OpenNIC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OpenNIC is an alternate Network Information Center/Alternative DNS root which lists itself as an alternative to ICANN and its registries.

As of 2006 users of the OpenNIC DNS servers are able to resolve all existing ICANN top-level domains as well as their own.

Like all alternative root DNS systems, OpenNIC-hosted domains are unreachable to the vast majority of the Internet. Only specific configuration in one's DNS resolver makes these reachable, and very few Internet service providers have this configuration.

1 History
2 Top Level Domains
3 Public Access Information
4 Additional Information
5 External links

[edit] History

On June 1, 2000, an article was posted on kuro5hin.org advocating a democratically governed domain name system. By the end of July, OpenNIC root servers were operating and several top-level domains had been introduced as well as peering of the AlterNIC namespace. In March of 2001 peering began of Pacific Root and in September a search engine was announced which was dedicated to the OpenNIC namespace.

OpenNIC restructured its architecture to improve scalability and avoid single-point-of-failure issues. Each TLD has its own policies regarding acceptable use. New TLD's may be created subject to OpenNIC stated policies.

[edit] Top Level Domains

Currently, OpenNIC supports the following TLDs:

.bbs: aimed toward ( Telnet style ) Bulletin Board System servers, and affiliated/related/owned websites.
.fur: Furry and Furry Fandom related sites
.free: Run by FreeNIC, the .free tld provides namespace, certificate authority, and other services to encourage the non-commercial use of the internet.
.geek: Chartered for use by Geek-oriented sites, including anything of a personal or hobbyist nature. This description is deliberately vague to reflect the huge range of interests that might qualify.
.glue: Internal Archtectural, as in root server administration and peering purposes. The only domain names that exist for this TLD are those that are used for each system on the peer.
.indy: independent news, media, and entertainment
.mud: Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension Role Playing Games ( under review )
.null: miscellaneous non-commercial individual sites
.oss: Open Source Software
.parody: A venue for non-commercial parody work. Having a TLD designated to works of parody removes any claims that a website could be mistaken for a business site, and thus eliminates the possibility of claims of trademark infringement.

Definitions given are mainly historical. In certain cases, they are under review. More TLD's are planned.

[edit] Public Access Information

In order to fully access the OpenNIC Network and resolve the above TLDs, changes need to be made to the default DNS Servers as provided by your ISP. For those who are unable or unwilling to make this kind of change to their system, OpenNIC also provide a Proxy Server service. For further details please visit one of the OpenNIC Public Access Information Websites, links given below.

[edit] Additional Information

At this time, there are no peering arrangements with other alternative DNS root servers. Former peering agreements existed with the long-defunct AlterNIC, in hopes it ever came up, and Pacific Root, which seemed to cease resolution sometime in late 2004.