MSK-IX / News / ICANN meeting in Dublin may formulate new mechanisms of control over the domain system

October 21, 2015

ICANN meeting in Dublin may formulate new mechanisms of control over the domain system

The Irish capital of Dublin is hosting the 54th ICANN meeting. Many analysts think it should play a key role in elaborating new mechanisms of control over the global domain system. Earlier the US government expressed its readiness to transfer the controlling functions to the Internet community. On the eve of the forum ICANN President Fadi Chehade expressed his conviction that the common principles of new structures of and mechanisms for controlling the Internet will be elaborated and approved in Dublin.

In his speech in Dublin Chehade paid special attention to outlining ICANN’s sphere of responsibility. He emphasized that if ICANN receives control over the domain system it will not be authorized to interfere in or censor the content of online resources. This must be realized by those who fear that after the US refusal to control the Domain Name System (DNS), some political groups may “seize the Internet” and decide what should or should not be published online. Chehade graphically described the three-level model of the global network. Telecommunication companies, operators of cable, satellite and wireless networks and points of Internet traffic exchange are acting at the infrastructure level. The socio-economic level is represented by the entire diversity of structures related to Web content – from government and business organizations to rank-and-file users. Meanwhile, ICANN is and will be only responsible for the logical level – support for root servers and the system of names and addresses.

Head of ICANN's Generic Domains Division Akram Atallah spoke about the first stage of the new domains program. He reported that by the end of this week the number of delegated new domains is expected to reach 775. ICANN has already signed 1,200 registration agreements with registrars and hopes to sign another 64 in the near future. Atallah also noted the increase in the number of ICANN-accredited domain registrars. Their number reached 2,121 – an increase of 579 since June. In general, Atallah said that the implementation of the first stage of the new domains program meets ICANN expectations.