[CCWG-ACCT] DNS

[Andrew Sullivan]

On Sun, Apr 17, 2016 at 06:39:50PM -0400, Steve Crocker wrote:
> Andrew,
> 
> I suppose we’re splitting hairs, but I would say there is indeed coordination of the DNS.  It’s simply distributed, as you said.  But at each level — or precisely, at each zone cut, there is a well defined single entity that coordinates allocations and assignments of names within that part of the tree.
> 
> I think the statement “Nobody does that” is potentially misleading, particularly to those who don’t have a reasonably deep understanding the system.
> 

I wouldn't call this "splitting hairs" so much as "another
perspective"; and from that perspective you're quite right: _lots_ of
people co-ordinate the assignment in the DNS.  And you're also quite
correct that for any given name, someone had responsibility for the
allocation and assignment.  I was merely responding to the question I
understood Kavouss to be asking: "Who's the central authority?"  Of
course, there isn't one of those.  But for any given name, there is an
authority anyway.  The Internet is large, it contains multitudes.

I would even go further, and point out that this very distributed
operation is also the reason that things like registration data
systems (the things formerly called "whois") are so important.  Since
the authority for a name is not a single entity, but could be just
about anyone on the Internet, it's necessary to be able to look up who
might be responsible for some specific name.  That's what RDSes are
for, and why it is good that ICANN consensus policies say that people
ought to be able to rely on them.

Finally, I'll also note that this multifaceted answer is a big part of
why I am so keen to ensure that ICANN can't end up "holding the bag"
for all parts of the DNS.  I think it's critically important that
ICANN can't be held responsible for misbehaviour by people over whom
it has no control or influence.  Many people view the Internet without
a very Internetty set of assumptions: they want to know which one
organization is in charge of some phænomenon.  On the Internet, of
course, the answer is never quite so clear cut, and it's important for
all of us that ICANN can't be forced (through some IRP or otherwise)
to take responsibility for co-ordinating things that are (in the
literal, technical sense) beyond its authority.

Best regards,

A

-- 
Andrew Sullivan
ajs at anvilwalrusden.com