Cyber-criminals are already exploiting the Domain Name System hack uncovered by security researcher Dan Kaminsky this summer -– essentially setting up fake banking websites that users reach by typing in their bank's real domain name. (That's according to research by Georgia Tech's David Dagon and Internet System Consortium's Paul Vixie.)

That's why the U.S. government finally put out a call for comments on whether the net as a whole should adopt new security protocols called DNSSEC, and asking who should have the privilege of controlling the master keys.

Two longstanding net infrastructure rivals -- ICANN and VeriSign -– each want the job.

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