SAC090 - SSAC Advisory on the Stability of the Domain Namespace
Abstract
This advisory is concerned only with the risks to security and stability that arise from
ambiguity in the use of the domain namespace. Because no one owns (or can own) the
domain namespace, and programmers and network managers cannot be prevented from
creating their own names and naming scopes, these risks arise regardless of how policy
debates about authority or oversight are resolved. Therefore, the observations and
recommendations in this advisory are directed at mitigating clearly identified risks and
developing policies that provide practical guidance to software and system developers,
rather than debating whether or not private network operators should use the domain
namespace, or who (if anyone) should have the authority to declare and enforce exclusive
uses for specific individual domain name labels or categories of labels.
ambiguity in the use of the domain namespace. Because no one owns (or can own) the
domain namespace, and programmers and network managers cannot be prevented from
creating their own names and naming scopes, these risks arise regardless of how policy
debates about authority or oversight are resolved. Therefore, the observations and
recommendations in this advisory are directed at mitigating clearly identified risks and
developing policies that provide practical guidance to software and system developers,
rather than debating whether or not private network operators should use the domain
namespace, or who (if anyone) should have the authority to declare and enforce exclusive
uses for specific individual domain name labels or categories of labels.
Research Areas
