Before you consider DNS blocking, first, do no harm

I recently worked with members of ICANN’s Security & Stability Advisory Committee to publish a statement on DNS Blocking.  The statement asks parties involved in the antipiracy dialog and prospective legislative actions involving DNS blocking to consider first principles, and in particular, the principle “First, do no harm”.

Quoting from the statement, “Regardless of the mechanism used, organizations that implement blocking should apply these principles: “1. The organization imposes a policy on a network and its users over which it exercises administrative control (i.e., it is the administrator of a policy domain). “2. The organization determines that the policy is beneficial to its objectives and/or the interests of its users. “3. The organization implements the policy using a technique that is least disruptive to its network operations and users, unless laws or regulations specify certain techniques. “4. The organization makes a concerted effort to do no harm to networks or users outside its policy domain as a consequence of implementing the policy. “When these principles are not applied, blocking using the DNS can cause significantly more collateral damage or unintended consequences with no remedy available to affected parties.” These principles of course have broader application than Protect IP. Hopefully, those who are eager to turn DNS filtering into Maslow’s hammer may think carefully before concluding this is the only and best alternative to protect or control content. See http://www.icann.org/en/committees/security/sac050.pdf

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