Internet Draft Archive

Simon Higgs is one of the leading experts on DNS and the introduction of new top level domains. He invented the role of the stealth server now used to protect the root zone, founded the Shared-TLD Mailing List (which defined the Registry/Registrar relationship), was the first TLD applicant under Draft-Postel, and published Expression of Interest #5. He was also a co-founder and root server operator for the Open Root Server Confederation (ORSC). He has authored the following Internet Drafts:

• Top Level Domain Classification and Categorization
  The Top Level Domain Classification and Categorization draft was written with consultation from Jon Postel of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and was part of the "Draft Postel" process for the introduction of new TLDs in 1996. The Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) discussed the July 1996 version of the draft on August 8, 1996 and it was subsequently presented to the Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF) "newdom" Working Group at the San Jose meeting in December 1996. Unfortunately, by that time, the new TLD creation process had been hi-jacked away from Jon Postel under the guise of the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC).
• draft-higgs-tld-cat-00.txt - April 1996
• draft-higgs-tld-cat-01.txt - June 1996
• draft-higgs-tld-cat-02.txt - July 1996
• draft-higgs-tld-cat-04.txt - May 1997


• Existing TLD Applications
  The Existing TLD Applications draft is the formal response to the IAHC's decision to throw away the work and process of Draft Postel. It's warning was not heeded and it successfully predicted the intervention by the US Government to dismantle the IAHC's gTLD-MOU via the Green & White papers.
• draft-iahc-higgs-tld-app-00.txt - December 1997


• Root Server Definitions
• draft-higgs-root-defs-00.txt - February 2001
• draft-higgs-root-defs-01.txt - May 2001


• Alternative Roots and the Virtual Inclusive Root
  Essentially an exercise in cat-herding to achieve an inclusive master set of TLDs.
• draft-higgs-virtual-root-00.txt - May 2001


• Root Fix for the .US Top Level Domain
  The .US TLD was foobarred by the introduction of a duplicate .BIZ TLD and the subsequent manipulation of the name server records. These DNS records (along with .COM/.NET) still have the same underlying vulnerability that made it so easy for a typo to take out the .SE TLD so quickly. We made a patch to keep the .US TLD visible as no-one was listening.
• draft-higgs-schneiders-root-fix-us-00.txt - Marc Schneiders, Simon Higgs (March 2002)


• Applying Game Theory To The Domain Name Root System
  Applying the Nash Equilibrium to alternative roots came up with some interesting results.
• draft-higgs-dns-game-theory-00.txt - March 2002