sydneyfong's Journal: Call for alternate (DNS) root servers

Originally at http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=410854&cid=21969012

Given these recent outrageous and blatant violations by registrars, and the indifference of ICANN, this should be a perfect time to resurrect the idea of an alternate system of root DNS servers.

If nothing is done to address the problems, the .com, .net domain name space would probably be filled up with spam junk (if they are not saturated with crap already). Given the increasing importance of the Internet infrastructure these days, it's outrageous to think that the basic infrastructure of the Internet is held hostage by a small group of greedy corporate bastards. Remember the last time Verisign tried to redirect all non-existent .com/.net requests to their own portal site? They are willing to screw up anything as long as they can get away with it (and money).

I understand that the worst TLDs in question are .com and .net, but they set the example. How long would it be for country TLDs to follow the corporate footsteps of Verisign, Network Solutions and co?

I think it should be most apt to start meaningful discussion here on Slashdot, where there are enough people who have the expertise and skills --- and interest and passion, to pull this one off.

I have looked around a bit regarding projects such as AlterNIC, OpenNIC, OpenRSC, etc. But all those projects are dead or at the very least in deep hibernation. I have a feeling that the projects aren't really meant to be serious, rather they are hobbyist projects/social experiments that even the founders couldn't care less about.

Does nobody care at all?

That being said, I personally don't have any concrete proposals. But given the enthusiastic response of Slashdot readers (there are 600+ comments here), I believe we can gather enough personnel and expertise to give the old idea a new try. Interested parties might want to post a reply here, or in my Journal.

Any takers?

[Oh and moderators, you might actually want to mod this one up...]

O.K. I'll bite

[Rene S. Hollan]

This isn't really as hard as it looks, but it does require a different way of thinking.

Consider the case of the post-WWII concentration camp surviver, Ivan Schwartzwald. He has survived the horrors he has gone through, and managed to immigrate to North America. Still wary of negative perceptions of his ethnicity, and the fact that he as an unusual name, he changes it to John Blackwood, and tells all his old friends of this. [This is not intended to lessen the brutality of the Holocaust, by comapring it to