Chinese operators hope to standardize a segmented Internet

A technology draft written by employees at China Mobile and China Telecom and submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force describes how the Internet could be split into several parts using the Domain Name System and in the process give countries more control over their own segment of the network.

The DNS is one of the key building blocks of the Internet. Its most important task is translating IP (Internet Protocol) addresses to host names, which is done by a distributed system based on one unique root that is used all over the world. The technology is developed by the IETF, on whose website the Chinese "DNS Extension for Autonomous Internet" draft is available for viewing. Today, China blocks Internet access to some foreign websites. The goal outlined by the new document is to make it easier and cheaper for countries to create independent root DNS servers and realize Internet autonomy. Today, that is both costly and technically difficult, according to the draft.