On Slashdot.org: 'ICANN CEO Proposes Radical Changes' http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/02/25/035254 In response some people have posted links to: OpenNIC http://www.opennic.unrated.net/ and Open Root Server Confederation http://www.open-rsc.org/ -- One could argue that investing time in alternative TLD registries is not worth it since it could be a fad or a passing thing.I imagine that most Linux users here have heard the same argument describing involvement in Linux once or twice in their time. So where am I going with this? I would argue that as Linux and Open Source Software users we have a vested interest in seeing that these initiatives work and become part of the internet. Why? For one, why should should the naming of the internet belong to only one agency (ICANN)? Many of you are programmers, sys and net admins, and software designers. In many cases you are a bit of all of these. So all of you know the problems inherent in a Closed Source System. So why should the naming assignment of the internet be any different? What happens if one day redconcepts.net gets taken away? I realize that this is not exactly earth-shattering, but imagine if it were real-time.com or mn-linux.org? Right now I imagine the recources are meagre at best. OpenNIC for example will let you use .oss or .indy or .geek as your TLD. TLD's there are voted upon by the OpenNIC community. Not the fastest way of doing things but for a small community it does work. OSRC lets you use your own TLD's and automatically adds them to their registry. I don't know how they resolve clashes but that is something I'll look into further. I asked the OSRC people and they say that they network with OpenNIC. I won't advocate that the TCLUG and involved parties should get involved with this outright at this stage, but I would appreciate your comments/ideas/reservations. I invite you all to get involved, even if off-list if people think this is not the place. What is better than an Open TLD Registry System powered by our favorite Open Source Software and maybe even *BSD? Right now ICANN does what it likes, how it likes it. Maybe ten years down the road a variety of Alt. TLD Registries can cooperate on open and transparent guidelines. Some benefits: Since domain name registration could be community guided as opposed to solely commercial we could see a decrease of spam/UCE. Since it could be terminated at the root server or domains that spam could be shut down. We could see such TLD's as .LNX (linux) .OSS (Open Source Software) or .LUG (Linux User Group). We could send mail to mailman at tc.mn.usa.lug for example. We could see a better organised organization and structure. Independence from governmental and corporate influence. Free as in beer and as in speech. -- Samir M. Nassar RedConcepts.NET - We Build Communities -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 232 bytes Desc: This is a digitally signed message part Url : http://shadowknight.real-time.com/pipermail/tclug-list/attachments/20020225/1e501b04/attachment.pgp