You've outlined it really well — the DNS system seems to be series of servers that we've all agreed to trust. It would be easy enough to set up your own servers and direct popular domains to the wrong place or have a gateway to some alternate Internet. I don't know how those much talked about "darknets" work, but I know enough to imagine some techniques they might use. The idea of there being a secret second Internet makes me feel like a kid looking for a secret passage behind the bookcase, but alas if there really is a secret Internet then it's probably very seedy. And thanks for the Jon Postel story! I love these "man behind the curtain" kinds of Internet yarns. Vint Cerf's memorial for Postel was very entertaining and moving at the same time.