Internet Systems Consortium
| Type: | Non-Profit |
| Industry: | Root Server Operator, Open Source Software |
| Founded: | 1994 |
| Founder(s): | Paul Vixie, Carl Malamud, |
| Headquarters: | 950 Charter Street
Redwood City, CA 94063 |
| Country: | USA |
| Website: | Isc.org |
The Internet Systems Consortium, or, 'ISC is a non-profit which supports "the infrastructure of the universal connected self-organizing Internet—and the autonomy of its participants by developing and maintaining core production quality software, protocols, and operations".[1]
History
ISC began as the Internet Software Consortium Inc. in 1994; a decade later it changed its name to likely highlight its expansion beyond solely software based services.[2]. The founders of ISC believed that BIND's integral part in enhancing and supporting the Internet needed to be fostered by an independent entity. IANA authorized ISC to be a root name server operator, which allowed ISC to support the use of BIND by root name servers.
ISC has become a home for additional software systems, like INN or Lynx; and they have also created their own, such as DHCP and OpenReg.[3]
Expansion
Business has expanded beyond root name service; and ISC is now know for its Internet Hosting facilities for other open source projects, secondary name service for TLDs, and a DNS Operations, Analysis and Research Center (OARC).[4]
Funding
ISC was created through a grant, and it continues to survive on grants, Guild member fees, sponsors, and donations.[5]
All of ISC's software is available for download from its website.