OpenNIC

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OpenNIC (www.opennicproject.org)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.

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 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 TLDs may be created subject to OpenNIC stated policies.

Top Level Domains

Currently, OpenNIC supports the following TLDs:

.bbs
aimed toward (Telnet-style) bulletin board systems and related Web sites.[1]
.dyn
dynamic IPs.[2]
.free
operated by FreeNIC, the .free tld provides namespace, certificate authority, and other services to encourage the non-commercial use of the internet.[3]
.fur
furry fandom-related sites. Now operated by FurNIC instead of OpenNIC.[4]
.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. [5]
.opennic.glue
internal architectural, 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.
.gopher
sites using the Gopher protocol.[6]
.indy
independent news, media, and entertainment.[7]
.ing
fun TLD. Further details to be confirmed.[8]
.micro
micronations and their entities. Recent and not widely used yet.[9]
.neo
emo subculture with influences of technology, music, and other forms of multimedia.[10]
.null
miscellaneous non-commercial individual sites.[11]
.oss
open-source software.[12]
.oz
Australian-related content, without the residency requirements of .au.[13]
.parody
venue for non-commercial parody work. Having a TLD designated to works of parody attempts to remove claims that a website could be mistaken for a business site, and thus reduces the possibility of claims of trademark infringement.[14]
.pirate
created as a reaction against internet censorship. (Currently unavailable due to hardware fault)

Peering

OpenNIC also provides resolution of select other alternative DNS roots. Currently OpenNIC peers with New Nations, providing .ko, .ku, .rm, .te, .ti, and .uu, and FurNIC, providing .fur.

Public Access Information

To access the OpenNIC Network fully, users need to use (at least one of) its name servers.

For temporary resolution of the above TLDs, i.e. for those who are unable or unwilling to make this kind of change to their system, OpenNIC also provides a proxy server service.[15]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ As described in the .bbs charter OpenNIC .bbs TLD Charter
  2. ↑ As described in the .dyn charter OpenNIC .dyn TLD Charter
  3. ↑ As described in the .free charter OpenNIC .free TLD Charter
  4. ↑ As described on the .fur description page OpenNIC .fur Description
  5. ↑ As described in the .geek charter OpenNIC .geek Charter
  6. ↑ As described in the .gopher charter OpenNIC .gopher Charter
  7. ↑ As described in the .indy Charter OpenNIC .indy Charter
  8. ↑ As described in the .ing Charter OpenNIC .ing Charter
  9. ↑ As described in the .micro Charter OpenNIC .micro Charter
  10. ↑ As described in the .neo Charter OpenNIC .neo Charter
  11. ↑ As described in the .null Charter OpenNIC .null Charter
  12. ↑ As described in the .oss Charter OpenNIC .oss Charter
  13. ↑ As described in the .oz Charter OpenNIC .oz Charter
  14. ↑ As described on the .parody Description page OpenNIC .parody Description
  15. ↑ Shown on the main wiki page () OpenNIC's Proxy Service, OpenNIC Domain access only

External links

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