cases (the registrar fault) I got small monetary compensation for lost profit (so good luck with personal domains) but the domain was always lost forever. And when it was the TLD's fault I got nothing whatsoever.