IP address registration database: Definitions for access, security, and implementation

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the process of IP assignment and internet policing and proves that a national IP address database will allow law enforcement and governmental agencies improvements in real-time, secure access to subscriber identifying information without compromising the security and privacy of internet users. For the last three decades, the process of monitoring access, usage and IP address assignments has fallen on the internet service providers who allow access to the internet through their IP portals. Since they held the door to the internet, there was reasonability in the idea that they should monitor who goes in and out of that door. That concept remained stagnant because an alternative methodology did not exist and numerous regulations, fees, restrictions, and uses were developed over time to fit that model. This thesis details how the implementation of a centralized IP address database will provide a transition from the legacy `provider assigned and monitored\u27 model and offer a first-of-its-kind system that migrates policing functions back under the control of the policing authorities. The system establishes the best segregation of expertise, allowing the providers to provide service, the policing authorities to provide policing, and the governmental authorities, who define security safeguards, to also maintain it. Research methodologies incorporated in the development of this new concept include extensive interviews with law enforcement as well as in-depth research on internet legislative reforms, governmental systems, and security concerns and requirements. This review led to a system that successfully meets the needs of the user, the service provider, law enforcement, and governmental entities alike