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The Internet Networking Technology

North Korean Domain Names Return To the Internet 135

Posted by timothy from the still-can't-order-a-decent-bulgogi dept.
angry tapir writes "North Korean domain names have returned to the Internet over the last few days as the country continues to build its presence online. Websites, previously available only via IP addresses, are now accessible through dot-kp addresses and it appears more might be on the way."
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North Korean Domain Names Return To the Internet More

North Korean Domain Names Return To the Internet

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  • All Fear NK! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nethead ( 1563 ) <joe@nethead.com> on Friday January 14, 2011 @03:04AM (#34874542) Homepage Journal

    They have achieved DNS technology. To the bunkers everyone!

  • Whole country's domain disappeared?? (Score:3)

    by Spy Handler ( 822350 ) on Friday January 14, 2011 @03:11AM (#34874576) Homepage Journal

    The reemergence of KP domain names marks the first time in several months that the North Korean domain has been functional. It was assigned in 2007... (but the domain) disappeared in the second half of last year for reasons that are still unclear.

    How does an entire top level domain simply disappear?

    • Re:Whole country's domain disappeared?? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 14, 2011 @03:20AM (#34874616)

      Capitalist oppression.

    • Re:Whole country's domain disappeared?? (Score:5, Informative)

      by totally bogus dude ( 1040246 ) on Friday January 14, 2011 @04:52AM (#34875084)

      Pretty easily, at least in this case. The root servers provide these name servers for .kp:

      kp. 172800 IN NS ns2.kptc.kp.
      kp. 172800 IN NS ns1.kptc.kp.

      which are both located on the same class C:

      ns1.kptc.kp. 86400 IN A 175.45.176.15
      ns2.kptc.kp. 86400 IN A 175.45.176.16

      Which generally is indicative of the same network segment. I guess North Korea doesn't have a need for a particularly robust internet infrastructure, so there's a good chance there's just some servers listening on those addresses and no fancy load-balancing or anycast routing going on, and very likely they're at the same physical location.

      If either of those stop responding to queries, then resolution of anything under .kp will fail.

    • In North Korea? C'mon, people disappear there.

  • Right, another block of domains/ip's to add to my blocking list.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by aliquis ( 678370 )

      Right, another block of domains/ip's to add to my blocking list.

      Yeah, that will make a difference.

      Truly revolutionary!

  • What could a North Korean website possibly have on it that's worth visiting?

  • Not a troll (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Lord Byron II ( 671689 ) on Friday January 14, 2011 @03:14AM (#34874590)

    This isn't a troll, but a serious question.

    They are an unfriendly, communist, totalitarian regime. We exactly do we care if they are on the Internet?

    Again, this is not a troll. I'm really interested in the ramifications of this action, which at the moment escape me.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      If they're open to the internet instead of an intranet, it means they not only can information get out, information can also get IN.

      Or...so we hope.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Sorry but I have a feeling there are far better ways to get information in, like leaflet drops and radio broadcasts.

        How many people would have a computer outside of people high up in the chain-of-command?

        • They are conditioned to believe that if they touch the papers that are dropped from the sky that they will die. And if they touch them anyways they are sent to labor camp.

          • They are conditioned to believe that if they touch the papers that are dropped from the sky that they will die. And if they touch them anyways they are sent to labor camp.

            And a result of the second is the first so it's not just conditioning: it's true. Just like we westerners are conditioned to believe that when you shoot someone you will go to jail.

            That said I think North Korea is a really bizarre country... and for that reason very interesting.

            • i remember reading that north koreans are told the leaflets are poisened by 'those evil americans', the fear of dying part has little to do with the labor camps

              • Of course. But whether it's poisoning by Americans or the effects of the labour camp... the result is the same.

          • So they're not conditioned to believe it, it's reality. You touch the papers and you will die.

        • There is a difference between information *sent* to you and information you seek out. The latter is more trustworthy.

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by devxo ( 1963088 )

      This isn't a troll, but a serious question.

      They are an unfriendly, communist, totalitarian regime. We exactly do we care if they are on the Internet?

      Again, this is not a troll. I'm really interested in the ramifications of this action, which at the moment escape me.

      Yeah, because US is the one that should dictate that, right?

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        OK, this is what's wrong with Slashdot. The comment by the parent has nothing to do with the GP it responds to. There isn't even a hint that anyone should dictate anything in the GP's post. Still the parent's response to it was modded insightful, probably simply because the comment is vaguely anti-US. The US shouldn't have any say in that, of course, but this is still not a command that adds anything to the discussion at hand, least of all any insight.

        • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Shut up! Shut up you American. You always talk, you Americans, you talk and you talk and say 'Let me tell you something' and 'I just wanna say this', Well you're dead now, so shut up.

        • Welcome to /. where people have the ability to see through the ANSI and know what the person on the other end of the wire actually meant to type. Spooky huh?

    • Re:Not a troll (Score:4, Insightful)

      by timid3000 ( 1006661 ) on Friday January 14, 2011 @03:37AM (#34874704)

      They are an unfriendly, communist, totalitarian regime.

      Do you mean like China ?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by pspahn ( 1175617 )
        No.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Kvasio ( 127200 )

        more like "1984". China seems to be wild democratic and open country, compared to NK.

        • China is also North Korea's only ally; and as far as I know to travel to North Korea you have to first go to Beijing as there's the only place in the world to apply for a visa (China is the only country with diplomatic ties with NK, and as such their only embassy), and the only city with regular flights to Pyongyang.

          So even though GP gets the obligatory +1 insightful for China-bashing, it's not totally false. But then it's the half-truths that make politics go.

      • Re:Not a troll (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Friday January 14, 2011 @10:09AM (#34876866)

        People are fleeing from NK to China, just to give you an idea that there are various degrees of "bad".

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The regime may be, but that doesn't mean you should hold it against the people. That's like saying no one should care if anyone in the US are on the internet just because there are a lot of people who don't like Obama and the Democrats. (and vice versa when it was Bush and the Republicans)

      Besides, they already had the intertubes, you just had to know the IP address to visit one of their sites. Now they have DNS resolution... which is a convenience, sure, but not exactly earth shattering.

      • Unfortunately the regime being on the internet and the general public being on the internet are very different things. My understanding is in north korea the regime are but the general public aren't (even those of the general public who can afford computers etc).

        • Strictly speaking, the same thing applies in the West. Those who choose not to follow their government's system of money/tax/etc aren't going to be getting Internet access any time soon.

          As always, it's leaders and followers of the local regime who get access to the resources which in turn make them feel free. The rest are either marginalised or incarcerated. It's just harder for people in the West to accept how limited they are in how they may interact in order for them to enjoy the benefits of modern life.

          • I still think there is a huge difference between a place where anyone with a bank account and money can get on the internet and a place where only people high up in the regime can get on the internet.

            I think some of the PAYG mobile internet deals can even be used by people without a bank account as long as they have cash to buy top-up cards.

            • Although the landscape has changed slightly in the UK over the past decade as government has prodded banks to provide basic accounts, there were/are a shocking number of people which banks won't open accounts for: at the one end we have illegal immigrants, then people in financial trouble (and not everyone who gets into debt managed money poorly!), then people who were victims of ID fraud, then those for whom computer repeatedly says no - some faceless algorithm (e.g. National Hunter) has wrongly decided th

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by outsider007 ( 115534 )

      smaller suprise dongs on chatroullette?

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by lwsimon ( 724555 )

        Are the dongs really a surprise at this point, or are they the reason you go there?

        Just sayin'.

    • Re:Not a troll (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 14, 2011 @03:53AM (#34874794)

      Because we live in the same world?

      • I think what the parent was getting at is...what exactly are they going to put on the internet that is going to harm us? "Bomb the US" sites? And who is going to look at them?

        At least with radical Islamic terrorist groups, they have potential similarly minded extremists all over the globe who may look up these sites and follow them. But how many North Koreans living in other countries who probably escaped as refugees are going to look up North Korean websites and have their actions influenced by that?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Zouden ( 232738 )

          Yes, and what the AC was getting at is: something doesn't have to be threatening to be newsworthy. This is probably the least-connected country in the world, a stark contrast to its southern neighbour. The fact that it is putting websites online now is therefore of interest, especially to a tech audience.

          I'm sorry that two decades of scaremongering by US news networks has lead you to feel that something is only news if it directly impacts you.

    • Because 'they' are people. There are a few power-hungry morons who manage to keep them enslaved with terror and brainwashing, but I'm pretty sure you would find there a lot of nice and friendly young girls to whom you'd love to show how the Internet works ;) Also, having Internet makes people happuy (well, it makes me happy), and happy people are usually pretty reluctant to go to war.

      • but I'm pretty sure you would find there a lot of nice and friendly young girls to whom you'd love to show how the Internet works ;)

        I dunno. Given the level of brainwashing they receive about the evil western capitalist-imperialist devils, I'd be too afraid of getting my .. err ... "internet" cut off.

        Also, having Internet makes people happuy (well, it makes me happy), and happy people are usually pretty reluctant to go to war.

        I think having electricity would make them even happier, and might be a prerequisite for this interwebs thingy.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dbIII ( 701233 )
      Communism sort of implies at least pretending to be doing something for people and not being some sort of wierd theocracy worshipping a dead former leader with his son as high priest. That strange cult in Stargate that spent so much time worshipping that they wouldn't be able to grow enough to eat is oddly close to the reality found in that place.

    • There are no short, witty words that end in kp, so we don't.

    • They are an unfriendly, communist, totalitarian regime. We exactly do we care if they are on the Internet?

      Because they are an unfriendly, communist, totalitarian regime; the more they enter into dialog with the rest of the world, other than through a megaphone and the barrel of a gun, the better.

      If you have ever been ostracised for a prolonged period of time, as I have, then you will know that it doesn't do much to make you more open and willing to participate in the normal, more peaceful activities of life. The fact that China has broken out of isolation like they have, is exceptional, and we can't expect a co

    • Most of the gains in humans rights in China can be related to other countries opening up to them, giving them an incentive to create a more market based society. China still has far to go in the area of human rights, but they have come far since Nixon opened relations in the early 70s.

      So yes, it is a good thing if North Korea gets on the internet and we try to open up to them. Since they have nukes, the only other choice would likely end is a giant glass parking lot in eastern asia, about the size of the

    • Dear Lord Byron *STOP*. You buffoon *STOP*. You carpet bagger *STOP*. In all seriousness, I would be interested in knowing WHY you consider them unfriendly.

    • They are an unfriendly, communist, totalitarian regime. We exactly do we care if they are on the Internet?

      Most of the North Korean people dream about an end to that regime, to build a peaceful reunited Korea.
      Most of the people who endorse the totalitarian regime have no other choice.

      What can we expect from that country on the Internet? Certainly a lot of inevitable regime-driven-anti-capitalistic messages.
      But maybe some people over there will post some more realistic pages about their life, and how harsh it is to live there compared to what we are able to enjoy in our countries.

      --
      censored sig

      • [citation needed]

        I'm more worried that they, lacking any information from outside, think that all the world is like this, or even worse.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *

      Internet will be 100x better with Glorious Leader's presence!

    • We [sic] exactly do we care if they are on the Internet?

      Because they might have pr0n of course.

  • Our fearless leader armed with secret superweapon force western pig-dogs singlehandledly to restore what is rightfully ours. All praise our fearless leader!

  • I wish the E-shop on http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/ [naenara.com.kp] wasn't "now in suspension." I could totally go for a t-shirt or something.

    • I wonder if they have a turnip to sell me.

    • Don't fret. There's lots of free books you can download http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/book/reading.php [naenara.com.kp] from our dear leader.

      • Yep, authored in Microsoft Word and converted to .pdf using Acrobat Distiller 6.0 for Windows.

        Kind of interesting to see source material for the resistance against the Japanese occupation though (which seems to have some translation / OCR issues unfortunately, ``bum all''?.

        William

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by pspahn ( 1175617 )

      I totally saw that link to "my cart" and "e-shop" and got all excited. I'd love to get me some North Korean swag. You can imagine my disappointment to find the service "now in suspension".

      I wonder if it has something to do with the creamy white stuff dripping off of the navigation bar.

    • i hear ya man. their 6 year old girls do damn good work. well, if it is made within the first 82 hours of the work week anyway.

  • Can't view NK domains... (Score:4, Funny)

    by incognito84 ( 903401 ) on Friday January 14, 2011 @03:35AM (#34874690)
    ...or I get a nasty little message telling me not to, here in Seoul. What are they worried about? It's not like looking at webpages that look like they were made in 1994 are going to make me want to cross the border.
  • From the FAQ here: http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/users/index.php?faq#faq_2_2 [naenara.com.kp] it looks like they might be offering a web based email accounts if you register. Any confirmation?

    • Unless I'm missing something, there isn't actually a register button on the registration page, although there is an alert about some service being available within a month in the page source (http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/users/index.php?add)
      However, it's nice of them to tell you in the FAQ how secure your loin info is in their database when they also embed your attempted login info in the URL in plaintext

    • On further research, it appears that the domain does not have an MX record and that registration seems to fail if the commented out submit button is re-enabled via firebug.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Dear Reader has a website. Now he get up to date with 21st century right quick! Next upgrade website with Adobe Frash prayer, and piss off riberal Apper fanboiz who can't see furr webpage on iphone.

  • One to pre-emptively block (Score:5, Funny)

    by WillerZ ( 814133 ) on Friday January 14, 2011 @05:12AM (#34875198) Homepage

    TwoGirlsOne.kp?

  • www.bestkorea.kp ?

  • Strong HTML design (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Ailure ( 853833 ) on Friday January 14, 2011 @05:30AM (#34875274) Homepage

    So does this mean we get to see more "strong" HTML? [thedailywtf.com] ;)

  • it appears more might be on the way

    All hail the might of the proletarian tongue [yhchang.com]!

  • ..but does this mean that 'Anonymous' is going to DDoS them back off the internet soon? North Korea seems like a place they would target.

  • Spam from N Korea is something like this:

    You Lecherous infidel capitalist swine need to buy our Koragra the newest in Dictatorship enhancement with PENIS ENVY.

    Side Effects Include: Bi-Polar Mood Swings, Funny Hair, Insane Offspring, God Complex, Ego Maniacal Tendency and sexual arousal towards Disney Characters.

    Order now and receive a free trial if you sign ownership of your immortal soul to the honored leader ping pong ill

  • There's actually a lot of cool things on those sites, including the Strategy of Brilliant Commander [goo.gl]. It reminds me of that shouting NK news anchor we keep seeing...

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