Signposts in Cyberspace: The Domain Name System and Internet Navigation

Citation
National Academy of Sciences, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, Committee on Internet Navigation and the Domain Name System: Technical Alternatives and Policy Implications, Signposts in Cyberspace: The Domain Name System and Internet Navigation (2005) (full-text).

Overview
This report examine the future of Internet navigation and the Domain Name System (DNS) in light of the evolution and interaction of Internet usage, information technology, the economy, and society. The original purpose of the DNS was to provide identifiers for network objects that are more easily remembered and enduring than the numerical addresses and port numbers used by the network infrastructure. However, domain names are now often used for purposes for which they were not originally intended, such as searching, corporate identification, and marketing. And certain domain names, especially those in the .com top-level domain, have acquired substantial economic value, leading to conflict and competition over their ownership and a perceived scarcity of desirable names.

The continuing increase in the number of Internet users and sites, the deepening integration of the Internet into the economy and social processes, the growth in embedded computing devices, and the possible introduction of permanent personal and object identifiers &mdash; among other factors &mdash; pose challenges to the continued viability and usefulness of the DNS, as currently constituted.

This report describe and evaluate emerging technologies and identify how they might affect the ability of users to find what they are seeking on the Internet and the role of the DNS. Some of the topics considered include extension of the DNS through the addition of generic top-level domains and multilingual domain names; introduction of new name assignment and indexing schemes (including alternate root servers); adoption of new directory structures or services for locating information resources, services, or sites of interest; and deployment of improved user interfaces.