LOAP

The DNS: A Life of a Protocol

"The DNS: A Life of a Protocol" [working title of the project] is a technopolitical analysis of the life of the Domain Name System, using it as a lens to look at the broader issue of "Internet Governance," a term that was poorly choosen but is much in use. Starting as a simple replacement for an even simpler host file, the DNS protocol has grown into a big business, a quasi governmental international framework, and a strategic battleground for trademarks wars.

Research on this project began in late 2004. It has gone through several incarnations, starting as a book. In the fall of 2005, some real progress was made when the author convinced the ITU that he was "bona fide media," which resulted in his attendance at the WSIS Tunis meeting, where the festivities were duly filmed. Following that, Carl conducted filmed interviews with a variety of root server operators, regional registries, former IETF officials, current ICANN officials, and various inventors and maintainers of the DNS.

This results of this investigation work will be packaged as a "movie" intended for general audiences in mid-2006. Since this is about the Internet, it seems to make sense to take the raw interviews with people such as DNS inventor Paul Mockapetris and release them on the net in their raw state. This means, when watching the final edited movie, the viewer can go back to the full interviews (or even mix their own movie).

Currently, most of the field interviews have been conducted and over 75 high-def and DVCAM tapes have been digitized. Raw footage should start showing up on the net by the end of January and we expect the final product/movie to be available for down-load by mid-year.