[CCWG-ACCT] DNS

[Steve Crocker]

Ack.  Tnx.

Steve

On Apr 17, 2016, at 6:57 PM, Andrew Sullivan <ajs at anvilwalrusden.com> wrote:

> 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