What is the
AURSC?
Since 1995, Internet in Australia has grown to be more and
more commercial as new Service Providers and Companies come on-line to sell their products
and try and gain market advantage.
One of the biggest concerns of Commercialism of the
Internet is DNS Ownership.
DNS started many moons ago to help people find information.
Instead of trying to remember IP addresses, you only needed to remember the name of the
organisation.
If companies are permitted to OWN the DNS system, such as Telstra in Australia or the US Government (currently
responsible for the total DNS administration by contracts with NSI and IANA) or NSI or even IANA,
you as a user and business people will have to pay fees, probably indirectly, to
gain access or even use the DNS.
These additional fees will be justified as
"costs" to operate the Internet. But really only got to pay the existing
$600,000 a year salaries were protected under contracts that will expire on September 30.
IANA attempted to fool the world by creating the IAHC in 1996. It launched a rushed very closed
process around the world in hope that large finically viable companies would fund their
high status positions.
Much opposition
to the IAHC was generate. You can find out about some of the details at the Domain Name Handbook Web Site. The Domain
Name Handbook was written by Ellen and Peter Rony - siblings. They never knew when they
undertook the writing of the book how global the controversy really would become.
Due to the controversy, the USG issued a document called
the White Paper and that created yet another host of acronyms and authorities. The
IFPW (International Forum on the White Paper) commenced in July 1998 and is about to
conclude on 30 September, 1998. You can find details at the IFWP Web Site.
The Founder of AURSC
Mr. Adam Todd, after
watching the US discussions and the massive scramble of companies trying to get their
slice of the DNS action decided Australia needed a community based management of DNS. Mr.
Todd became quiet known after the Singapore IFWP meeting. You can find details about
IFWP-AP at the Web Site.
The Australian Root Server Confederation was founded by Mr.
Todd in February 1997 and formally named in May 1997. Anyone can join the AURSC.
Presently the Legacy Root Servers (where much of the DNS
information is generated) are paid for by the US Government through a complex number of
companies and organisations.
With the InterNIC
registering around 20,000 Domain Names (increasing at the same rate so it's claimed) each
month, at a cost of US$70 (US$100 before April, 1 1998) per name, not even the
InterNIC is prepared to let this lucrative market loose.
By establishing the AURSC and operating our own Root
Servers, these Domains, (even the .AU domain which we currently have no control over
and pay AU$125 to Melbourne IT,) can
become public property again, allowing ISP's and the Users of the Internet to jointly help
cover the cost of keeping it public and on-line.
Mr. Todd is looking for people to help direct the AURSC by joining and taking an active role in promoting and running
the services. There will be NO pay for these people, as there is none for those who
currently administer other TLD's and Root Servers. All monies coming into the AURSC will
be used to increase capacity and performance, install new services, reduce costs to ISP's
not only for DNS but bandwidth and transit.
The steering group will be able to decide on applications
for new Top Level Domains (greatly sort after) and even establishing new domains under the
current .AU name space. This group is now well formed and operational with a fairly
good policy in place that doesn't allow for discriminatory decisions.
ISP's are requested to configure their Domain Name Servers
as they would any other application they use in their business. (How many ISPs have
the Apache "Welcome it's working" page as their home page!!)
Users can use AURSC servers to gain not only access to
resolving names in the AURSC name space also those names in
other RSC networks.
By cooperation and commitment to this project these RSCs
across the world are able to offer the public hundreds of new names, carefully, so as not
to destroy or break the name space.
Going Beyond Australia ...
The IRSC was formed in
January 1998 when a European Provider decided it was time to get in Sync and created the EURSC.
There was another reason. AURSC
had become vastly international. Something that was NEVER intended. Internet
History shows that if you create a service, people will use it - and if it works for them,
they keep using it. AURSC is an example of that
evolution.
Mr. Todd is also hosts the International Root Server Confederation Mail
List which is designed to help RSCs choose new TLDs for their services and to avoid
name clashes across the world.
The RSCs will also work together sharing Registration
services into each others domain names groups and even sharing databases so that names are
always available world wide and quickly.
Already countries such as Bulgaria, Poland, Australia and
New Zealand have new TLDs operating more beneficially for the public.
What about Domain Name and TLD Registration?
Mr. Todd has already made the Ahnet
DN Registry functional with many already existing Registration Services and more will
become available as agreements are negotiated.
By everyone sharing these capabilities and working together
the Internet will last further into the future as a choice to the methods in which we as
consumers and businesses can communicate.
Where to from here?
Of course technology will improve and new ideas will
evolve, Internet has been around a long time, but really the public were not aware of it
in Australia until 1995, it's been around since 1974!!
In some ways Internet and the ISP in Australia have
replaced the Bulletin Board and Fidonet days, but it's still out there if you care to play
and learn.
That's where some ISPs started. It is those ISPs who
generally form the most stable Service Provider Companies in Australia!
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