Re: [dnsext] draft-diao-aip-dns

[Ralph Droms <[e-mail]>]

FYI - reposted to the IESG by Stephen Farrell:


Chinese Operators Hope to Standardize a Segmented Internet
Posted on Monday Jun 18, 2012 10:20 AM by Mikael Ricknäs

A technology draft written by employees at China Mobile and China
Telecom and submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force describes
how the Internet could be split into several parts using the Domain Name
System and in the process give countries more control over their own
segment of the network.

The DNS is one of the key building blocks of the Internet. Its most
important task is translating IP (Internet Protocol) addresses to host
names, which is done by a distributed system based on one unique root
that is used all over the world.

The technology is developed by the IETF, on whose website the Chinese
"DNS Extension for Autonomous Internet" draft is available for
viewing.<https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-diao-aip-dns-00>

Today, China blocks Internet access to some foreign websites. The goal
outlined by the new document is to make it easier and cheaper for
countries to create independent root DNS servers and realize Internet
autonomy. Today, that is both costly and technically difficult,
according to the draft.

"When you read the document it very much comes across as a way to
severely segment the Internet," said Patrik Wallström, CEO at OpenDNSSEC
AB, a not-for-profit company with the mission to facilitate the
deployment of DNSSEC, which is used to secure DNS.

If the draft is adopted it would give, for example, China full control
of content on the Internet for users in the country as well as how it
can be accessed and by whom, Wallström said.

The reason for adopting the draft into a standard architecture would not
be just for control, according to the authors. The current central
architecture of DNS can't keep up with the fast development of Internet,
they say.

That argument doesn't ring true, according to Jakob Schlyter, a DNS
expert at Swedish consultancy Kirei.

"When you say something like that you have to back it up with some
facts, which I don't think they have ... the DNS root has an extreme
overcapacity," said Schlyter.

However, the chances of the draft being adopted is very remote,
according to both Wallström and Schlyter.

Anyone can individually submit an Internet draft to the IETF. But since
the intended goal with the Chinese document is standardization, it first
has to be picked up by one of the IETF's working groups, and that isn't
going to happen, Wallström said.

"It is a controversial subject, and the IETF works on standards that, in
principle, are for the global Internet," said Wallström.

The idea of moving away from a central DNS root also goes against the
IAB's (Internet Architecture Board's) technical comment from 2000,
detailing the need for a unique DNS root to ensure the future of the
Internet, according to Wallström. The comment came after several
alternative roots came into existence during the nineties, he said.

"The Chinese draft would be a return to that," said Wallström.

Schlyter is equally convinced that nothing will become of the draft.

"There is an extremely small risk of it going anywhere. I say risk
because I am proponent of a common namespace, and all that comes with
that," said Schlyter.

Because of the minuscule chance of the draft ever becoming a standard,
the underlying reason for publishing it may be something altogether
different, according to Wallström.

"This is just me speculating, but with the arrival new generic top-level
domains (gTLDs) a document like this one can be published to put more
pressure on ICANN with the aim of maybe even splitting the organization
into different parts where China has more power," Wallström said.

Today, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers),
which is also a big proponent of a unique root, coordinates the DNS as
well as a whole host of other Internet-related components. These were
originally performed under a U.S. government contract.

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