The politicization of the Internet's Domain Name System: Implications for Internet security, universality, and freedom

One of the most contentious and longstanding debates in Internet governance involves the question of oversight of the Domain Name System (DNS). DNS administration is sometimes described as a clerical or merely technical task, but it also implicates a number of public policy concerns such as trademark disputes, infrastructure stability and security, resource allocation, and freedom of speech. A parallel phenomenon involves governmental and private forces increasingly altering or co-opting the DNS for political and economic purposes distinct from its core function of resolving Internet names into numbers. This article examines both the intrinsic politics of the DNS in its operation and specific examples and techniques of co-opting or altering DNS' technical infrastructure as a new tool of global power. The article concludes with an analysis of the implications of this infrastructure-mediated governance on network security, architectural stability, and the efficacy of the Internet governance ecosystem.