"Such alternative top-level domains and alternative root servers in fact exist, so that if one points one’s computer at the right DNS server, one can send email to addresses that the rest of the Internet does not recognize, such as richard@vrx.zoo or richard@tangled.web. Very few Internet users, though, look to alternative root servers. The vast majority rely on the single set of authoritative root servers, historically supervised
by Jon Postel, that have achieved canonical status."