Posted by James on October 09, 2005 at 14:05:03:
Power grab could split the Net
By Declan McCullagh, http://news.com.com
For the first time in its history, the Internet is running a real risk
of fracturing into multiple and perhaps even incompatible networks.
At a meeting in Geneva last week, the Bush administration objected to
the idea of the United Nations running the top-level servers that direct
traffic to the master databases of all domain names.
That's not new, of course--the administration has been humming this tune
since June. What's changed in the last few months is the response from
the rest of the world.
Instead of acquiescing to the Bush administration's position, the
European Union cried foul last week and embraced greater U.N. control. A
spokesman said that the EU is "very firm on this position."
Other nations were equally irked. Russia, Brazil and Iran each chimed in
with statements saying that no "single government" should have a
"pre-eminent role" in terms of Internet governance.
Meanwhile, the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. body,
offered to take over from the United States.
Crucial root servers
This may seem like a complicated political muddle that only Talleyrand
could love, but this process is important. If it spirals out of control,
we could end up with a Balkanized Internet in which the U.S. attempts to
retain control of its root servers and a large portion of the world
veers in an incompatible direction.
This would amount to a nuclear option in which a new top-level domain
would not be visible in the U.S. and its client states--but would be
used in many other nations. The downside, of course, comes when two
computers find different Web sites at the same address.
We could end up with a Balkanized Internet in which the U.S. attempts to
retain control of its root servers and a large portion of the world
veers in an incompatible direction.
Some background: The Internet's 13 root servers guide traffic to the
massive databases that contain addresses for all the individual
top-level domains, such as .com, .net, .edu, and the country code
domains like .uk and .jp.
Whoever controls what goes into the root servers has the final authority
about what new top-level domains are added or deleted. The Bush
administration doesn't particularly care for .xxx, for instance, and
could conceivably move to block its addition even if the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approves it.
Other governments lack that power, and don't exactly like George W. Bush
and his administration enjoying a monopoly over it.
Not all the root servers, named A through M, are in the United States.
The M server is operated by the WIDE Project in Tokyo, and the K server
is managed by Amsterdam-based RIPE. The F, I and J servers point to many
addresses around the world through the anycast protocol, yielding a
total of 80 locations in 34 countries.
In the nuclear option, some national governments would continue to
follow the U.S. lead while others would switch their root servers to
point to the U.N. list of top-level domains. Eventually, different
top-level domains would be added, and the Internet would bifurcate.
Next steps
While this possibility remains remote, what's worrisome is that neither
side seems willing to budge.
A working group report prepared before last week's meeting called root
server reform an issue of the "highest priority." That report also
proposed a Global Internet Council that would be "anchored in the United
Nations."
Turning over control of key Internet functions to the U.N. would invite
a debacle. This is the bureaucracy that gave rise to the Oil for Food
scandal and counts as its major accomplishment in the last decade a
failed attempt at nation-building in Somalia. U.N. control would usher
in higher fees for domain names--to pay for development aid to
third-world nations with dysfunctional governments.
Blackout on the Web
The autocratic, bellicose Bush administration is no paragon of civil
liberties virtue, but letting delegates from Cuba, Iran and Tunisia
decide on the principles for an open and democratic Internet would be an
even worse alternative.
That's why the next few weeks before the final meeting in Tunisia will
be crucial.
The Bush administration's negotiating skills will be severely tested.
State Department officials will have to find a way to allay fears of a
U.S.-dominated Internet while avoiding any path leading to a bifurcated
root. It won't be a trivial task, but the alternatives are even less
savory.