ICANN Decries DNS Redirect Practices
ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) this week warned that the current practice of redirecting Internet users to either a third-party Web site or portal when users accidentally misspell a Web address or enter an invalid domain name could "destabilize" the Internet.
The organization documented its disdain for so-called synthesized DNS responses in a draft memo (available here in PDF format) before the introduction of new gTLDs (generic top-level domains) during a board meeting in Sydney in June.
ICANN said that some DNS (domain name systems) operators typically send back the IP address of another name -- a process known as NXDOMAIN substitution -- rather than simply send back an error message for nonexistent (and typically erroneous) domains.
