InterNIC
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2008-07-13T01:56:46Z
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Date the maintenance tags or general fixes
{{Unreferenced|date=February 2008}}
'''InterNIC''' or '''Internet Network Information Center''' was the [[Internet]] governing body primarily responsible for [[domain name]] and [[IP address]] allocations until [[September 18]], [[1998]] when this role was assumed by the [[ICANN]] body. It was accessed through the website '''internic.net''' which was run by [[Network Solutions|Network Solutions, Inc]] and [[AT&T]].
==Term==
Though the term "InterNIC" is commonly used to describe Network Solutions' distribution of domain names, "InterNIC" is actually a generic concept for an integrated network information center developed by several companies, including Network Solutions, in conjunction with the [[United States]] Government. InterNIC is a registered [[service mark]] of the [[U.S. Department of Commerce]].
==History==
The first central authority to coordinate the operation of the network was the NIC (Network Information Center) at SRI ([[Stanford Research Institute]] in [[Menlo Park, California|Menlo Park]], [[California]]). In [[1972]], management of these issues was given to the newly created [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] (IANA). In addition to his role as the RFC Editor, [[Jon Postel]] 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 would be distributed from [[SRI International]] to each host on the network. As the network grew, this became cumbersome. A technical solution came in the form of the [[Domain Name System]], created by [[Paul Mockapetris]]. The Defense Data Network Network Information Center (DDN-NIC) at SRI handled all registration services, including the [[Top Level Domain]]s of [[.mil]], [[.gov]], [[.edu]], [[.org]], [[.net]], [[.com]] and [[.us]], [[root nameserver]] administration and Internet number assignments under a [[United States Department of Defense]] 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 Solutions]] Inc.
Since at this point in history most of the growth on the Internet was coming from non-Military sources, 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 Foundation]], after a competitive bidding process in [[1992]], created the [[InterNIC]] to manage the allocations of addresses and management of the address databases, and awarded the contract to three organizations. Registration Services would be provided by [[Network Solutions]]; Directory and Database Services would be provided by [[AT&T]]; and Information Services would be provided by [[General Atomics]]. Later, General Atomics was dropped after a contract review found their services not being up to the standards of its contract. General Atomics InterNIC functions were assumed by AT&T. AT&T discontinued their InterNIC services after their contract ran out.
In [[1998]] both IANA and InterNIC would be reorganized under the control of [[ICANN]], a [[California]] [[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 language]]", including "shit", "piss", "fuck", "cunt", and "cocksucker" "nigger".{{Fact|date=February 2008}} 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."{{Fact|date=February 2008}}
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 [[ICANN]] organization when they took over governance of the distribution of domain names to the public.
==Trivia==
* In the world of [[Uplink (computer game)|Uplink]] 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.
==External links==
*[http://www.internic.net/ InterNIC]
*[http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/internic.htm InterNIC License Agreement between ICANN and U.S. Department of Commerce]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/19961019020238/internic.net/internic/ Archive copy of InterNIC's about page]
*[http://news.com.com/2100-1023-210566.html?legacy=cnet ''Food domain name found "obscene"''] a [[CNET]] article on flaws with internic.net's profanity filter ([[April 27]], [[1998]])
*[http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju63594.000/hju63594_0.HTM#55 ''Internet Domain Names and Intellectual Property Rights''] - a transcript of a hearing in front of the [[Subcommitte on Courts and Intellectual Property]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]] that deals with internic.net's filtration of obscenity ([[July 28]], [[1999]])
*[http://www.ripe.net/ripe/maillists/archives/lir-wg/1992/msg00028.html NSF contract establishing the InterNIC]
*[http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1174.txt DDN-NIC]
*[http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1261.txt SRI-GSI]
[[Category:Internet governance]]
[[Category:Internet standards]]
[[Category:Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|*]]
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