Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of this project?

This project allows Internet organizations to enact precisely-targeted sanctions which affect only the military and propaganda agencies of sanctioned countries, rather than sweeping sanctions which principally effect the civilian populations of those countries.

Who is it for?

This project is operated by and for Internet organizations which are required by governmental regulation to enact sanctions. Since this project is never inherently pro sanction, we do not anticipate, nor advocate, that organizations which are not regulatorily required to enact sanctions automate action based on the project's data feeds.

How does it work?

The project uses standardized protocols (BGP and RPZ) to distribute lists of Internet networks and domain names associated with sanctioned entities in ways that Internet network operators already use for blocking spam senders, DDoS attackers, malware distribution, and other threats against the Internet's infrastructure.

Who runs it?

This is a typical Internet governance organization. It is operated by volunteers, and decisions are made by those who show up and do the work. There are no barriers to entry which would prevent any other organization from forming to perform the same function in a different way, or a competing effort in the same way.

Is anyone required to use it?

No, this is entirely voluntary. The relationship between this project and Internet network operators is exactly the same as the relationship between many preexisting organizations which provide similar blocklists identifying spam, malware, phishing, DDoS, and other forms of abuse to network operators, and the functional mechanisms are identical. Network operators choose to subscribe to the data-feeds we provide, or not, and choose to act upon the data, or not. The obligation to implement sanctions imposed by the governments of the nations in which the network operators are incorporated, however, is not voluntary, it's mandatory under law. This project gives network operators a mechanism for complying with those mandatory requirements, in countries which have accepted this mechanism as sufficient.

What is the beacon?

The beacon is a set of artificial IP addresses and domain names which are not associated with any real-world organization or users, which will always be "sanctioned" and can thus be used by researchers to measure the reach and effect of the system. If the beacon is visible to you, the Internet sanctioning feeds are not being consumed by your transit providers or DNS recursive resolver operators. Beacons are a frequently-implemented diagnostic feature of Internet routing security systems.