“The article did not mention Public Interest Registry (PIR), the registry operator of .ORG, but should have. The campaign is a good example of advertising for the TLD as well.”

I like how you explained that. Very helpful. Thanks.

Your comment appears to demonstrate a slight misunderstanding of how the root server system works or what the benefits may or may not be about having one located in any particular area.

For one thing, the root servers are not simply “dotcom” servers – they contain a copy of the root zone file which covers all top-level domains – dotcom as well as, say, .ng for Nigeria.

The root servers are located around the globe and often have mirrors of themselves – produced by something called Anycast technology – on servers dotted around the globe. The F root in particular has a large number of servers located in a large number of different countries. The person to speak to if you wish to be a part of that network is a man called Paul Vixie.

The root servers point to the servers for individual top-level domains, like .com. Those servers contain a file that then lists on which server each .com domain can be located.

A company called VeriSign runs the dotcom domain and I am not sure what its set up is, but I imagine it has its own Anycast system and servers right across the United States and most likely in other parts of the world in order to improve resolvability.

I think it is very unlikely that VeriSign would consider a bid from a third-party to host a server for its registry in their country. I’m not sure that such a system would benefit the hosts particularly either.

Another consideration that would work against Nigeria I suspect is the high price and low availability of high-speed, secure and always available lines, compared to many other parts of the world.

I remember there was a plan to run a cable along the East coast of Africa to add competition to the one on the West coast, but last I heard, that plan was affected by commercial interests and effectively stalled.

If you feel really passionate about this, you should engage those attending the one international event where this issue may be effectively addressed – and that is the Internet Governance Forum that will be meeting in Rio de Janeiro in November.

I hope this was of help to you.

Kieren McCarthy
General manager of public participation

Rafik