[AusNOG] Telstra manipulating DNS to block botnets

[Mark Delany]

> What I don't know is how we can increase pressure on ICANN to clean up the
> DNS system they have allowed to get out of control. Me saying something to
> them is not likely to work :(   Does anyone know of any practical way this
> can be achieved? 

Many moons ago a significant representation of US providers pitched to
the FTC that - with a little inter-departmental discussion - they
might convince the DoC to get involved in the problem of untraceable
registrants. This was in an email context, but the same problem
applies.

The obvious argument being that soon people would predominantly deal
with domains so a lack of jurisdiction was going to make their number
one job "To prevent business practices ... that are deceptive or
unfair to consumers" impossible.

The general idea was to have well defined jurisdictions that
registrants could attach to their domain - one choice being "none of
the above".

Sort of a voluntary trust assignment by the registrant but bound to a
legal entity and thus a jurisdiction. Amazon might saying "the FTC can
sue me" (once proving they exist as a legal US entity of course) and
thus come under the purview of various LEAs and regulators.

Amazon would have to go through hurdles for their registration but my
personal domain rego with "none of the above" would proceed exactly as
it does today. Amazon would want to go through hurdles because tools
would be able to positively act on what is effectively a risk
assignment.

(Note that the technical sketch had it that jurisdiction was
orthogonal to the namespace but one could imagine an alignment, such
as .com.au and ASIC - it was but a sketch).

The minimal goal was to at least get discussion going around when
domain registrants should move from the wild-west days of the early
Internet to something a little more, er, 21st century.

Of course, ICANN could have done this on their own volition without a
DoC nudge; or with a greater sense of responsibility for the billions
of vulnerable consumers. But that seems not to have happened in the
intervening years.


Mark.