<s>
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
was	O
an	O
unofficial	O
,	O
controversial	O
Internet	O
domain	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
registry	I-Protocol
that	O
relied	O
on	O
an	O
alternative	B-Protocol
DNS	I-Protocol
root	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
purpose	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
to	O
challenge	O
the	O
monopoly	B-Application
of	O
InterNIC	O
,	O
the	O
official	O
governing	O
body	O
for	O
generic	O
top-level	O
domains	O
(	O
gTLDs	O
)	O
until	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
the	O
ICANN	B-Application
in	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
offered	O
second	O
level	O
domain	O
registration	O
in	O
its	O
own	O
TLDs	O
at	O
lower	O
prices	O
than	O
InterNIC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
these	O
domain	O
names	O
could	O
only	O
be	O
resolved	O
by	O
name	B-Protocol
servers	I-Protocol
that	O
were	O
specifically	O
configured	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
root	B-Protocol
zone	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
is	O
now	O
defunct	O
;	O
the	O
domain	O
name	O
alternic.net	O
is	O
parked	B-Protocol
and	O
no	O
longer	O
associated	O
with	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eugene	B-Protocol
Kashpureff	I-Protocol
and	O
Diane	O
Boling	O
created	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
in	O
1995	O
,	O
defining	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
privately	O
developed	O
and	O
operated	O
Internet	O
network	B-Protocol
information	I-Protocol
center	I-Protocol
and	O
domain	B-Protocol
name	I-Protocol
registry	I-Protocol
service	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
enhancing	O
the	O
Internet	O
with	O
new	O
information	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Domain	O
names	O
began	O
to	O
play	O
a	O
crucial	O
role	O
in	O
business	O
visibility	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
registrations	O
grew	O
exponentially	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eugene	B-Protocol
Kashpureff	I-Protocol
and	O
company	O
were	O
among	O
them	O
and	O
they	O
decided	O
to	O
create	O
an	O
alternative	O
registry	O
to	O
challenge	O
the	O
monopoly	B-Application
of	O
NSI	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
started	O
operating	O
their	O
registries	O
even	O
though	O
their	O
name	B-Protocol
servers	I-Protocol
were	O
not	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
Internet	O
official	O
root	B-Protocol
zone	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
only	O
users	O
of	O
manually	O
reconfigured	O
name	B-Protocol
servers	I-Protocol
were	O
able	O
to	O
resolve	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
names	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
TLDs	O
such	O
as	O
.ltd	O
,	O
.med	O
or	O
.xxx	O
were	O
operated	O
directly	O
by	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
setup	O
fee	O
for	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
registries	O
was	O
$50	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
notable	O
feature	O
of	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
was	O
the	O
possibility	O
to	O
request	O
a	O
new	O
custom	O
TLD	O
for	O
the	O
same	O
price	O
as	O
for	O
registrations	O
in	O
existing	O
TLDs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	B-Architecture
community	I-Architecture
has	O
praised	O
the	O
initiative	O
,	O
with	O
some	O
recent	O
scholarship	O
proposing	O
that	O
alternative	B-Protocol
DNS	I-Protocol
roots	I-Protocol
may	O
allow	O
for	O
a	O
more	O
democratic	O
network	O
control	O
structure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
an	O
alternative	B-Protocol
DNS	I-Protocol
root	I-Protocol
breaks	O
the	O
principle	O
of	O
universal	O
resolvability	O
,	O
unless	O
it	O
is	O
for	O
a	O
strictly	O
private	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
11	O
,	O
1997	O
,	O
against	O
the	O
advice	O
of	O
his	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
colleagues	O
,	O
Kashpureff	O
hijacked	B-Protocol
the	O
InterNIC	O
website	O
,	O
redirecting	O
affected	O
visitors	O
to	O
the	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
website	O
instead	O
,	O
where	O
they	O
could	O
read	O
about	O
the	O
AlterNIC	B-Protocol
protest	O
or	O
click	O
a	O
link	O
to	O
the	O
InterNIC	O
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hijacking	O
was	O
made	O
possible	O
using	O
a	O
DNS	O
cache	O
poisoning	O
attack	O
,	O
exploiting	O
a	O
security	O
vulnerability	O
in	O
versions	O
of	O
BIND	B-Protocol
earlier	O
than	O
4.9.6	O
.	O
</s>
