Technically 13 root servers belonging to 12 different organisations, but the structure is more complex because there are observers and stakeholders that have some voice and observers status, from governments to private sector and businesses etc.
There track record is very good, and ther is no close second in terms of being a good custodian of the commons they oversee.
It is a n extraordinary claim that some other organisations should be equally trusted. And even then, why would we move from what we already trust.
ICANN is worse.
it is not decentralized.
Domains regularly get taken down or censored.
Also the certificates browsers and tools ship with that are needed to make it all work are ridiculous given that it could work wothput any of that.
Of course, shitco8ners want to scam and control, so they always argue in favor and then squeeze themselves in as intermediaries.
There is really no need to use domains or global names at all.
This is just not what people rely on in practice and normal people nyway dont understand what they are trusting in.
you can already see that with nostr.
the many relays and more is better. they are technically supppsed to be interchangeable anyway.... that is the goal in p2p. that is what bittorrent brought to the mainstream.
No need to trust a specific server or cloud to whatever levels it is centralized/federated.
no hierarchy needed.
The issue is to believe or promote top level global names in the first place.
public keys are all we need and that needs no icann
"Domains regularly get taken down or censored". Mind elaborting on that and providing some evidence? I'm not doubting you that domains can and do get taken down by ICANN. But regularly? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
it doesnt even need icann itself.
try to reach certain domains in certain countries.
try to reach the pirate bay.
try to reach the internet archive in the UK
try to reach sci hub
a lot of open source security related tooling is also censored
and then of course people get deplatformed in some countries ... thats a very common practice.
oh and torrent trackers where victim too.
...theblist goes on. I am actually surprised by your question
What are you going on about? Aren't we talking about ICANN and whether or not they regular censor/take down domains?
DNS or domains are a hierarchical system and there are multiple levels on which censorship can occur. it can always escalate to the next level. it is routinely used and enabled by the way DNS works.
how would one proceed to create a system like icann in the current day and age (for whatever other purposes)?
Gather as many reputable partners as you can, create a non-profit organization, define clear governance model, and then spend the rest of your life proving not only that you will be a good steward of this commons, but also that people should care at all.
Oddbean new post about login | logout