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The OpenNIC FAQ, version 0.1
You've stumbled upon the OpenNIC FAQ, or Questions that are Asked most Frequently.
This FAQ is maintained by Dave Coyle [dave@qblock.com].
Thanks to Robin Bandy and Matt Bandy for contributing.
This document was last modified on 5 September 2001.
Welcome to the OpenNIC! Here you can find information on the following topics:
What is the OpenNIC?
The OpenNIC is a user owned and controlled Network Information Center offering a democratic, non-national, alternative to the traditional Top-Level Domain registries.
Users of the OpenNIC DNS servers, in addition to resolving host names in the Legacy U.S. Government DNS, can resolve host names in the OpenNIC operated namespaces as well as in the namespaces with which we have peering agreements (at this time those are AlterNIC and The Pacific Root).
Who makes up the OpenNIC?
Membership in the OpenNIC is open to every user of the Internet. All decisions are made either by a democratically elected administrator or through a direct ballot of the interested members and all decisions, regardless of how they are made, within OpenNIC are appealable to a vote of the general membership.
How did the OpenNIC get its start?
An article was posted on Kuro5hin.org on June 1, 2000, advocating the need for a democratically governed Domain Name System (DNS). Out of the resulting discussion, the OpenNIC was born.
How can I contact the OpenNIC and/or its members?
You have several options, depending on what sort of info you're looking for:
To receive general announcements and updates, you can subscribe to the OpenNIC-announce mailing list.
To subscribe, send an email to "majordomo@opennic.glue" (or "majordomo@opennic.unrated.net" if you're not using OpenDNS already) containing the text "subscribe announce". You will receive an email requesting confirmation from "majordomo@scheherazade.devnull.net". Don't be surprised; that's the mail list server's base name. Reply as it instructs. You will now receive announcements about the Project just as often as we can come up with things to announce.
You may also subscribe to the OpenNIC email discussion list.
This list is for folks discussing the organization and operation of the OpenNIC project. While you do not need to be an experienced DNS administrator to subscribe, you might need to become one to be able to contribute to the technical discussions (or to that aspect of the project).
A project like OpenNIC, however, requires much more than technical expertise. The social and legal issues are at least as important as, and probably much more complicated than, the technical issues. This list is for those discussions as well. If traffic starts to be a problem with a single discussion list, this list will be broken into several seperate lists by topic. Until then this is the appropriate venue for anything pertaining to OpenNIC.
To subscribe, send an email to "majordomo@opennic.glue" (or "majordomo@opennic.unrated.net" if you're not using OpenDNS already) containing the text "subscribe discuss". You will receive an email requesting confirmation from "majordomo@scheherazade.devnull.net". Don't be surprised; that's the mail list server's base name. Reply as it instructs. At this point you can post to the list by sending email to "discuss@opennic.glue".
We're in the process of moving our discussions over to our new Forum site at http://scoop.opennic.unrated.net. So if you prefer, you can post your question/item for discussion to the Forum site instead of the discussion mailing list.
For questions regarding domain acceptable use, registration procedures, etc., for a specific OpenNIC Top Level Domain (TLD), you can contact the TLD operator directly.
See http://www.opennic.unrated.net/tlds.html for contact info. Generally, you can visit http://www.opennic.[TLD] or email hostmaster@opennic.[TLD] (e.g. http://www.opennic.geek and hostmaster@opennic.geek).
For questions and/or comments about this FAQ, including information you'd like to see added, please contact its maintainer directly at dave@qblock.com.
What is OpenNIC's relationship with the other alternative roots and ICANN?
OpenNIC currently reconizes and peers the existing ICANN TLDs .com, .net, .org, and all two-letter country code TLDs (e.g. .uk); the future ICANN TLD .info; .mil, .edu, .int, and .gov; and all AlterNIC and Pacific Root TLDs. Therefore, if you configure your computer to resolve OpenNIC domains, you'll also be able to resolve all of the above automatically.
OpenNIC has not yet evaluated nor does it hold a formal position on the future ICANN TLD's .aero, .coop, .museum, .name, and .pro.
The OpenNIC membership has voted explicitly to reject ICANN's introduction of the collider TLD .biz, and does not recognize .biz domain names registered through ICANN registrars. By introducing a collider TLD, ICANN has brought instability into the domain name system; see the FAQ entry on the .biz dispute for more info.
What TLDs are operated by the OpenNIC?
Currently, the OpenNIC operates the .indy, .geek, .null, .oss, and .parody Top Level Domains. OpenNIC also cooperatively operates the shared TLD .glue, which is shared among alternative domain name systems.
See http://www.opennic.glue/tlds.html or http://www.opennic.unrated.net/tlds.html for the current list.
How do I resolve OpenNIC domains?
For step-by-step instructions on resolving OpenNIC domains, please see http://www.opennic.unrated.net/personal.html.
I run a name server. How do I set it to resolve OpenNIC domains?
http://www.opennic.unrated.net/server.html has instructions for configuring BIND, djbdns, and Windows DNS Server to resolve OpenNIC domains.
How do I register a domain name using an OpenNIC TLD?
To register an OpenNIC Top Level Domain, such as .indy, .geek, .null, .oss, or .parody, please see http://www.opennic.unrated.net/tlds.html for a list of whom to contact. Please be a
ware that each OpenNIC Top Level Domain has its own policies regarding acceptable use (for example, some may be restricted to
non-commercial use only).
Can I register .com/.net/.org domain names through the OpenNIC?
No. The OpenNIC provides a democratically goverened alternative to the traditional Top-Level Domain registries; we do not register non-OpenNIC Top Level Domains, such as .com, .net, and .org.
However, you may register an OpenNIC Top Level Domain, such as .indy, .geek, .null, .oss, or .parody; please see http://www.opennic.unrated.net/tlds.html for a list of whom to contact. Please be aware that each OpenNIC Top Level Domain has its own policies regarding acceptable use (for example, some may be restricted to non-commercial use only).
How do I register a new TLD?
The first thing you have to do is to make sure that no prior claim exists on the particular TLD in which you are interested. To do this, search for your TLD idea using the VueDIG tool [http://root-dns.org/vuedig.htm], provided by the Independent Root Operator's Network (IRON) [http://root-dns.org]. If the string is already claimed, then contact the existing claimant. They may be interested in collaboration.
If the TLD string is unclaimed, the next thing is to decide whether or not you want it to be an OpenNIC TLD. The OpenNIC has some very specific and strict rules which regulate the way OpenNIC TLDs may be operated. Most importantly is the universal requirement that all OpenNIC TLDs must be governed democratically, with each domain registrant receiving a single vote. A vote of the "membership" of a TLD is always binding. Therefore, an OpenNIC TLD does not belong to any one person or group, but rather to the community of its users. Also, the TLD manager must provide a dedicated always-on Tier 1 OpenNIC nameserver, as well as manage domain registration and maintenance.
If you are unable or unwilling to abide by these rules, then the OpenNIC is not for you. There are a number of other root systemson the internet today, many of which peer TLD data with us. We recommend that you investigate The Pacific Root, AlterNIC, or the Oper Root Server Confedation as possible systems in which you might wish to home your TLD.
If you are happy to manage a TLD which will be governed by its users, according to OpenNIC;s understanding of the term, and which will always be subject to any binding vote of the entire OpenNIC membership, if you are willing to provide a Tier 1 nameserver, and coordinate registry functions, and if you are willing to make all zone data for your TLD freely available, the you may wish to propose your TLD for inclusion in the OpenNIC root.
To do so you must write a description of the TLD, and of its proposed use, and any restrictions on secondary domain ownership, use, transfer and content. It is probably a good idea to specifically address how disputes will be resolved, as well as the role of trademark/copyright in deciding disputes, since these issues are of concern to the OpenNIC membership. This document, which need be no more than a page or two, but can be longer, is called a "charter". Submit your charter to both the OpenNIC forum website [http://scoop.opennic.unrated.net] and to the OpenNIC Discuss mailing list [see http://www.opennic.unrated.net for instructions on joining the list]. Your proposal will be debated at length, and, if it is interesting to enough of the OpenNIC membership it will be brought to a vote. If the result of positive, then your TLD will be included in the OpenNIC root, and your will become and OpenNIC TLD manager. Good luck!
On a final note, we recommend that before you go to the trouble of preparing a formal TLD charter, that you post an informal query to the forum site and to the mailing list. You will probably get quite a bit of feedback, which will help in the preparation of your charter.
Thanks to Matt Bandy for the writeup!
What's the current architecture of the OpenNIC? (This isn't just some guy running this out of his dorm room, is it?)
Currently, the OpenNIC is over 400 members strong. We operate 24 nameservers in 6 countries on 4 continents. Please see http://www.opennic.glue/public_servers.html or http://www.opennic.unrated.net/public_servers.html for more specifics.
I remember seeing a .opennic TLD a while back. What happened to it?
The .opennic TLD is deprecated. It has been replaced by opennic.glue.
Disclaimer: I disclaim everything. Unfortunate, but necessary; existing technology case law here in the U.S. scares me. While the maintainer of this FAQ has made every attempt to verify the information contained herein, I make no claim to its fitness for any purpose, nor do I claim it free from errors or omissions. Except for my name. You can probably trust me that I got that part right.
2001, the OpenNIC membership.
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