OpenDNS: We're being blocked, FCC should act on net neutrality

A Q&A with OpenDNS founder David Ulevitch.

He says the San Francisco domain name service is already being blocked by Verizon Wireless. He fears other Internet service providers trying to compete with it could do the same. Since it launched with a couple million dollars in angel investment four years ago, OpenDNS has attracted 20 million customers - consumers and businesses such as Staples, Century 21 and Fuji Film - who prefer the service's domain name look-up service to that of their Internet service provider. Why? Ulevitch says the company is able to more quickly translate Web page addresses like www.washingtonpost.com to The Post's IP address to serve up the site to users. Its fail rate is zero, compared with ISPs, he says. Carriers have caught on to the value of their service. Open DNS is able to collect a lot of data about users and their Web surfing habits to serve up targeted ads for users who volunteer to have that information tracked.