Please explain what this means?

[serryjw]

When we talk about anything * does there are always dire consequences

quote......

Bush administration annexes internet

By Kieren McCarthy ([e-mail])
Published Friday 1st July 2005 10:41 GMT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/01/bush_net_policy/

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

An extraordinary statement by the US government has sent shockwaves around the internet world and thrown the future of the network into doubt.

In a worrying U-turn, the US Department of Commerce (DoC) has made it clear it intends to retain control of the internet's root servers indefinitely. It was due to relinquish that control in September 2006, when its contract with overseeing body ICANN ended.

The decision - something that people have long feared may happen - will not only make large parts of the world furious but also puts ICANN in a very difficult position. The organisation has slowly been expanding out of its California base in an effort to become an international body with overall responsibility for the internet.
----end quote...

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/070505_world_stories.shtml#4

[Maple]

1. It means

that very shortly other countries are going to have root servers.

[serryjw]

2. You're a big help.........what the fuck does that mean

why should I care?

[Tux]

5. Simple

Those systems form the backbone of the Internet. All 8 are in the US. By having gov control, they control the systems, thus the Internet which ALL Internet traffic depends on those systems. Which means, Bush et al can turn the Internet off if they want.

Ever wonder why generals always have to mention terrorist Web sites lately?

[vibiant]

7. Long story made longer ...

"Internet root servers" refer to DNS servers. DNS acts like the little program which stores numbers in my phone. Instead of saving mom's phone numbers as "Mom's House" and "Mom's Cell", DNS relates the name of a server to an IP address. It is used to convert the www.democraticunderground.com address you type into the 216.158.27.197 address that computers and networks understand. DNS also relates functions to servers - like to which server email for @yahoo.com are be sent.

Since it is not practical to store *all* of the computers on the internet, their associated addresses, and services provided in one huge table, DNS names are partitioned off. Each partition is separated with a period in the server's name. The top level that you see is broken out by country (.uk, .ch, .au, .de and so on) in addition to the American .com/.net/.org/.gov/.mil/.us top level domains. The "root internet servers" are the servers which keep track of where those top partitions are stored.

Whether you want DU's www.democraticunderground.com site, the Guardian's web site at www.guardian.co.uk, or the Federated States of Micronesia's tourism board site at www.visit-micronesia.fm, viewing any web sites ultimately relies upon information stored in the same set of US controlled DNS root servers. Same for most Internet-based communication.

The present administration wanting control of a global infrastructure and promising to "preserve the security and stability" of it? 'Why care' may be a matter of precedence - look at anything else they have claimed to preserve.

Could be on the principal of it all - the Internet is, and has been for some time, a multi-national structure. It is right hubristic to contend that one's country should maintain the top level infrastructure of something so universal.

And as with anything externally managed, you no longer control your own environment. It is theoretically/technically possible for the US to make all servers within a national top level domain inaccessible. By removing or misdirecting a country's top level domain, eventually no one would be able to connect to anything contained there-in - your computer cannot get to a Freedonian web site if it cannot find Freedonia. That's a little foil-hat for me but like Homer said "anything’s possible with Commander Cuckoo-Bananas in charge" :-)

[Mairead]

8. A little correction

"It is theoretically/technically possible for the US to make all servers within a national top level domain inaccessible. By removing or misdirecting a country's top level domain, eventually no one would be able to connect to anything contained there-in"

This is true--but it's a one-time ability that would bring things to a halt for maybe an hour, and if persisted in would continue to cause gradually lessening trouble for perhaps a month.

Any time the US tries to hold the root nameservers hostage, the international community can simply bring up new ones. Making the second-tier servers start querying and updating those new, internationally-owned nameservers instead of the captive US ones is a trivial task. And once that occurs, the Department of Commerce might as well unplug their captive servers--they'll be simply wasting electricity.

[newyawker99]

9. Hi vibiant

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[serryjw]

10. I'm your first post?

I am so honored....Welcome to DU:applause:....Thanks for the info, even if I didn't understand most of it!:banghead:

[lildreamer316]

3. I thought we shot this down already.

But of course I can't find the thread. Anyone?

[napi21]

4. You did. I was the one who asked about it last week.

It's been too long ago and it's not listed in my posts anymore.

I'm not technical enough to explain it again, but it's nothing to worry about!

[Tux]

6. Simple

Those systems form the backbone of the Internet. All 8 are in the US. By having gov control, they control the systems, thus the Internet which ALL Internet traffic depends on those systems. Which means, Bush et al can turn the Internet off if they want.

Ever wonder why generals always have to mention terrorist Web sites lately?