[65858] in North American Network Operators' Group

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Re: Root Authority

daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael.Dillon@radianz.com)
Tue Dec 16 07:21:25 2003

To: nanog@merit.edu
From: Michael.Dillon@radianz.com
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 12:06:26 +0000
Errors-To: owner-nanog-outgoing@merit.edu


>> Sorry Mr Bush.  We derive our authority from the old IANA, who
>> assigned out the exiting roots.

>No, that's who *appointed* you.  However, you derive your actual
>authority from all the named.ca hints files that point to you.

Valdis is right. I suppose I could repeat my post about the free market
economy of ideas, but if anyone missed it last time, it's in the
NANOG archives here:
http://www.merit.edu/mail.archives/nanog/msg00294.html

The root servers are yet another area in which authority grew
on its own rather than being handed down from above. If the explanations
of this seem confusing it's because, like the Tao, what can be spoken
is only a one-sided view of what really is.

--Michael Dillon



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