[ga-roots] Alternate Roots, Naming Systems Coming Under Fire

["Patrick Corliss" <patrick@quad.net.au>]

Alternate Roots, Naming Systems Coming Under Fire
By Juliana Gruenwald, Interactive Week
June 4, 2001 2:51 PM ET

http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2768503,00.html

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The group charged with managing the Internet's Domain
Name System may have encouraged the formation of alternate top-level Domain
Name Systems by moving too slowly to select new groups of global Internet
domain names, some Internet industry representatives and others said.

During the quarterly four-day meeting of the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers, business interests, technicians and others
voiced concern about the potential impact of alternate "roots," and a new
system developed by New.net that allows its customers to register names in
what appear like new global top-level domains (gTLDs) like .shop or .xxx.

Neither approach has been approved by ICANN, which was picked in 1998 by the
U.S. government to manage the Internet's DNS, for entry into the Internet's
main root system. Some worry that these alternative efforts could
destabilize the Internet or cause consumer confusion.

Alternate roots are separate networks that allow users to register names in
top-level domain names (TLDs) not seen by most people who use the Internet.
New.net, however, offers users two different ways to register or view its
TLDs. The company has agreements with some Internet service providers that
ensure their customers can view New.net's TLDs. Users also can download
software that allows them access to names that are actually part of the
company's existing domain name, new.net. For example, a user who registered
"flower.shop," would actually be registering "flower.shop.new.net," but the
software hides the "new.net."

There is "a lot of angst and concern from trademark owners concerning
alternate roots and naming systems causing concern about the technical
stability and consumer confidence," said J. Scott Evans, chairman of the
International Trademark Association's subcommittee on domain governance,
during a public forum Sunday at ICANN's meeting.

Alternate roots have been around for several years but have generally been
low-budget operations used by few Internet surfers because they require
users to point their computers to different servers. But concerns about
those who offer alternatives to the Internet's traditional DNS, which allows
users to use names instead of the protocol numbers registered to each Web
site, have been heightened with the launch of New.net. The company has
managed to gain agreements from major ISPs such as EarthLink and is being
financially backed by a well-known Internet incubator, Idealab!.

ICANN's president, M. Stuart Lynn, also increased the issue's profile with
the release of a draft paper prior to ICANN's meeting arguing for the need
to ensure a "single, authoritative public root for the Internet Domain Name
System." He and others argue that alternate roots run the danger that
computers will be given different answers to the same queries they make over
the DNS.

Some businesses also worry systems like the one New.Net uses also will
confuse consumers, particularly if ICANN chooses to create new global TLDs
using names similar to ones now being offered by New.net.

"We're concerned . . . potential customers might not reach our sites," said
Rick Lane, who handles e-commerce policy issues for the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce.

New.net officials, however, say that they make it clear to their customers
that not all Web users can access sites with their TLDs.

Still, others argue that ICANN may have helped create the problem by not
moving fast enough to create new gTLDs and has taken much longer to complete
contracts with the operators of the new domain names than even ICANN
expected.

ICANN approved seven new gTLDs last November but has completed contracts
with only two of them, though the group said it is close to finishing
others. At least two of them, .biz and .info, could become available to the
public in the next few months. They will be the first new global domain
names created since .com, .net and .org, the most popular Internet domain
names, were introduced more than a decade ago.

Some operators of the new TLDs "are concerned that the length of the process
for negotiating the new (TLD) agreements encouraged companies like New.net
and alternate roots" said Jeff Neuman, director of policy and intellectual
property at NeuLevel, co-operator of the new .biz TLD.

After ICANN rejected his group's application to operate a .union TLD, Duncan
Pruett, information technology coordinator for the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions, said he was approached by the operators
of some alternate roots about using their networks to launch his gTLD. He
said he opted against such a move because it "might have prejudiced
[ICANN's] attitude against us."

Steve Chadima, New.net's chief marketing officer, said if ICANN had agreed
to create more gTLDs and implemented them faster, "there would be no reason
for us to exist."

Lynn acknowledged in an interview that it is a "realistic concern" that
ICANN's approach to new gTLDs may have helped spur some alternative
approaches. But he added that ICANN has little choice but to take a careful
approach to introducing new gTLDs to ensure they do not hurt Internet's
stability. ICANN officials have described the introduction of new gTLDs as a
test bed and said they hope to introduce new ones in the future more
quickly.

When ICANN moves to introduce a second round of new gTLDs, Chadima said his
company will likely apply to ICANN to operate some of them.

"The backers of these systems seem to work under the philosophy that if they
get there first with something that looks like a TLD and invite many
registrants to participate, then ICANN will be required by their presence to
recognize in perpetuity these pseudo TLDs," Lynn wrote in his paper.
"Nothing could be further from the truth."

Elliot Noss, president of Tucows, a company that offers wholesale
registrations of domain names, said his company would have been forced to
take the same route as New.net without receiving such assurances from ICANN.

"We feared that special priority [would be given] to somebody with some
level of established user base," he said. "The last thing we wanted to do is
create an alternative. We feared we might have to defensively."

While Lynn and others say ICANN can do little about alternative approaches
beyond stressing the importance of a single root, ICANN board member
Jonathan Cohen suggested Monday at ICANN's board meeting that the names
being offered by these alternative operators should be given to someone else
when ICANN moves to introduce a second round of new gTLDs.

"There should be clear notice to those out there on alternate roots, if they
choose a top-level domain because they think they can move faster than we,
that won't prevent us from choosing it," Cohen said. "Otherwise it's open
season."

But at least one ICANN board member, Karl Auerbach, takes a different view
on the issue, saying that "there need not be a single uniform namespace that
everyone conforms to."



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