Changes

==Alternative Root Projects==

==Alternative Root Projects==

Alternative Root Servers have been in existence since 1995 when several groups of Internet users found out that they didn’t have choices other than [[.com]], [[.org]]], and so on. Historically, altroots could be divided into two groups: those run for idealistic or ideological reasons and those run as profit-making enterprises. The latest wave of altroots can be differentiated based on the technology on which they rely: blockchain. A blockchain domain name system is a decentralized DNS server that allows registering, managing, and resolving domain names on the blockchain.

Alternative Root Servers have been in existence since 1995 when several groups of Internet users found out that they didn’t have choices other than [[.com]], [[.org]]], and so on. Historically, altroots could be divided into two groups: those run for idealistic or ideological reasons and those run as profit-making enterprises. The latest wave of altroots can be differentiated based on the technology on which they rely: blockchain. A blockchain domain name system is a decentralized directory for registering, managing, and resolving domain names. The nodes are equal in power and authority; all owners must contribute or delegate their votes to specific nodes to make decisions or changes to the blockchain DNS.<ref>[https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/best-blockchain-dns-software/#What_Is_Blockchain_DNS Top 13 BEST Blockchain DNS Software, Software Testing Help, November 29, 2021]</ref>

* [https://web.archive.org/web/19970125144823/http://www.alternic.net/TLDS.html AlterNIC] (aka ANIC): a domain name registry created by [[Eugene Kashpureff]] and [[Diane Boling]] that relied on an alternative DNS root with the aim of challenging the monopoly of [https://www.internic.net/ InterNIC] that operated from 1995 to 1997.<ref>[https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/alternic-founder-arrested/ AlterNIC Founder Arrested, CNet]</ref>

* [https://web.archive.org/web/19970125144823/http://www.alternic.net/TLDS.html AlterNIC] (aka ANIC): a domain name registry created by [[Eugene Kashpureff]] and [[Diane Boling]] that relied on an alternative DNS root with the aim of challenging the monopoly of [https://www.internic.net/ InterNIC] that operated from 1995 to 1997.<ref>[https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/alternic-founder-arrested/ AlterNIC Founder Arrested, CNet]</ref>

* Advances in authentication: Blockchain relies on a new security model of validation, reducing individual credential management.

* Advances in authentication: Blockchain relies on a new security model of validation, reducing individual credential management.

===[[Data Privacy]]===

===[[Data Privacy]]===

* Individual chooses relationships and connections, offering privacy and data protection, as all data and personal information are stored by the individual making the connections.<ref>Tyler Mason, GoDaddy Blockchain Domain Names Webinar, 12/1/2021</ref>

* Individual chooses relationships and connections via blockchain domain names, offering privacy and data protection, as all data and personal information are stored by the individual making the connections.<ref>Tyler Mason, GoDaddy Blockchain Domain Names Webinar, 12/1/2021</ref>

* Blockchain registrations contain unique encrypted hashes instead of individual names and addresses.<ref>[https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/best-blockchain-dns-software/#What_Is_Blockchain_DNS Top 13 BEST Blockchain DNS Software, Software Testing Help, November 29, 2021]</ref>  

===Peer-to-Peer Transactions===

===Peer-to-Peer Transactions===

Individuals can make transactions with each other directly; they do not need intermediary companies.

Individuals can make transactions with each other directly; they do not need intermediary companies.

===Uncensored Activities===

===Uncensored Activities===

 

==Theories on Why Alternative Root Projects Fail==

==Theories on Why Alternative Root Projects Fail==

* Paul Vixie explains that “any set of DNS root name servers that serves any DNS root zone that did not come from IANA is an ‘alternate root’...[M]any attempts to fork the IANA name space and offer non-standard top level domains...has failed. Often that failure followed public ridicule by me. I think alternate roots of the ‘name space fork’ variety are a terrible idea for the global Internet, although I recognize the need for this kind of name space augmentation inside many enterprise networks...Vibrant competition among Internet name spaces is bad for all of us—bad for business, bad for freedom of expression, bad for national and personal security."<ref>[https://circleid.com/posts/20160330_let_me_make_yeti_dns_perfectly_clear Vixie, Let Me Make Yeti-DNS Perfectly Clear, CircleID]</ref>

* Paul Vixie explains that “any set of DNS root name servers that serves any DNS root zone that did not come from IANA is an ‘alternate root’...[M]any attempts to fork the IANA name space and offer non-standard top level domains...has failed. Often that failure followed public ridicule by me. I think alternate roots of the ‘name space fork’ variety are a terrible idea for the global Internet, although I recognize the need for this kind of name space augmentation inside many enterprise networks...Vibrant competition among Internet name spaces is bad for all of us—bad for business, bad for freedom of expression, bad for national and personal security."<ref>[https://circleid.com/posts/20160330_let_me_make_yeti_dns_perfectly_clear Vixie, Let Me Make Yeti-DNS Perfectly Clear, CircleID]</ref>

Concerns have been raised over how alternative roots could lead to the technical, governmental, and commercial splintering of the Internet.<ref>[https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_FII_Internet_Fragmentation_An_Overview_2016.pdf William J. Drake, Vinton G. Cerf, Wolfgang Kleinwächter, Internet Fragmentation, World Economic Forum 2016]</ref>

Concerns have been raised over how alternative roots could lead to the technical, governmental, and commercial splintering of the Internet.<ref>[https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_FII_Internet_Fragmentation_An_Overview_2016.pdf William J. Drake, Vinton G. Cerf, Wolfgang Kleinwächter, Internet Fragmentation, World Economic Forum 2016]</ref>

===[[Name Collision]]===

===[[Name Collision]]===

Conflicts can occur in user experience and functionality when there are identical TLDs that do not match in their delegation, which is why some form of centralized coordination is important in adding names to roots, such as we see with ICANN. The .biz TLD created by Pacific Root was in operation before ICANN proposed running .biz, and at least one of the alternative root servers resolves .biz to Pacific Root's. There are .biz domain names that exist in different roots and point to different IP addresses. The possibility of such conflicts, and their potential for destabilizing the Internet, is the main source of controversy surrounding alt roots.  

Conflicts can occur in user experience and functionality when there are identical TLDs that do not match in their delegation, which is why some form of centralized coordination is important in adding names to roots, such as we see with ICANN. The .biz TLD created by Pacific Root was in operation before ICANN proposed running .biz, and at least one of the alternative root servers resolves .biz to the PacificRoot's. There are .biz domain names that exist in different roots and point to different IP addresses. The possibility of such conflicts, and their potential for destabilizing the Internet, is the main source of controversy surrounding alt roots.  

===[[Internet Governance|Governance]]===

===[[Internet Governance|Governance]]===

For better or worse, there is a lack of governance in decentralized systems such as that making use of [[Blockchain]].<ref>Tyler Mason, GoDaddy Blockchain Domain Names Webinar, 12/1/2021</ref> However, the [[Multistakeholder Model|coordination]] required to encompass many voices and views and build consensus is glacial in contrast to the pace of pioneering and innovation in unregulated spaces.  

For better or worse, there is a lack of governance in decentralized systems such as that making use of [[Blockchain]].<ref>Tyler Mason, GoDaddy Blockchain Domain Names Webinar, 12/1/2021</ref> However, the [[Multistakeholder Model|coordination]] required to encompass many voices and views and build consensus is glacial in contrast to the pace of pioneering and innovation in unregulated spaces.