Who Owns The Internet?
Ownership of the internet is a complicated issue. In theory, the internet is
owned by everyone that uses it. Yet, in reality, certain entities exert more
influence over the "mechanics" and regulation of the internet than others. To
understand the notion of ownership, one must understand the backbone of the
internet--Domain Name Systems. As the internet continues to become a larger
component of education, teachers need to be aware of the political, commercial,
and public influences affecting the internet. The internet opens the door to new
horizons of curriculum development, communications, research, and resources to
support education. As educators, the Domain Name System has the potential to
provide direction and simplification of internet resources. The following issues
will be examined in this discussion of ownership:
The Domain Name System(DNS) is the address system of the internet. It facilitates the users' ability to navigate with the aid of the domain name and a corresponding Internet Protocol (IP) number. Each domain name is linked to a unique IP address.
The DNS is divided into categories called top level domains. The top level domains are subdivided into generic top level domains (gTLD) and country-code top level domains(ccTLD).(WIPO Internet Domain Name Process) Within the gTLD there are presently seven domains. They are .com, .net, .org, .int, .gov, .edu, and .mil. The first three (.com, .net, .org) are considered open domains since there are no restrictions on who may register names within theses domains. The other four (.int, .gov, .edu, and .mil) are restricted and only qualifying individuals or groups may register names within the domains. The domain .int is restricted to use by international organizations; .edu, is restricted to use by four-year colleges and universities; .gov is restricted to use by agencies of the federal government of the United States of America; and .mil is restricted to use by the military of the United States of America.
Country code top level domains are two letter designations assigned to individual countries. For example, Canada is given the domain .ca and Italy is given the domain .it. From a functional standpoint, ccTLDs and gTLDs are the same. They both provide the same connectivity. The ccTLDs are governed by the entity that owns the domain and can be restricted or open depending on the individual entity's rules.
In the early stages of the development of the WWW, the National Science
Foundation (NSF) was given the task of managing the major internet backbone-the
NSFNET. NSF's original purpose was to promote research and education at the
University level.(Webopedia) The NSF was quickly overwhelmed with this task and
passed this job onto the private and commercial sector. In 1993, NSF granted
exclusive rights to Network Solutions Incorporated (NSI) for the registration
and management of the top level domains .com, .org, .net, and .edu.(NSF-InterNic)
Essentially, NSI was granted a monopoly of the public open domains. This
monopoly gave NSI and the United States government significant control of the
internet. This agreement between NSI and the United States remained until April
of 1999 at which time the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
announced that five additional companies would be selected to participate in an
initial two month test period of a new shared registration service.(ICANN) Additional plans are
in the works to allow 29 companies to compete for Domain Name registration
rights. This plan is the first step in achieving President Clinton's goals of
the privatization of the management of Domains while providing competition for
domain name services.(US Department Of
Commerce News)
One of the major criticisms of the Domain Name System has been that the
United States government and NSI have had too much control. Other nations have
had to rely on country code domains or purchase generic top level domains
through NSI. This attempt to open up the registry to competing organizations
helps to decentralize some of the control that NSI and the United States have
held for several years. Even though the U.S. has maintained this level of
control, it by no means can be said that it owns the internet. The internet does
not have a central point of authority or control and therefore cannot be said to
be owned by any individual group. This autonomy offers great freedoms yet can
also be a source of concern.
A major concern of many individuals is the limited number of open top level
domains. Currently there are only three (.com, .org, .net). (Domain
Name Registration) The criticism is that anyone should be allowed to create a top
level domain. The success of these domains would be determined by the what the
internet market dictates.(Green Paper)
The addition of these top level domains could lead to a more descriptive system
of classification. For example, the domain .arts would be a clear indication
that the site located at this domain would include information pertaining to the
arts. As the system stands today, it is difficult to tell what an individual
might find at a given domain based on the domain name alone.
The counter argument is that allowing anyone to create a domain would lead to
chaos that would lead to problems at the root server level. Furthermore, it
would be more difficult for companies to protect their trademarks if there were
a large number of top level domains. A trademark dilemma has already begun with
only three domains. For example, the domain peta.org was originally registered
to a parody organization known as People Eating Tasty Animals. In the real world
peta is an acronym for the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals. As a result of this controversy the Domain Name Rights Coalition was
founded to provide protection to organizations wishing to protect
trademarks.(Whose Internet Is It Anyway?) A great debate continues on whether a
company that holds a trademark in the real world has exclusive rights to this
trademark in cyberspace. The US Department of Commerce states "For cyberspace to
function as effective commercial market, businesses must have confidence that
their trademarks can be protected. On the other hand, management of the Internet
must respond to the needs of the Internet community as a whole, and not
trademark owners exclusively. The balance we strike is to provide trademark
owners with the same rights they have in the physical world, to ensure
transparency, to guarantee a dispute resolution mechanism with resort to a court
system, and to add a new top-level domains carefully during the transition to
private sector coordination of the domain name system."(Green Paper)
Even with these reservations seven new domains are proposed to be added in the
near future. (BBC
News)
Educators must be aware of domains and what may lie in each type of domain.
As the Domain Name System stands today this is not always a clear issue. The
.com, .net, and .org domains can be misleading in that any type of information
can be found housed at these sites. Sites in these domains need to be examined
carefully before they are used with students in a classroom setting. That is not
to say that commercial sites are unworthy of educational use; they just need to
be previewed carefully. Restricted domains such as .edu and .gov are less
misleading in that certain restrictions apply to who may post information on
these sites. However, even with these restrictions teachers must take time to
carefully examine the site. In addition, teachers need to inform students about
domains as well. For example, it is important for students to realize that .com
is a commercial site and .edu is a higher education site if they are to evaluate
the type and validity of information presented.
From an educator's standpoint, a more descriptive domain system would be a
welcome addition to the internet community. New domains that accurately describe
the nature of the site would greatly benefit teachers and students alike. For
such a system to work, a rigorous organizational structure must be put into
place to insure that sites are registered into their proper domains. Until such
a system exists, however, teachers and students need to continue to search
through numerous sites seeking information.
Conflicts and Inequities in the Domain Name System:
Relevance to Education:
| History
|Ownership
| Invasive Nature
| Kids Online
| Benefits
| Regulation
|
| Introduction
|