AlterNIC takes over InterNIC traffic

[Steve Schear <azur@netcom.com>]

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C12382%2C00.html?nd

AlterNIC takes over InterNIC traffic
   By Courtney Macavinta
July 14, 1997, 12:15 p.m. PT

 A rival domain name registry to the official Internet registrar,
InterNIC, redirected users from "www.internic.net" to its own  site last
weekend in what is being called a "protest."

 Netizens told CNET's NEWS.COM that they ended up at  AlterNIC, or
"www.alternic.net," after typing in InterNIC's  URL. AlterNIC was set up by
the enhanced Domain Name  Services to offer alternate top-level domains,
such as ".ltd,"  ".sex," and ".med."

 "By redirecting the domain name 'www.internic.net,' we are  protesting the
recent InterNIC claim to ownership of '.com,'  '.org,' and '.net,' which
they were supposed to be running in the  public trust," AlterNIC CFO Eugene
Kashpureff stated on his  site.

 "Our apologies for any trouble this DNS [domain name system]  protest has
caused you...We think we exercised restraint in the  use of our latest DNS
technology for this protest," the letter  states. "We terminated the
protest configuration at 8 a.m.  Monday, July 14."

 The AlterNIC site also contained a link that allowed visitors to  access
the actual InterNIC in the protest message.

 InterNIC is the registrar of the most valuable domain names, such  as
".com." It is administered in part by Network Solutions under  agreement
with the National Science Foundation, which ends in  March of next year.
During its tenure, Network Solutions has  collected approximately $78
million in registration fees.

 The protest is the latest move in the heated debate over who will  control
the Internet naming system, which has turned into a  lucrative business as
commercial entities fight to establish brand  awareness by using the most
coveted names. For example, the  name "business.com" was bought recently
from its registered  owner for $150,000.

 Last month, the Commerce Department asked for public comment  on the
future of the domain name system. An ad hoc committee  formed in part by
the Internet Society also proposed a plan last  year for replacing Network
Solutions and reconfiguring how the  names are handed out. Kashpureff said
he is protesting Network  Solutions' claim in its recent Securities and
Exchange filing that it  owned the property rights to ".com" and the other
popular  domains.

 "If they think they own the entire domain name space, I've got  news for
them. Over the weekend, I possessed their name," he  told CNET's NEWS.COM.

 No one at Network Solutions could be immediately reached to  comment on
whether the company will look into legal  ramifications for the rerouting
of its traffic by AlterNIC.

 Kashpureff wouldn't say how he managed to abduct InterNIC's  domain name
but did say he did it to demonstrate the system's  vulnerability. "I'm not
releasing how I did it because it would  take out the name service on the
Net. The hack was a result of a  years' worth of work under a project
called 'DNS Storm.'"

 Moreover, there is no telling how many registrations InterNIC  could have
lost due to the antic. But some Netizens who were  involuntarily
transported to the alternate site didn't seem to mind.

 "They do have a good point in the fact that those domain names  are
supposed to be in the public trust. I don't agree with the  InterNIC
monopoly either," said Jason Brunette, a Webmaster for  TCB Internet in
Wisconsin, who was rerouted to AlterNIC this  weekend when he tried to
register a domain.