[jrockway]

Actually, APPLE.COM. and LY. are different. You get the address of the LY. server from a public root nameserver; servers set up solely to provide a starting point for "the Internet". You only find APPLE.COM. because you look in COM. first.

When you choose to use the root nameserver, you are assuming they are making good decisions about who to delegate to. When COM. delegates to Apple's servers for APPLE.COM., that's a good decision. When the root nameserver delegates to the current LY. servers, that's a bad decision, because LY. does not hold up their end of the bargain and properly delegate. VB.LY. should delegate to VB.LY.'s servers. But for some reason, they refuse to do it. So the root server should simply not delegate to it.

Incidentally, nobody is forcing anyone to use "the" root nameservers. If you want vb.ly back, just use a different root!

[tptacek]

What's the bargain Libya struck up with the IETF/IANA regarding delegations under .LY?

[jrockway]

Maintaining records so that delegation to the owner of a domain happens. VB.LY owns VB.LY. LY stopped delegating.

This breaks the Internet.

[tptacek]

This exact same argument says that Namecheap should lose its registrar status for "breaking the internet" when people don't pay to renew their domains.

Similarly, if Apple ever made the mistake of setting up an NS record pointing JROCKWAY.APPLE.COM to your nameserver, they'd be "breaking the internet" to change their mind.

The reality is that there is no technical difference at all between LY. and APPLE.COM.

[jrockway]

No technical difference, but as a TLD, they should be held to a higher standard.