Alternative DNS root

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The Internet uses the Domain Name System (DNS) to associate numeric computer IP addresses with human-readable names. The top level of the domain name hierarchy, the DNS root, contains the top-level domains that appear as the suffixes of all Internet domain names. The most widely used (and first) DNS root is administered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). In addition, several organizations operate alternative DNS roots, often referred to as alt roots. These alternative domain name systems operate their own root name servers and commonly administer their own specific name spaces consisting of custom top-level domains.

Contents

The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) has spoken out strongly against alternative roots in RFC   2826. [1]

Overview

The DNS root zone consists of pointers to the authoritative domain name servers for all top-level domains (TLDs). The root zone is hosted on a collection of root servers operated by several organizations around the world that all use a specific, approved list of domains that is managed by ICANN. By contrast, alternative roots typically include pointers to all of the TLD servers for domains delegated by ICANN, as well as name servers for other, custom top-level domains that are not sanctioned by ICANN. Some alternative roots are operated by the organizations that manage these alternative TLDs.

Zach Bastick proposes that alternative DNS roots have allowed for more democratic control of the Internet:

The implementation of alternative gTLDs predates any significant debate on name space extension by official actors, and this exemplifies how democratising the DNS alters the pace of developing Internet policy, the nature of decisions that justify that policy development, and political dynamics and user autonomy in the network infrastructure. [2] : 103 

Unless one specifically changes their DNS resolution settings, alternative DNS top level domains are generally unreachable, and very few Internet service providers provide this configuration by default.

Implementations

Some organizations provide alternative DNS root services, such as additional top-level domains.

Handshake

Handshake is a decentralized implementation of a DNS root zone using blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to create a peer-to-peer alternative to the 13 root name servers managed by ICANN. [3]

Unlike other attempts, Handshake does not aim to replace the existing DNS; rather, it seeks to supplement and enhance it by allowing anyone to bid, register, and manage their own TLDs without an intermediate registrar or delegating authority. Since the root zone file records are not centrally managed, and instead are stored on a public blockchain, owners of Handshake TLDs can add or change top-level resource records to delegate authoritative name servers and set up DNSSEC zone signing directly. [4] [5]

Existing TLDs are reserved in the Handshake blockchain such that resolving traditional domain names (i.e. zones under .com, .org, .net, etc.) through a Handshake node or name server are directed back to ICANN's root servers. In addition, the top 100,000 most popular domains are reserved as Handshake TLDs which can be redeemed by the original domain owner. [5]

Namecoin

Namecoin is a blockchain and cryptocurrency to support the alternative top-level domain .bit. [6]

OpenNIC

OpenNIC is a user owned and controlled alternative to InterNIC and ICANN providing a non-national democratic alternative to traditional domain registries. OpenNIC servers are able to resolve all ICANN top-level domains, some OpenNIC original top-level domains, and the resolution of other Alternate DNS Roots with which they have reached peering agreements. [7] [8]

Yeti DNS Project

Yeti DNS Project is an attempt to build an alternative root server dedicated to IPv6. Sponsored by a Chinese state agency, the project aims at experimenting with different new DNS-related technology and enabling sovereign countries to explore and control the internet and enhance their network sovereignty. [9] [10]

.chn

.chn is a new top-level domain with its own root DNS server for an Internet of Things (IoT) network in China. The company developing this alternative root claims that China has its own intellectual right on this new alternative domain name root and the associated IoT network, and that it will become the second computer network in the world. [11] [12] It is claimed to be part of a "IPv9" decimal network/numeric domain name system developed and innovated in China. [13]

Russian National Domain Name System

The Russian National Domain Name System (Russian : НСДИ) is an alternative DNS root project started in 2019 by Roskomnadzor, a government department, [14] and is to gradually become mandatory for all ISPs in Russia. As of March 2021, servers are located on the Moscow Internet Exchange. The mission of the project is to provide an alternative DNS root for all users of the Internet within Russia. The main goal is to continue the functioning of the Russian Internet subnetwork in case of its disconnection from the rest of the Internet (Sovereign Internet Law).

Defunct implementations

Open Root Server Network (ORSN)

Open Root Server Network (ORSN) was a network of Domain Name System root nameservers for the Internet. ORSN root zone information was normally kept in synchronization with the "official" root nameservers coordinated by ICANN. ORSN Public DNS Servers were operated by the community of ORSN, providing Domain Name System access freely for everyone, without any limitation. ORSN public DNS servers did not log usage. "The ORSN project was canceled on May 2019 and will never come back." "Open Root Server Network - General Information about this Project". ORSN.org. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.

AlterNIC

AlterNIC was created before ICANN's creation to challenge the monopoly of InterNIC on domain name governance at the time. [15] [16]

eDNS

eDNS (Enhanced Domain Name Service) was founded by a coalition of ISPs led by Karl Denninger of the Chicago-area MCSNet. [17] [18] It ceased operation in 1998. It served the following domains: biz (general business use), corp (corporations), fam (for and about family), k12 (for and about children), npo (non-profit organizations), per (personal domains), web (web-based sites, Web pages).

Open RSC

One of the notable challengers to ICANN's control of the DNS namespace was Open RSC (Open Root Server Confederation), a group that grew out of private discussions and developed into a public mailing list. It grew large enough that the group decided to submit an application to the United States government to run the DNS. [19]

The organization posted bylaws and articles of incorporation outlining ORSC's position following extensive public discussion regarding the manner in which the DNS was operated. [20] [21]

ICANN chairwoman Esther Dyson acknowledged adopting features such as membership from ORSC in her response to the United States Department of Commerce. [22]

ORSC publishes a root zone containing additional top level domains not found in the ICANN root zone.

RealNames

Microsoft offered the RealNames service on its Internet Explorer browser address bar. RealNames, to users of Internet Explorer, was in effect a domain registry. RealNames shut down operations in 2002 following a decision by Microsoft to redirect the 1 billion page views per calendar quarter that RealNames was resolving from the browser address bar into its MSN search engine.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the associated entities. Most prominently, it translates readily memorized domain names to the numerical IP addresses needed for locating and identifying computer services and devices with the underlying network protocols. The Domain Name System has been an essential component of the functionality of the Internet since 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ICANN</span> American nonprofit organization

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces and numerical spaces of the Internet, ensuring the Internet's stable and secure operation. ICANN performs the actual technical maintenance work of the Central Internet Address pools and DNS root zone registries pursuant to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) function contract. The contract regarding the IANA stewardship functions between ICANN and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the United States Department of Commerce ended on October 1, 2016, formally transitioning the functions to the global multistakeholder community.

A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last non-empty label of a fully qualified domain name. For example, in the domain name www.example.com, the top-level domain is .com. Responsibility for management of most top-level domains is delegated to specific organizations by the ICANN, an Internet multi-stakeholder community, which operates the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), and is in charge of maintaining the DNS root zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domain name</span> Identification string in the Internet

In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. Domain names are used in various networking contexts and for application-specific naming and addressing purposes. In general, a domain name identifies a network domain or an Internet Protocol (IP) resource, such as a personal computer used to access the Internet, or a server computer.

A domain name registry is a database of all domain names and the associated registrant information in the top level domains of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet that enables third party entities to request administrative control of a domain name. Most registries operate on the top-level and second-level of the DNS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Root name server</span> Name server for the DNS root zone

A root name server is a name server for the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. It directly answers requests for records in the root zone and answers other requests by returning a list of the authoritative name servers for the appropriate top-level domain (TLD). The root name servers are a critical part of the Internet infrastructure because they are the first step in resolving human-readable host names into IP addresses that are used in communication between Internet hosts.

The DNS root zone is the top-level DNS zone in the hierarchical namespace of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verisign</span> American Internet company

Verisign, Inc. is an American company based in Reston, Virginia, that operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen root nameservers, the authoritative registry for the .com, .net, and .name generic top-level domains and the .cc country-code top-level domains, and the back-end systems for the .jobs and .edu sponsored top-level domains.

The Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) are a suite of extension specifications by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for securing data exchanged in the Domain Name System (DNS) in Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The protocol provides cryptographic authentication of data, authenticated denial of existence, and data integrity, but not availability or confidentiality.

A domain name registrar is a company, person, or office that manages the reservation of Internet domain names.

AlterNIC was an unofficial, controversial Internet domain name registry that relied on an alternative DNS root. The primary purpose of the project was to challenge the monopoly of InterNIC, the official governing body for generic top-level domains (gTLDs) until the creation of the ICANN in 1998. AlterNIC offered second level domain registration in its own TLDs at lower prices than InterNIC. However, these domain names could only be resolved by name servers that were specifically configured to use the AlterNIC root zone. The project is now defunct; the domain name alternic.net is parked and no longer associated with AlterNIC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.an</span> Internet country code top-level domain for the former Netherlands Antilles

.an was the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the former Netherlands Antilles. It was administered by the University of the Netherlands Antilles. The domain was phased out after the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved in 2010. As of November 2010 the .an domain remained live with over 800 domains registered under .an, including secondary levels. On 31 July 2015, use of the domain was discontinued.

.mm is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Myanmar. It was assigned in 1997. Before 1989, the ISO 3166 alpha-2 code for Burma was BU, but no .bu ccTLD was assigned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.so</span> Internet country code top-level domain for Somalia

.so is the internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Somalia. After a long absence, the .so domain was officially relaunched on November 1, 2010, by .SO Registry, which is regulated by the nation's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. It was launched through various accredited registrars around the world.

Distributed denial-of-service attacks on root nameservers are Internet events in which distributed denial-of-service attacks target one or more of the thirteen Domain Name System root nameserver clusters. The root nameservers are critical infrastructure components of the Internet, mapping domain names to IP addresses and other resource record (RR) data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open Root Server Network</span>

Open Root Server Network (ORSN) was a network of Domain Name System root nameservers for the Internet. ORSN DNS root zone information was kept in synchronization with the "official" Domain Name System root nameservers coordinated by ICANN. The networks were 100% compatible, though ORSN was operated independently. The ORSN servers were primarily placed in Europe. ORSN is also used by public name servers, providing Domain Name System access freely for everyone, without any limitation until the project closed in May 2019. ORSN was primarily started to reduce the over-dependence of Internet users on the United States and Department of Commerce/IANA/ICANN/VeriSign, limit the control over the Internet that this gives, while ensuring that domain names remain unambiguous. It also helps avoid the technical possibility of global "Internet shutdown" by one party. They also expect their network to make domain name resolutions faster for everyone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.biz</span> Generic top-level Internet domain

.biz is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is intended for registration of domains to be used by businesses. The name is a phonetic spelling of the first syllable of business.

.ss is the designated country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for South Sudan in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is derived from the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for South Sudan, which is SS. According to CIO East Africa, the TLD was allocated on 10 August 2011 following the country's declaration of independence from Sudan. The TLD was registered on 31 August 2011, but not added to the DNS root zone and was thus not operational. It was approved at the ICANN Board meeting on 27 January 2019 and was added to the DNS root zone on 2 February 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OpenNIC</span> Organization

OpenNIC is a user-owned and -controlled top-level Network Information Center that offers a non-national alternative to traditional top-level domain (TLD) registries such as ICANN. As of January 2017, OpenNIC recognizes and peers all existing ICANN TLDs, for compatibility reasons. However, OpenNIC has not yet evaluated and does not hold a formal position on future ICANN TLDs.

References

  1. ↑ RFC   2826 (informational), IAB Technical Comment on the Unique DNS Root, Internet Architecture Board, The Internet Society (May 2000), Quote: "There is no getting away from the unique root of the public DNS." (page 5)
  2. ↑ Bastick, Zach (2012). "Our Internet and Freedom of Speech 'Hobbled by History': Introducing Plural Control Structures Needed to Redress a Decade of Linear Policy" (PDF). European Commission: European Journal of EPractice. Policy lessons from a decade of eGovernment, eHealth & eInclusion (15): 97–111.
  3. ↑ "Decentralized naming and certificate authority An experimental peer-to-peer root naming system". Handshake. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  4. ↑ "The ambitious plan to reinvent how websites get their names". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  5. 1 2 "A crypto project to make internet names censorship-proof is now live". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  6. ↑ "Dot-Bit: Secure Decentralized DNS". bit.namecoin.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  7. ↑ "What is OpenNIC?:OpenNIC Wiki". wiki.opennicproject.org. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "OpenNIC Peers:OpenNIC Wiki". wiki.opennicproject.org. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  9. ↑ Kuerbis, Brenden; Mueller, Milton (7 April 2016). "Alternate DNS roots and the abominable snowman of sovereignty".
  10. ↑ "Yeti DNS Project:Building Autonomous & Controllable Internet Infrastructures From the Root Server - ICT\cn-c114 ¡ª C114 - China Communication Network". en.c114.com.cn.
  11. ↑ 观察者网综合自央视网、科技日报、天涯论坛、人民网强国论坛等 (18 May 2019). "意义重大！我国自主知识产权".chn"域名亮相". 环球时报微信公众号. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019.
  12. ↑ "意义重大！中国自主知识产权".chn"域名亮相". 凤凰网转载环球网. 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "牟承晋：关于IPV9的几个问题（修订版）_洞幽察微_察网". www.cwzg.cn. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  14. ↑ "Об утверждении Положения о национальной системе доменных имен". rkn.gov.ru. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  15. ↑ "AlterNIC website". Archived from the original on 25 January 1997. Retrieved 11 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ↑ George Lawton, "New top-level domains promise descriptive names". Archived from the original on 21 December 1996. Retrieved 10 October 2016., SunWorld, 1996-09-16, retrieved through Archive.org
  17. ↑ Rodger, Will (February 1997). "Schism hits Domain Name System". Inter@ctive Week. Vol. 4, no. 5. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "Rogue domains revolt". CNET . 4 March 1997. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  19. ↑ "ORSC proposal of 8 October 1998". Ntia.doc.gov. Archived from the original on 9 November 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  20. ↑ "ORSC bylaws". Ntia.doc.gov. Archived from the original on 21 October 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  21. ↑ "ORSC articles of incorporation". Ntia.doc.gov. Archived from the original on 9 November 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  22. ↑ "NTIA Reviewing ICANN November 6 Submission". Ntia.doc.gov. Archived from the original on 8 November 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.

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