The 7 keys to the Internet.?

Heard a rumour...not quite convinced by it...

[bhonda]

Hey guys,

Just had a chat with a couple of guys in the office - apparently there's a story in the UK news about the '7 keys of the Internet', which would shut off the Internet if they all got turned off, or something like that. But I can't find anything out about it.

Hmmm.

Anyone heard of this?

Doesn't sound like it makes that much sense to me.

B

[commanderW]

Here's another link [news.bbc.co.uk ]

[Hester]

No, it says the keys will restart the internet if it goes down:

Paul Kane has been chosen to look after one of seven keys, which will 'restart the world wide web' in the event of a catastrophic event.

In the event of a security breach - such as a terrorist attack - Mr Kane may be required to travel to a secure location in the US.

What if he can't travel due to the attack? Remember how all flights were grounded on 9/11?

It's all a bit Dan Brown. Maybe his next novel will be called The Seventh Key.

[LifeinAsia]

Or The Eighth Key- a secret master key was made in the event that terrorists took out all owners of the 7 keys...

[HuskyPup]

AKEY?

A Key?

A K E Y ?

[graeme_p]

I assume that we could manage without DNSsec for a while?

It is the signing key for the root zone.

It all sounds far to centralised to me.

[BillyS]

I heard one of the guys lost his key already. He thinks he left it on the counter at Starbucks.

[rocker]

I wonder if "Do Not Duplicate" is stamped on the keys?

[bhonda]

You guys have got it all wrong. This is preparing for the future. These keys won't be used for years and years, and eventually, they will be forgotten about. They will be left in random drawers and cupboards around the world.

After time, they will be moved around, and be lost. Centuries will pass, everyone who is currently involved will have passed on, and the whole thing forgotten.

In the distant future, some American kids will read this very thread (hello, future people.) and discover this legend that has been forgotten.

They will set out on an adventure to find these keys. Somehow, at exactly the same time, some evil people find out about the same legend, and set out to find them too.

It quickly becomes a race against each other. They hunt down old apartment buildings and museums. They uncover old, dusty boxes. They spend a lot of time running through underground passages, for no apparent reason.

They all know that the fate of the entire world lies with them, even though the rest of the world think they are crazy, and that this is 'just a legend'.

It all comes to an exciting conclusion, in an old abandoned mine, or something like that. Goodness triumphs over evil. The good kids get all the keys, and to prevent any other evil people from using these keys for evil, throw them into a handy nearby volcano.

And the world is safe again.

Man, I should have become an author.

_{Credits go to The Goonies, National Treasure and Lord of the Rings for the inspiration!}

[john_k]

It is for precisely these types of emergencies that I keep The Key Maker locked up down the hall.