Opinion ID: 767492
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Internet Domain Name System

Text: 2 The dispute between the parties centers on the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. 1 The DNS controls the way in which each component of the Internet identifies and communicates with one another. The various protocols that allow such communications to take place are known as Internet protocols (IP), and each entity connected to the Internet is assigned one or more unique numeric addresses, known as IP numbers or IP addresses. An IP address is a string of four sets of numbers, separated by periods, such as 98.37.241.30, and every host or computer on the Internet is assigned such a numerical IP address. See Management of Internet Names and Addresses, 63 Fed. Reg. 31,741, 31,741 (1998). In the early stages of the Internet's development, IP addresses were assigned and maintained by the late Dr. Jon Postel, whose work was eventually conducted under the auspices of a private entity known as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). See id. Due at least in part to the difficulty of remembering numeric IP addresses, Dr. Postel and his colleagues also administered the assignment of alphanumeric names to each host computer on the Internet. See Developments in the Law - The Law of Cyberspace, The Domain Name System: A Case Study of the Significance of Norms of Internet Governance, 112 HARV. L. REV. 1657, 1660 (1999). A file containing the mappings of these host names to the corresponding IP addresses was updated and maintained on each host computer. See 63 Fed. Reg. at 31,742. 3 However, as the Internet continued to grow in size and complexity, this horizontal system became increasingly unwieldy. By the mid-1980s, the time and resources necessary to update the files on each host computer, and the desire for greater local structure and control over host names, inter alia, suggested that a different system was necessary. Therefore, the Internet community developed a new DNS for mapping host names onto IP addresses. The current DNS has a hierarchical tree structure of names. A domain name, such as www.uscourts.gov, comprises a series of alphanumeric fields, or domains, separated by periods or dots. The alphanumeric field to the far right of a domain name is the Top Level Domain (TLD), and each prior field to the left of the period preceding the TLD is the Second Level Domain (SLD), the Third Level Domain, and so on. Thus, TLDs are the highest subdivisions of Internet domain names, and SLDs and other lower level domain names identify the host computers and individual websites under each TLD. There are currently two different types of TLDs: seven generic TLDs (gTLDs), namely, .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov, .int, and .mil, 2 and approximately 240 two-letter country code TLDs (ccTLDs), such as .us, .uk, .jp, and .kr. 3 . 4 The process of converting domain names into IP numbers begins with the root zone file, which is the highest level of the domain name system and contains the databases enabling an Internet address query to be routed to its proper destination. See Improvement of Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses, 63 Fed. Reg. 8,826, 8,826 (1998). The master root zone server of the DNS contains the authoritative root zone file, from which the other 12 duplicate root zone servers download new domain name information on a daily basis. See 63 Fed. Reg. at 31,742. The root zone file serves the function of directing an address query to the proper TLD zone file, which contains information regarding the location of the numerous gTLDs and ccTLDs. The TLD zone file in turn directs the address query to SLD zone files, which contain listings of all SLDs and corresponding IP numbers under the TLD in question. The SLD zone files then direct the query to lower level portions of the DNS, until the address query is fully resolved. 5 The parties contest NSI's control of the master root zone server and file. NSI currently maintains the master root zone server, and was the sole registrar for new domain names under the .com, .org, .net, .edu and .gov gTLDs when this action was first commenced in the district court. NSI has performed these functions since 1993, pursuant to Cooperative Agreement No. NCR-9218742 (the Cooperative Agreement), awarded by NSF through a competitive process pursuant to the National Science Foundation Act, 42 U.S.C. 1861 et seq., and the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act, 31 U.S.C. 6301 et seq. Article 3 of the Cooperative Agreement states that NSI shall provide domain name registration services in accordance with RFC 1174. 4 RFC 1591, which superceded RFC 1174 in March 1994, states that applications for new TLDs are handled by NSI with consultation with the IANA. No new gTLDs have been added to the Internet since NSI commenced its provision of domain name registration services, although numerous ccTLDs have been. 6