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Originally Posted by Rubber Duck
Why is that reasonably intelligent people cannot understand that the only organisation that has the authority to hand out extensions that will resolve on the World Wide Web is ICANN?
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It depends on how you define the "World Wide Web". Also, the internet existed long before the WWW, and HTTP is simply one of the access protocols.
Simply put, the "Internet" as you know it, is nothing more than a collection of computers which have IP addresses and are routed together. This can happen independently of any ICANN style body. We like to have DNS service, though, so we can use names instead of IP addresses. A DNS service needs "Root DNS servers" at the top. ICANN does nothing of substantial importance other than control the first set of "Root DNS servers" which were deployed, along with adding new entries into that root. The only thing they really have keeping them in business is momentum. Another organization can and has form a competing set of "Root DNS servers". If ICANN dicks around long enough, they risk losing their momentum and "the Internet" will begin to fragment. ISPs can easily do redirection to an alternative root, based on political direction, etc.
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Originally Posted by Rubber Duck
Of course you can create virtual parallel universes with other protocols, but nobody else is ever going to find their way there.
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While using the internet under the influence of an alternative root certainly can be viewed as being in a virtual parallel universe, the protocols are exactly the same. People won't even have to try to find their way there if ISPs / Countries start doing redirection because they ran out of patience with ICANN. People won't even know the difference.
Just my 2 cents, purely from a technical perspective.
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