R E A D I N G S
The Domain Names System
Domain names are, by now, ubiquitous -- having seized
the media's great interest during the "dot-com" boom of
the late 1990s. Yet relatively few people understand the technology
behind domain names.
Part 1: Basic Information
We begin with the following good (though slightly
dated) introduction:
Diane
Cabell, Name Conflicts, Learning Cyberlaw in Cyberspace (1999).
[important: read Part I only]
A critical part of understanding domain names is
visualizing the system that makes it work, and how the information
travels. Consider a modified version of the graphic found in the
Cabell reading:
Figure 1.
Also consider a graphic roughly illustrating how
the DNS system works:
Figure 2.
Try to determine how a computer in the PENN network
would find the IP address information for www.mit.edu.
Part 2: Growing TLD Space
Since the Cabell document was written, a few technical
developments have occurred. As a general matter, these developments
can be characterized as gradually increasing and formalizing the
TLD space. The first of these changes is not especially technical:
a new (international) organization, called the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has taken over the "governance"
of the domain name system. (Network Solutions, Inc. is still under
contract to administer the root servers, but ICANN is at least officially
in control. Second, ICANN has authorized the establishment of seven
new TLDs. And third, more serious third-party, alternative domain
names systems have cropped up - at least in part due to dissatisfaction
with ICANN's performance. Consider the implications of each of these
developments as you read the following:
ICANN,
Fact Sheet (2001).
ICANN, New
TLD Program (2001).
New.net,
Mission Statement (2001).
[ you probably also want to click around the new.net site to get
a feel for their plans ]
About Web Servers and Pages
Finally, it is also quite important to understand
a few of the mechanics of how web pages are created, hosted, and
displayed:
Chris
Hughes and Gunther Birznieks, How a Web Server Works - Overview,
Internet.com (2001)
[read the linked web page only]
If you are interested in learning more about
HTML, and perhaps dabbling yourself, I suggest any of the
several guides listed by Yahoo! (note that as a student at Penn
you have web space on our server). But this is optional.
N O T E S & Q U E S
T I O N S
1. Understanding the DNS. Consider for
a moment the importance of the domain name system in the "popular"
view of the Internet. Is this level of importance really warranted?
Can you "exist" on the Internet without a domain name
at all?
Assume that tomorrow the domain name system was
turned off. (How would you do this?) Now think about what might
happen, and what the response (other than turning it back on)
would be. Does this thought exercise lend any insights into the
appropriate understanding of the role of the DNS?
2. The Power of the Root. Yesterday we
spent a great deal of time discussing the "decentralized"
and "distributed" nature of the Internet. Yet those
terms do not accurately describe the DNS. Does this create legal,
business, or political implications? Can you reconcile the Internet
with the DNS? What, really, is the extent to which the controller
of the root DNS server has over the Internet? (And think again
about where that server is, and who has the keys.)
3. Dueling Roots. The past six months has
seen the first real challenge to ICANN's position as sole administrator
of domain names. Looking again at Figures 1 and 2 above, consider
how alternative DNS systems (like New.net) work. Also look again
at the list of TLDs offered by New.net -- while at this point,
there is no overlap with ICANN, this may change in the future.
What then? If there is to be a single root, who gets to decide
which one? Consider again how ICANN was granted authority, and
whether this precedent is likely to continue.