A.M. Rutkowski wrote:
> At 06:24 PM 8/1/99 , Dan Steinberg wrote:
> >Can you confirm that these events did occur, and if so,
> >why the requests to make changes that would enhance the
> >stablity of the internet were denied?
>
> I would go one further and ask why and under what
> authority the US Dept of Commerce is involved in
> details of name server operations for an enhanced
> information service on private computer networks.
By what authority did NSF give NSI's its monopoly? Why does NASA run root
servers? I'm a little confused about the USG's involvement in this network
too, but I think it has something to do with its funding and direction of
the management of ARPANET and NSFNET. No, the Internet is not ARPANET nor
NSFNET, and hasn't been for some time -- the physical infrastructure and
content elements have changed completely. Yet we are still using the same
technical infrastructure, the same restrictive root zone, and the same root
server system. To the extent that I'm wrong, and it's not the same stuff,
the difference is one of scale, of quantity, not quality.
How private are the entities which operate the root servers? Why are they
involved in the details of name server operations for an enhanced
information service on private computer networks? They should just walk
away and let a new root server system self-organize, since it sounds so
easy. Commerce should just walk away and let the Internet community deal
with NSI on its own. That would be a good way to make sure there is never
any meaningful competition in TLD registration, especially if NSI were still
in control of the root. The legacy root, mind you, and there's no reason
there can't be others. Unfortunately, the legacy root (or more precisely
.com) is the VHS tape, the 3.5" floppy, the Windows of the Internet. NSI
should scare the hell out of multiple root supporters, but instead it has
emerged as something of a hero in the battle against top-down regulation. I
don't think Commerce has any authority here whatsoever, but I prefer them to
NSI.
>
> Does the Commerce Department intend to begin managing
> the operations of even more critical network functions
> of the Internet?
If the Internet isn't a network, how could it possibly have 'critical
network functions'?
Craig McTaggart
Graduate Student
Faculty of Law
University of Toronto
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
