Re: [ga] Death Struggle in Name Space

[John Charles Broomfield <jbroom@manta.outremer.com>]

So, if I understand you correctly, what you're saying is that the ICANN
action of adding their own ".biz" to their own root-zone (the one which you
guys download from rs.internic.net), actually messes up the way that you
later add to to it.

Interesting concept that you decide to use the USG authoritative as long as
it doesn't change, but if it DOES change, then you scream about it.

Of course, one must understand that the amount of individuals that this
actually affects (ie the ones that resolve through some method that actually
adds things to the generic vanilla USG/ICANN root) is rather minimal (what
was the last good count on it? less than .5% of the 'net?), and to take it a
step further, this would then only REALLY affect those people who actually
use a domain name under ".biz" which is visible through those alternative
servers. So, it's *probably* only a fraction of that .5% (who knows, maybe
100 individuals in all???). And of those that it DOES actually affect, it's
*probably* only people who were playing around on a technical basis, and not
actually on an operational basis (I defy ANYONE to show me someone that will
really be affected by the introduction of ".biz" into the USG/ICANN roots,
apart from some company selling non-ICANN .biz names and finding that it
actually sheds light on what they are REALLY doing, ie selling air).

Now, if you actually do think that there is a customer base out there who
actually uses the non-ICANN ".biz" on a daily basis, then what is your
problem with the ICANN one, as your CURRENT user base will continue to use
their old one without a hitch!

You can't have it both ways:
-either you consider ICANN as authoritative and you decide to add to
 whatever ICANN throws at you (so continue adding to the ICANN one, and
 understand that as ICANN is authoritative, then *your* additions are flaky
 to say the least).
-or your consider YOURSELF to be authoritative and say to hell with ICANN,
 and play in your own sandbox with whatever names you want.

Of course, you've probably realized that considering yourself authoritative
is a bit of a non-starter in each case where ICANN has its version of what
you want to add, so you know that ICANN is authoritative. Given that,
instead of bowing to ICANN (which throws your private ideas into disarray),
you try to do a 50% stand and somehow convince the rest of the world that
you are just as trustworthy as ICANN, so your own TLDs should be taken into
account etc...

However, seeing that ICANN doesn't consider you as such (and they shouldn't
really, because every morning a new set of kids discovering BIND invents
their own playground to play in, so considerinng you above the bunch somehow
gives you an unmerited privilege), that only leaves you the yell-kick-and-scream tactic.

At the base of it, there can only be ONE authoritative root-zone. You say
that the ICANN one is done without co-operation. What you mean is that YOU
didn't get to have a disproportionate amount of say in it, but there has
been a hell of a lot of political pushing & pulling (which out there is
called cooperation) to get it to the current state. Then again, there are
people who live in the USA who don't recognize the USA Government as
legitimate... (but they don't generally go ranting around trying to get the
rest of the country to believe that THEY are legitimate instead.)

Yours, John Broomfield.

> > I don't understand this.
> > How does the Neustar/ICANN .biz change the situation for 
> > users/ISPs who chose to "enhance" their settings and point to
> > the alternate roots? Those people will continue seeing the
> > AtlanticRoot .biz, and would not even know that USG has added .biz.
> 
> Yes and no, you have to understand the way the Inclusive Root system works,
> currently.
> It all starts with the USG root zone file, as a kernel. It is fetched from
> http://rs.internic.net and then the new TLD refernces are added. These
> additional TLDs can be anything an individual wants. but, the Inclusive Root
> operators use a validated and filtered list of new TLD references. MHSC
> starts with the ORSC root-zone, which is filtered manually by Richard
> Sexton. MHSC's root zone is not strictly ORSC because we add our own private
> TLDs, which are not in the ORSC list (maybe a moot point, at this time
> <sigh>).
> 
> Currently, everything is "peaches" because the kernel zone file is
> effectively static and all the new TLDs are being added to it. There is a
> vetting process and a list of policies that govern which TLDs get added and
> which ones don't. There are many TLD claimants that are NOT in the ORSC
> root, nor are they in the MHSC root. Yes, this sort of places Sexton in
> Postel's position WRT ORSC (for the record, MHSC uses its own "services"
> files as well).
> 
> Where this becomes a problem is when ICANN deliberately adds a TLD in
> conflict with one of the existing vetted Inclusive Root TLDs, like BIZ. No
> longer, can we simply copy the existing kernel. According to Inclusive Root
> policies, the new TLD would not qualify because it is in-conflict and
> doesn't pass the FCFS bar. From a policy perspective, this opens a great big
> ICANN o' wurms. One that many of us would rather leave sealed. One of the
> reasons the Inclusive Root System works well is that EVERYONE agrees on the
> content of the kernel. They ALL get it from the USG. Regardless of which
> root-zone publisher, the kernel remains the same. 
> 
> Unlike ICANN, the Inclusive Root operators practice "First Come, First
> Served" (FCFS) with almost religious zeal. Mainly, because it is a "first
> principle" that almost anyone can agree on (except ICANN, of course). It is
> almost the only thing that all the various root-zone operators CAN agree on.
> Even the ICANN has a hard time making a case against FCFS, as a primary
> policy. Instead, what ICANN does, is to define whom is "First". This is a
> lot like Bill Clinton's weasel-words regarding the meaning of "is". It
> barely saved his butt, however, no one was really convinced and everyone
> knew what the real score was. The same applies to ICANN's use of FCFS.
> 
> What all of the above means is that, if ICANN adds the NeuStar BIZ, then the
> Inclusive Root Zone operators would have to, by their own rulz, specifically
> remove the NueStar entries prior to incorporating the USG root zone kernel.
> Not all of them will do that reliably. This introduces entropy into the
> Inclusive Root system. Unlike cryptographic randomness, entropy is NOT good
> for production systems.
> 
> > The decision would not "destroy" the business: the business 
> > will collapse if registrants will massively register in ICANN's
> > .biz and not in AR's .biz, while it will stay healthy if things
> > happen the other way around. It is true that USG should not
> > destroy a business, but should also not be obliged to rescue a
> > business that goes belly up due to competition.
> 
> You are missing a connector here. If it can be shown that adding the NeuStar
> BIZ TLD will forseeably have the effect that you mention here (and that is
> very difficult to dispute) then we can establish a causal relationship
> between the addition of the TLD and the effect on ARNI's BIZ. Ergo, the
> simple addition of the NeuStar BIZ TLD, in the DOC root zone, would
> destablize ARNI's BIZ registry. Since DOC is a branch of the USG and ARNI is
> a US company engaged in a lawful business, the USG would be in violation of
> its own Constitution. I might point out, before anyone else does, that the
> USG is already in violation of various other parts of its own Constitution
> [The US has been in a continuous State of Emergency since 1952, with various
> executive over-rides on parts of the US Constitution being applicable
> (Korean War, Viet Nam, Cold War, War on Drugs, etc, old argument, we need
> not go there)].
> 
> [IANAL - I Am Not A Lawyer. Before taking action on anything I say, you are
> encouraged to seek legal advice. ]
> 
> > If you want to argue that this is a bully attitude from ICANN, that may be
> 
> > true, but OTOH there has been no bid by AR for .biz (contrary 
> > to IOD's bet for .web), so I don't see what could ICANN have done. Reserve
> 
> > it for future use, maybe?
> 
> Actually, the ICANN isn't the issue. USG/DOC/NTIA is. That the ICANN places
> them in this position isn't good for ICANN. It could back-fire. IF DOC
> doesn't add BIZ, regardless of the reasons, ICANN status is much reduced.
> The first rule of leadership command is to NEVER give an order that
> can't/won't be obeyed. If DOC does add the TLD and it results in the turmoil
> that is likely to ensue, then DOC has the easy way out of disassociating
> itself from the ICANN (once DOC recovers the fumble). What ICANN did, in
> MDR, was a high-risk move with a very narrow margin of success, without
> properly appreciating the downside risks involved. They had a glimmer,
> because of WEB, but various factions succeeded in installing blinders wrt
> BIZ. In the side-room discussions, everyone was aware of ARNI's BIZ. Some
> arrogant idiots were even looking forward to the conflict, not realizing
> what everyone loses thereby.
> 
> -- 
> IANAL - I Am Not A Lawyer. Before taking action on anything I say, you are
> encouraged to seek legal advice. 
> -- 
> ROELAND M.J. MEYER
> Managing Director
> Morgan Hill Software Company, Inc.
> TEL: +001 925 373 3954
> FAX: +001 925 373 9781
> http://www.mhsc.com
> mailto: rmeyer@mhsc.com
> 
> 
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