OpenNIC (also referred to as the OpenNIC Project) is a user-owned and -controlledAlt URL
top-level Network Information Center that offers a non-national alternative to traditional

top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...

(TLD) registries such as

ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...

. As of January 2017, OpenNIC recognizes and peers all existing

TLDs, for compatibility reasons. However, OpenNIC has not yet evaluated and does not hold a formal position on future ICANN TLDs. In addition to resolving

hostname In computer networking, a hostname (archaically nodename) is a label that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network and that is used to identify the device in various forms of electronic communication, such as the World Wide Web. Hos ...

s in the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

, OpenNIC also resolves hostnames in OpenNIC-operated

namespace In computing, a namespace is a set of signs (''names'') that are used to identify and refer to objects of various kinds. A namespace ensures that all of a given set of objects have unique names so that they can be easily identified. Namespaces ...

s, as well as within namespaces with which peering agreements have been established. Some OpenNIC recursive servers (Tier 2 servers) are known for their high speeds and low latency, relative to other more widely used DNS recursors, as well as their anonymizing or no-logging policies. Many servers offer DNSCrypt. Community volunteers operate Tier 2 servers across a multitude of geographic locations. Like all alternative root DNS systems, OpenNIC-hosted domains are unreachable to the vast majority of

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

users because they require a non-default configuration in one's DNS resolver.

History

On June 1, 2000, an article was posted on kuro5hin.org advocating a democratically governed

domain name system The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information ...

. The first OpenNIC servers went into operation July of that year.

OpenNIC TLDs

OpenNIC namespaces

These TLDs are currently served by OpenNIC and were constructed with the approval of the OpenNIC community.

Peering agreements

OpenNIC provides resolution for selecting other alternative DNS roots.

New Nations

New Nations provides TLDs for nation-states that are not recognized by the

ISO 3166-1 ISO 3166-1 (''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country code'') is a standard defining codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It i ...

alpha-2 standard, and therefore haven't received their own

ccTLD A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all tw ...

. Currently they provide .ku (''Kurdish people''), .te (''Tamil Eelam''), .ti (''Tibet''), and .uu (''Uyghur people'').

FurNIC

FurNIC aims to bring a unique identity to Furries, Furry Fandom, and other

Anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

interest websites across the internet. FurNIC and OpenNIC work closely with .fur (''Furry fandom'') generally being treated as part of OpenNIC for most purposes rather than as a separate peer entity.

Emercoin

On January 15, 2015, domains registered in Emercoin's

blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...

became accessible to all users of OpenNIC DNS. Emercoin DNS supports the domain zones .bazar, .coin, .emc, .lib, .ness and .sky. However, Emercoin DNS records can be registered/maintained within the Emercoin software and not as part of OpenNIC's management system.

Technical zones

OpenNIC operates some special-use TLDs, which are meant for technical or organizational purposes.

Suspended peering

Namecoin

In July 2019, the OpenNIC community voted 13-2 for dropping support for .bit domains due to them "being used as malware hubs" as a result of their "anonymous nature". A similar proposal was made in December 2018 but it did not reach the voting stage. Until then, OpenNIC resolved .

bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as ...

('' Namecoin'') domains through the use of a centralized server which generated a DNS zone from the Namecoin

. Access was provided through a Tier 1 server which

bridges A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...

the OpenNIC system and Namecoin. Some OpenNIC DNS servers made use of a Spamhaus-maintained blocklist of malicious .bit domains.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Opennic Domain Name System Alternative Internet DNS services