Discuss mailing list

[Jeff Taylor <shdwdrgn AT sourpuss.net>]

Some of you may remember when we used to have a registration page for 
member logins.  That page has been lost, but a new page is now available!

http://www.opennicproject.org/members/
(From the OpenNIC page, select Resources -> Members)

There are currently 1,425 username registered from the previous 
membership page, so many of you probably already have an existing 
account.  Currently there is not much that can done once you login 
except enter some information about yourself.  However there is one 
feature that hints at a project in the works... Due to the large number 
of public servers which have had to shut down from DDoS attacks, we are 
currently building the structure to support IP address registration.  
With this in place, a T2 server admin may choose to only allow 
registered IPs to use their server, thus limiting the damage that can be 
done by attackers.  I know there is going to be a lot of questions 
around this, so let me start off with some information...

- IP registration is OPTIONAL!  It will only be required if you want to 
use a T2 server that has chosen to do whitelisting.
- Privacy is important!  We don't want to share your information, so 
there are several limits to what information is available... T2 
operators will only be able to obtain a list of the IP's, NOT the name 
of who registered the address.
- The authentication code used for registering your addresses is not 
associated with you password -- it is a separate unique code generated 
only for this purpose.
- IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are accepted by the registration page.
- IP registration may be done from a web browser or from a 'wget' 
command -- this makes it easy to script so you can automatically update 
your info on a daily basis on not have to worry about it. (wget is 
available on linux, mac, and windows, so you can use cron jobs or a 
windows scheduled task to automate the process.)
- Old addresses will be pruned if they are not refreshed.  We are 
currently debating the exact period, but will probably start at 28 days.
- There will be limits placed on how many IP addresses can be registered 
by an individual user, however if you have a legitimate need we can 
raise the limits.
- You can view and delete your registered addresses from the members page.

- Again: Privacy is important and registration is optional!!!  The 
subject of whitelisting has been debated many times on the mailing lists 
and on IRC.  I've tried to address everyone's concerns and ideas to make 
this concept work well for all situations, and will keep you updated as 
changes are made and we get some servers working with this method.  
Please do not start another rage-thread about what you perceive are the 
downfalls of this -- Let us get it working before complaining about 
something that doesn't exist...

The goal here is to eventually tie user logins together for the various 
OpenNIC services, so as more features are incorporated, we will update 
the community.  Examples would be the wiki page, a support forum, bug 
tracker, domain registration pages, etc... There's a lot we can do with 
this once we get it going.

One part of the user configuration includes administrative accounts.  
With an eye on security, I have set up admin accounts completely 
separate from user accounts.  As you can see from the member login page, 
there are categories for T1/T2 operators, user admins, and registrars.  
Each account has limited accessibility, so a breach of a single account 
will minimize the amount of information that could be collected.

There are currently 26 tier-2 operator accounts registered -- The 
information for these accounts was collected from the wiki listing of 
active T2 admins.  If you are one of these, you should be able to log in 
by using your wiki username and password, and selecting "T2 operator", 
however you will be disappointed once you log in... There is little you 
can do right now except change your information -- but we're working on 
that!  Eventually there will be some operations that can be performed 
from the members page.

So in conclusion, the basic framework is taking shape.  We are 
implementing different ideas to help bring together the OpenNIC services 
and try to make the overall structure more reliable for everyone.

Thank you for your time.  Vote for me as your next mad scientist!