Gene Marsh writes:
> While root servers are, indeed, necessary for
> resolution, they do not have to be the current root servers.
> Additional / alternate root servers can certainly be used
> (and ARE being used) for new TLDs.
Certainly. But without some sort of top-level coordination to guarantee
global reach for all roots and support at the browser-level to circumvent
the arduous process of attaining global governmental imprimatur, they will
continue to be low-use, limited-affect curiosities. (I'm sorry if that
sounds harsh, but the chicken-and-egg problem posed by a TLD without
valuable registrations is really pretty intractable.)
You can argue that such top-level coordination already exists, and yet, you
appear to believe (from the legal (sm) in your signature) that someone can
"own" a TLD.
The curious thing about a TLD is that, without customers, it has no
intrinsic value whatsoever. It is only after registrations occur under it
that any value emerges and it is this transfer of value from registrant to
registrar which attracts registrars intent on owning and thus controlling
the imaginary intellectual property a TLD appears to represent.
The real problem represented by this misunderstanding is simple: allowing
TLDs to be "owned" traps the registrant to dance to whatever whim of
economics or perversity its "owner" requires. And so, without strong
administrative control, such excesses will naturally occur.
"Strong administrative control" is exactly what we wish to avoid, since this
is clearly the role of government, not industry. You could argue that
industry will miraculously manage this control, and I would imagine that is
certainly possible, but there must be a select few who do the controlling,
and that way also lies tyranny. (The situation we currently enjoy.)
Of course, if TLDs are not owned and any registrar can register into any TLD
as required by its customer, the problem of consumer entrapment evaporates.
This is why I believe "the problem of DNS" is not one which can be solved by
simply expanding upon the current system. Something new must emerge, in
addition to DNS, which answers the larger issues without the attendant
baggage or false assumptions of rapacious value.
How do *you* believe the various proto-roots will reach critical mass and
coalesce into a single globally-resolvable namespace and integrate into the
existing DNS?
I note it has yet to occur since I am unable to send mail to you directly.
--
Rob Raisch CTO - RivalWorks, Inc. <http://www.rivalworks.com>
Who do you want to play today?
