Re: More federal management of key components of the Internet needed

["Christopher L. Morrow" <chris () UU NET>]

On Wed, 23 Oct 2002, Sean Donelan wrote:

> Should root servers be located in the "middle" of backbones, instead of stub
> networks?  Or do networks naturally "grow" towards root servers?
>
> http://www.idg.net/ic_958962_1793_1-1681.html
>   "More federal management of key components of the Internet
>   infrastructure is needed, Julian and Brady agreed. That could include
>   tax incentives or direct federal funding for private companies and
>   public organizations managing key DNS servers to secure their systems,
>   all of which are currently operated as a free service by companies,
>   government entities and non-profit organizations.
>
>   "This showcases a specific vulnerability that requires the government to
>   get involved," Julian said. "If you run a DNS server what is your
>   monetary incentive to secure it? There is none. This is the number one
>   area of focus that the government should have."

This last quote is complete non-sense. The major reason an operator would
want to keep a root server  secure and available is, in my mind atleast,
the stigma associated with running a poor service. Something that EVERYONE
on the Internet could notice as a problem is a very large burden to bear.

Gov't requirements or management of this system is a non-starter, its not
going to increase the security or availability of the systems in the
least.

-Chris "I should have slept through yesterday" Morrow.