From: Sten Drescher <dreschs@mpd.tandem.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 1995 01:45:01 +0800
To: Rich Graves <llurch@networking.stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: censored? corrected [Steve Pizzo cited in The Spotlight]
In-Reply-To: <199511020847.AAA10833@jobe.shell.portal.com>
Message-ID: <199511021624.KAA05751@galil.austnsc.tandem.com.>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Rich Graves <llurch@networking.stanford.edu> said:

RG> On Thu, 2 Nov 1995 anonymous-remailer@shell.portal.com wrote:

>> But control of Internet domain name registration means the ability to
>> remove troublesome-or outspoken-computer systems from the
>> network. Po- tentially, this control also confers the power to
>> insinuate "phantom" domains into the network-for surveillance
>> purposes, for example-or for real-time, automatic censorship.

RG> Anyone capable of sending this message should have known that this
RG> was complete BS.

	Is it?  This is the _one_ thing in the article (is that term
giving it too much legitimacy?) that I whought was barely true.  Whoever
controls the root level DNS servers effectively controls the Internet.
I postulated a couple of months ago about how the US Govt might attempt
to censor the rest of the world: "Remove lurid.porno.site.other-country
from your DNS system within 72 hours or we will remove references to
your DNS servers from the root level servers.".  (I also speculated that
if the US Govt tried doing this, that an 'underground' DNS system would
form almost immediately.)

>> Furthermore, anecdotal evidence gathered by this author suggests that
>> actual "truth control" is taking place on the 'net now. E-mail
>> messages with controversial contents-including the details of the
>> SAIC takover of domain names-have consistently disappeared as they
>> travel across the net- work.

RG> And now we have PROOF! For THIS VERY MESSAGE, sent to THIS VERY LIST
RG> only EIGHT HOURS AGO was MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED! Hide the women
RG> and children!

	At least, it was allegedly lost.  If I were wanting to hype it,
I'd just _claim_ that it was lost.

		Sten
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