On Sun, 20 Jul 1997, Jim Fleming wrote:
People might want to look on the bright side of the recent failure by Network Solutions, Inc. to properly distribute the .COM zone information.
This failure will likely make it clear that .COM, .NET and .ORG should be moved to a collection of private, NSI, TLD Name Servers and off of the legacy Root Name Servers operated by the U.S. Government and a few volunteers.
I beleive that 'volunteers' having the 'control' of the internet's domain name space is in accordance with the *spirit* of the network. Of course the network is 'run' by (usually) well paid individuals who work for (sometimes) large corporations, BUT, standards, protocols and such are created (via the IETF) by these (usually) well paid individuals who work for the (sometimes) large corporations on a volunteer basis.
The failure comes at a time when the NSF has made it clear that they are slipping out the back door of the "Registry Industry", at a time when Network Solutions, Inc. has recently relocated domain registration personnel to a new building, and at a time when Network Solutions, Inc. is raising more capital via an IPO and making it clear that they intend to continue registering .COM domains. <http://www.netsol.com>
Maybe I am sorely out of touch, but was NSI actually granted ownership of com? This may sound like a flippant comment, but I am completely serious. I may be out of touch here.
The timing could not be better for this "failure". The solution is clearly for NSI to harden the .COM, .NET and .ORG TLD servers with their own infrastructure.
The various Root Name Server Confederations around the world have little choice but to point .COM, .NET and .ORG references to the NSI servers (currently the legacy roots). Until other States besides Virginia or other countries set up their own .COM servers, this will be the case and NSI will have what some people view as a "monopoly".
I suppose that this central point of failure has it's positives, it could be good if the com and net information is corrupted, NSI could reload proper info on their servers and that would be that. BUT, NSI could corrupt the data and NOT reload for several hours, rendering the root operators helpless. Michael Stevenson michael@dook.org
-- Jim Fleming Unir Corporation