>So p2p communication systems which avoid dependency on global DNS could well have worked just fine within the country, at least this time. This is the key conclusion IMO. As mentioned, p2p systems have their own naming structure and do not have rely on the DNS.
This idea started with such as ³A Layered Naming Architecture for the Internet² http://nms.lcs.mit.edu/papers/layerednames-sigcomm04.pdf And is at the most recent http://dot-p2p.org/index.php?title=Draft_Discussion_Paper Some implementations include the Peer Name Resolution Protocol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PNRP And finally, the well publicized challenge to ICANN http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/113010-p2p-based-alternative-to-dns-ho pes.html Members of this list are well suited to make sense of this work and implement a collaborative OS project, the only way IMO for acceptance and usefulness on the Internet. Getting us back to http://dot-p2p.org/ Thanks, Henry On 2/14/11 9:29 AM, "Bjarni Rúnar Einarsson" <b...@pagekite.net> wrote: > Hi! > > I am surprised that no one has yet mentioned on this thread the actual method > which was used to disable the Internet in Egypt, even though it was widely > reported and relatively well understood. So here goes. :-) > > The global routing announcements for Egyptian net-blocks were simply withdrawn > by the Egyptian ISPs. Here is one of many articles explaining this: > > http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/networking/3258743/how-egypt-pulled-the-i > nternet-plug/ > > Note that this is not speculation, this was clearly visible to network > administrators outside Egypt, as documented here: http://stat.ripe.net/egypt/ > > If this was the only action taken, and assuming Egyptian ISPs have peering > arrangements amongst themselves, then the local Egyptian Internet should have > worked just fine, aside from the fact that DNS is a globally shared system and > DNS resolution would have quickly become unreliable due to a lack of access to > the global root servers (unless they have global roots in Egypt, which I do > not know, but find unlikely). > > So p2p communication systems which avoid dependency on global DNS could well > have worked just fine within the country, at least this time. > > Hope this sheds some light! > > One thing which I do idly wonder about, is whether some foolhardy admins with > access to backbone infrastructure could have re-announced the withdrawn roots > and thereby switched Egypt's Internet back on from outside. This probably > wouldn't have lasted long, as the Egyptian ISPs could of course have responded > by unplugging some cables or physically powering devices down, but it's an > interesting question none the less. > > Cheers!
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