InterNIC, short for
Internet Network Information Center, was the
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
governing body primarily responsible for
domain nameA domain name is an identification label that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet, based on the Domain Name System ....
and
IP addressAn Internet Protocol address is a numerical label that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol for communication between its nodes....
allocations until September 18, 1998 when this role was assumed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It was accessed through the website
internic.net which was run by
Network Solutions, IncNetwork Solutions, LLC is a technology company founded in 1979. The domain name registration business has become the most important division of the company. As of January 2009, Network Solutions managed more than 6.6 million domain names...
and
AT&TAT&T Inc. is the largest provider of local, long distance telephone services in the United States, and also serves digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150...
.
"InterNIC" is a registered
service markIn some countries, notably the United States, a trademark used to identify a service rather than a product is called a service mark or servicemark. When a service mark is federally registered, the standard registration symbol ® or "Reg U.S. Pat & TM Off" may be used...
of the U.S.
InterNIC, short for
Internet Network Information Center, was the
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
governing body primarily responsible for
domain nameA domain name is an identification label that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet, based on the Domain Name System ....
and
IP addressAn Internet Protocol address is a numerical label that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol for communication between its nodes....
allocations until September 18, 1998 when this role was assumed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It was accessed through the website
internic.net which was run by
Network Solutions, IncNetwork Solutions, LLC is a technology company founded in 1979. The domain name registration business has become the most important division of the company. As of January 2009, Network Solutions managed more than 6.6 million domain names...
and
AT&TAT&T Inc. is the largest provider of local, long distance telephone services in the United States, and also serves digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150...
.
Term
"InterNIC" is a registered
service markIn some countries, notably the United States, a trademark used to identify a service rather than a product is called a service mark or servicemark. When a service mark is federally registered, the standard registration symbol ® or "Reg U.S. Pat & TM Off" may be used...
of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The term is licensed to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
History
The first central authority to coordinate the operation of the network was the Network Information Center (NIC) at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in
Menlo ParkMenlo Park is an affluent city in San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It is located at latitude 37°29' North, longitude 122°9' East. Menlo Park had 29,964 inhabitants as of the 2007 U.S. Census.-History:...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
). In 1972, management of these issues was given to the newly created
Internet Assigned Numbers AuthorityThe Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is the entity that oversees global IP address allocation, root zone management for the Domain Name System , media types, and other Internet Protocol related assignments...
(IANA). In addition to his role as the RFC Editor,
Jon PostelJonathan Bruce Postel made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards. He is known principally for being the Editor of the Request for Comment document series, and for administering the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority until his...
worked as the manager of IANA till his death in 1998.
As the early ARPANet grew, hosts were referred to by names, and a HOSTS.TXT file was distributed by
SRI InternationalSRI International, founded as Stanford Research Institute, is one of the world's largest contract research institutes. Based in the United States, the trustees of Stanford University established it in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic development in the region. It was later...
and manually installed on each host on the network. As the network grew, this became increasingly cumbersome. A technical solution came in the form of the
Domain Name SystemThe Domain Name System is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participants...
, created by
Paul MockapetrisDr. Paul V. Mockapetris is the inventor of the Domain Name System.In 1983, he proposed a Domain Name System architecture in RFCs 882 and 883 while at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California....
. The Defense Data Network Network Information Center (DDN-NIC) at SRI handled all registration services, including the Top Level Domains of
.milmil is the sponsored top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet for the United States Department of Defense and its subsidiary or affiliated organizations. It was one of the first top-level domains, created in January 1985.The United States is the only country that has a top-level...
,
.govgov is a sponsored top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is restricted for use by government entities in the United States. The gov domain is administered by the General Services Administration , an independent agency of the United States federal government...
,
.eduedu is the sponsored top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet for educational institutions, primarily those in the United States. Although not officially mandated for much of the domain's existence, in practice it has been used primarily for U.S.-based four-year...
,
.orgorg is a generic top-level domain of the Domain Name System used in the Internet.
org is sometimes pronounced in word form as 'org', 'dot-org', or 'dot-oh-are-gee '. It is derived from the word organization....
,
.netnet is a generic top-level domain used on the Internet's Domain Name System. The net gTLD is currently operated by VeriSign...
,
.comcom is a generic top-level domain within the Domain Name System of the Internet. It was one of the original top-level domains , the others being
edu,
gov,
mil,
net,
org, and
arpa established in January 1985...
and
.us.us is the Internet country code top-level domain for the United States, established in 1985. Registrants of .us domains must be United States citizens, residents, or organizations, or a foreign entity with a presence in the United States...
, as well as
root nameserverA root name server is a name server for the Domain Name System's root zone. It directly answers requests for records in the root zone and answers other requests returning a list of the designated authoritative name servers for the appropriate top-level domain...
administration and Internet number assignments under a
United States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military...
contract. In 1991 the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) awarded the administration and maintenance of DDN-NIC, which had been up until this point under the management of SRI for many years, to Government Systems, Inc. who subcontracted it to the small private-sector
Network SolutionsNetwork Solutions, LLC is a technology company founded in 1979. The domain name registration business has become the most important division of the company. As of January 2009, Network Solutions managed more than 6.6 million domain names...
, Inc.
At this point in history most of the growth on the Internet was in the non-military sector. Therefor, it was decided that the Department of Defense would no longer fund registration services outside of the .mil TLD. In 1993 the U.S.
National Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, after a competitive bidding process in 1992, created the Internet Network Information Center, known as
InterNIC, to manage the allocations of addresses and awarded the contract to three organizations. Registration Services were to be provided by
Network SolutionsNetwork Solutions, LLC is a technology company founded in 1979. The domain name registration business has become the most important division of the company. As of January 2009, Network Solutions managed more than 6.6 million domain names...
, Directory and Database Services were to be run by
AT&TAT&T Inc. is the largest provider of local, long distance telephone services in the United States, and also serves digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150...
, and Information Services by
General AtomicsGeneral Atomics is a nuclear physics and defense contractor headquartered in San Diego, California. General Atomics’ basic research into fission and fusion matured into competence in many technologies, making General Atomics and its affiliated companies one of the world’s leading resources for...
. Later, General Atomics was disqualified from the contract after a review found their services not conforming to the standards of its contract. General Atomics' InterNIC functions were assumed by AT&T. AT&T discontinued InterNIC services after their contract expired.
In 1998 both IANA and InterNIC were reorganized under the control of
ICANNICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Headquartered in Marina Del Rey, California, United States, ICANN is a non-profit corporation that was created on September 18, 1998 and incorporated September 30, 1998 in order to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks...
, a
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
non-profit corporation contracted by the US Department of Commerce to manage a number of Internet-related tasks. The role of operating the DNS system was privatized, and opened up to competition, while the central management of name allocations would be awarded on a contract tender basis.
Domain name censorship
Under internic.net, domain names were distributed through an automated system. Beginning in 1996, Network Solutions began restricting the distribution of domain names containing a number of words on a "restricted list" through an automated filter. The filter is known to have rejected domain names containing the "least agreeable words in the
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
" Applicants whose domain names were rejected would receive a form e-mail containing the notice: "Network Solutions has a right founded in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to refuse to register, and thereby publish, on the Internet registry of domain names words that it deems to be inappropriate."
This filter came under heavy scrutiny, as legitimate domain names such as "shitakemushrooms.com" would be rejected, but the domain name "shit.com" was active, as it had been registered before 1996. Network Solutions eventually allowed domain names containing the words on a case-by-case basis, after manually reviewing the names for "obscene intent". This profanity filter was never enforced by the government and was not carried over to the
ICANNICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Headquartered in Marina Del Rey, California, United States, ICANN is a non-profit corporation that was created on September 18, 1998 and incorporated September 30, 1998 in order to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks...
organization when they took over governance of the distribution of domain names to the public.
Trivia
- In the world of Uplink
Uplink is a video game released in 2001 by the British software company Introversion Software. On August 23, 2006, it was made available for purchase on Valve's Steam service...
and its clones, InterNIC exists with the same function as in the real world. It is also one of the most important cyber places in the game because it serves a major role in the hacking process.
- Example: InterNIC in Uplink could be hacked very easily, and all logs on the server could be removed by the player, for his own safety, so he couldn’t be traced after a hack.
See also
- Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
- Network Solutions
Network Solutions, LLC is a technology company founded in 1979. The domain name registration business has become the most important division of the company. As of January 2009, Network Solutions managed more than 6.6 million domain names...
, Inc.
External links
- InterNIC
- InterNIC License Agreement between ICANN and U.S. Department of Commerce
- Archive copy of InterNIC's about page
- Food domain name found "obscene" a CNET
CNET Networks, Inc. was a media company based in San Francisco, California, United States. The company was co-founded in 1993 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie. It was acquired by CBS Corporation in 2008 and its properties were merged into CBS Interactive...
article on flaws with internic.net's profanity filter (April 27, 1998)
- Internet Domain Names and Intellectual Property Rights - a transcript of a hearing in front of the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, and Competition Policy is a subcommittee within the House committee on the Judiciary.-Members, 111th Congress:- External links :*...
in the United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
that deals with internic.net's filtration of obscenity (July 28, 1999)
- NSF contract establishing the InterNIC
- DDN-NIC
- SRI-GSI