Like, to find the canonical DNS name of one of my home lab IPs, 209.180.104.202, you search for a PTR record for 202.104.180.209.in-addr.arpa. (You get git.mspencer.net. Note my username here.) The first A in ARPA stands for something. (That’s how you know I’m not a bot - bots don’t have 25-year-old domain names. . . . I didn’t say I was interesting, I just said I’m not a bot. :-) )
We don’t own it though. We never should - too much concentrated wealth and corruption. Like many technology stories, big wealth (whether Cold War military spending or giant corporations using money to squeeze out more money) creates something for one purpose, but people adapt and convert it for a better purpose. Business computing tech becomes home computing or gaming tech. Military redundant communications research becomes public redundant communication infrastructure.
DNS is such a terrible thing, because, despite being amazing at what it does, and beautifully complex at times, it’s still a massively centralized system that basically controls the internet. Of course it’s based in the US.
It’s also the reason why domain names cost significant money, and they even sell TLDs for insane prices that only megacorporations can afford. They can decide what TLDs get to exist, and ultimately, they have the power to ban domains, whole zones, or even TLDs. They essentially have the power to dismantle the internet as most people know it.
There are some alternative projects that aim to replace ICANN’s root servers, but almost nobody has them set up (and the alternative root servers aren’t even considered “legal” or part of the DNS system by any provider). Which leads to the alternative TLDs being almost useless. It’s still a fun thing to set up, though.
Like, to find the canonical DNS name of one of my home lab IPs, 209.180.104.202, you search for a PTR record for 202.104.180.209.in-addr.arpa. (You get git.mspencer.net. Note my username here.) The first A in ARPA stands for something. (That’s how you know I’m not a bot - bots don’t have 25-year-old domain names. . . . I didn’t say I was interesting, I just said I’m not a bot. :-) )
We don’t own it though. We never should - too much concentrated wealth and corruption. Like many technology stories, big wealth (whether Cold War military spending or giant corporations using money to squeeze out more money) creates something for one purpose, but people adapt and convert it for a better purpose. Business computing tech becomes home computing or gaming tech. Military redundant communications research becomes public redundant communication infrastructure.
DNS is such a terrible thing, because, despite being amazing at what it does, and beautifully complex at times, it’s still a massively centralized system that basically controls the internet. Of course it’s based in the US.
It’s also the reason why domain names cost significant money, and they even sell TLDs for insane prices that only megacorporations can afford. They can decide what TLDs get to exist, and ultimately, they have the power to ban domains, whole zones, or even TLDs. They essentially have the power to dismantle the internet as most people know it.
There are some alternative projects that aim to replace ICANN’s root servers, but almost nobody has them set up (and the alternative root servers aren’t even considered “legal” or part of the DNS system by any provider). Which leads to the alternative TLDs being almost useless. It’s still a fun thing to set up, though.