7 People Entrusted W/ “Keys To The Internet”

[mommas_boy]

Hey guys. Just a heads up on what this is all about.

First off, these "keys to the internet" do not control content on the internet. Usage of the keys do not turn off the internet, or reboot it, or wipe all websites and the information that they contain off of the face of the internet. This is not the government attempting to control information on the internet.

Instead, this is the government attempting to protect an underlying structure to the internet, called "Domain Name Service", or DNS for short. Basically, DNS is the internet's phone book. These keys allow the DNS "phone book" to be reconstructed.

Take a look at all of your contacts on your cell phone. How many of those phone numbers do you actually remember? At one time, before I had a cell phone with a contact list, I knew all of the numbers that I needed to call by heart. Now, I don't even know my own fiance's number -- I don't have to, because I have my contact list.

All websites on the internet have a phone number. For example, Phatmass's "phone number" is "208.101.62.210". You can actually see this in action: copy and paste "208.101.62.210" into your address bar in your browser, and you'll see that it takes you right to Phatmass. This number is called an "IP address" or "internet protocol address".

But this is where DNS comes in -- who wants to remember that number? Even better, who CAN remember each number for every website that they visit? So, DNS does the work of remembering for you: you type in a website address, DNS looks up IP number, and directs you there. Just like your phonebook on your cell phone.

But, there's a rub. Imagine that someone hijacked the DNS server, so that whenever someone typed "www.phatmass.com", they were re-directed to another address. People could still reach Phatmass, if they could only remember the IP number. But they can't, and without a good DNS, there would be no way to look up that number, either.

That's where these keys come in. While they don't wipe all of the data from every website on the internet, they do clear the phone book***. After the phone book has been cleared, then website owners are able to re-apply for their website names, and get back into the DNS's registry or phonebook. So in essence, it allows us to recover the internet to the state that it was just before an e-terrorist attack on the world's DNS servers. But, it doesn't clear data on those sites, and [b][u]doesn't pose any usefulness at all in censoring information[/u][/b].

*** -- Point of clarification, albeit technical, so deserving of a footnote. The keys do not clear the entire "phonebook". Someone else pointed out that the system is a distributed one. And that is true. There are many DNS servers out there. In fact, the software to run your own is [url="http://www.bind9.net/"]freely available on the internet[/url]. But, each one of those DNS servers are certified as being correct by one above it. Which means that there is a [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_root_zone"]group of DNS servers that are masters over all the rest[/url]. This central, authoritative group is called the ROOT zone. All other DNS servers derive their authority from one of the ROOT servers. The keys discussed here do no wipe all of the DNS servers in the world -- only the ones in the ROOT zone. All other DNS servers would then need to be "re-certified" by one of the root servers.

Edited July 31, 2010 by mommas_boy

[ardillacid]

[quote name='mommas_boy' date='31 July 2010 - 12:54 AM' timestamp='1280552073' post='2150171']
Hey guys. Just a heads up on what this is all about.

First off, these "keys to the internet" do not control content on the internet. Usage of the keys do not turn off the internet, or reboot it, or wipe all websites and the information that they contain off of the face of the internet. This is not the government attempting to control information on the internet.

Instead, this is the government attempting to protect an underlying structure to the internet, called "Domain Name Service", or DNS for short. Basically, DNS is the internet's phone book. These keys allow the DNS "phone book" to be reconstructed.

Take a look at all of your contacts on your cell phone. How many of those phone numbers do you actually remember? At one time, before I had a cell phone with a contact list, I knew all of the numbers that I needed to call by heart. Now, I don't even know my own fiance's number -- I don't have to, because I have my contact list.

All websites on the internet have a phone number. For example, Phatmass's "phone number" is "208.101.62.210". You can actually see this in action: copy and paste "208.101.62.210" into your address bar in your browser, and you'll see that it takes you right to Phatmass. This number is called an "IP address" or "internet protocol address".

But this is where DNS comes in -- who wants to remember that number? Even better, who CAN remember each number for every website that they visit? So, DNS does the work of remembering for you: you type in a website address, DNS looks up IP number, and directs you there. Just like your phonebook on your cell phone.

But, there's a rub. Imagine that someone hijacked the DNS server, so that whenever someone typed "www.phatmass.com", they were re-directed to another address. People could still reach Phatmass, if they could only remember the IP number. But they can't, and without a good DNS, there would be no way to look up that number, either.

That's where these keys come in. While they don't wipe all of the data from every website on the internet, they do clear the phone book***. After the phone book has been cleared, then website owners are able to re-apply for their website names, and get back into the DNS's registry or phonebook. So in essence, it allows us to recover the internet to the state that it was just before an e-terrorist attack on the world's DNS servers. But, it doesn't clear data on those sites, and doesn't pose any usefulness at all in censoring information.

*** -- Point of clarification, albeit technical, so deserving of a footnote. The keys do not clear the entire "phonebook". Someone else pointed out that the system is a distributed one. And that is true. There are many DNS servers out there. In fact, the software to run your own is [url="http://www.bind9.net/"]freely available on the internet[/url]. But, each one of those DNS servers are certified as being correct by one above it. Which means that there is a [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_root_zone"]group of DNS servers that are masters over all the rest[/url]. This central, authoritative group is called the ROOT zone. All other DNS servers derive their authority from one of the ROOT servers. The keys discussed here do no wipe all of the DNS servers in the world -- only the ones in the ROOT zone. All other DNS servers would then need to be "re-certified" by one of the root servers.
[/quote]
Exactly.

That's why I lol'ed at this.

Nice reply, if we were still on the points system, I would give a +10563452

[jeffpugh]

Yeah, definitely worth a plus one.

[mommas_boy]

Good website on this (that actually makes the same LoTR joke) is here:

http://www.livescience.com/technology/key-holders-cyber-attack-100729.html

More good sites:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/841315--the-canadian-who-holds-the-key-to-the-internet
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/07/31/0230211/The-Canadian-Who-Holds-the-Key-To-the-Internet

[ardillacid]

[quote name='mommas_boy' date='31 July 2010 - 03:05 AM' timestamp='1280559907' post='2150217']
Good website on this (that actually makes the same LoTR joke) is here:

http://www.livescience.com/technology/key-holders-cyber-attack-100729.html

More good sites:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/841315--the-canadian-who-holds-the-key-to-the-internet
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/07/31/0230211/The-Canadian-Who-Holds-the-Key-To-the-Internet
[/quote]
Government controlled propaganda.