Dean;
The "set" is the set of *registered* names. The proper and only way to
query this set is through whois.
The only reason to have domain names registered is to use it
through DNS.
Whois may be a useful tool for registration convenience but is of
secondary importance.
If you disagree, let me control DNS reply of your domain "av8.com",
while keeping whois response to "av8.com" as is.
DNS has nothing to
do with registration
If you are arguing that verisign registration has nothing to do
with DNS, I have no reason to disagree.
Then, for DNS use, we need another registration which has much
to do with DNS.
Verisign can still continue to operate their current registry
for "com" and "net" for their whois query, though it has nothing
to do with "com" and "net" TLDs in DNS reply.
Masataka Ohta