Trust on the Internet : How the French ccTLD.FR Went From a Remarkable to a Speculative System

Abstract

The Domain Name System (DNS), was invented in 1983 because it was too hard for the human brain to memorize IP addresses. The DNS works as a phone directory, setting a link between letters, the domain name, and an IP address. Layered and structured since its creation, the domain name made it possible to identify the linked resource and to have confidence in its content. However, this classification system was quickly replaced a big bang of naming possibilities, where the first comer is the first and sole served. This survey aims to study the repercussing of the naming rules of the French ccTLD, the .FR. As an introduction and in section I, we will see how an area of trust has been created through the “.FR”. Then, through the section III and IV, how the easing of registration and use rules initiated confusion over the identification and trust by the domain name. Finally, we propose three ways to create the identification-trust link.