DNS either has integrity or it doesn’t. We get a response from an Authoritative server and, as a Resolver, we believe our responsibility is to return it. If we start making exceptions because of bad PR, how can you trust us to do the right thing when the stakes are even higher (e.g., nationstate pressure)?

As an aside, I used to think that when Emerson said that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” he meant that we were foolish to try and be consistent. Increasingly I wonder if instead he meant that when you’re trying to reason with people who may not have the same detailed knowledge of a problem as you, there’s an enhanced importance to being consistent. Unfortunately, most policy makers globally don’t have a detailed understanding of how technical systems like DNS work, so we think it’s especially important we be consistent.