MSK-IX, Technical Center of Internet and Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ begin data escrow
The Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ has started data escrow. MSK-IX Computer Networks Interaction Center, the only ICANN-accredited company for Data Escrow in Russia, is the escrow agent. Technical support is being provided by the Technical Center of Internet, the operator of the .RU and .РФ domain registries.
The escrow is aimed at adopting additional measures to ensure safety of the information in the registries, increasing the stability of the registration system, and additionally protecting the rights of domain name registrants in the event of a malfunction in the main registry operator’s systems. Unlike generic top-level domains (gTLDs), the escrow of these registries is not required for country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registries.
“Data escrow in .RU and .РФ ccTLDs will increase the reliability of storing information contained in ccTLD registries and provide additional guarantees for their stable operation. The decision to use this tool in ccTLDs was made by the Coordination Center back in 2019, and together with our partners, MSK-IX and TCI, we have been systematically working on this. I would like to emphasize that .RU and .РФ data are deposited in compliance with all international standards and on a Russian platform,” said Irina Danelia, Deputy Director of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ.
“Our experts have been working on the DataEscrow project – escrow and storage of ccTLD data – for a long time now, because this is the most important aspect if we are speaking about several areas of maintaining the internet’s stable functioning. We focus on the reliability and protection of all services we provide, but the data escrow project has always been a priority, and we plan to continue developing and supporting it. Today MSK-IX is the only ICANN-accredited company for Data Escrow in Russia, which increases the level of trust in the international community,” says Evgeny Morozov, MSK-IX Commercial Director.
“Increasing the stability and safety of the Russian internet segment’s functioning is our priority. The introduction of new mechanisms to ensure the protection and sustainability of .RU and .РФ, which make part of the national domain zone, is another step towards this goal. As the .RU and .РФ operator, the TCI in accordance with the Coordination Center, has the technical function to download information from the registries and safely transfer it to МSK-IX. At the same time, TCI is carrying out similar functions for gTLD registries, to which it provides maintenance support,” said Alexei Rogdev, TCI General Director.
The trials for providing data escrow services to the Russian ccTLDs .RU and .РФ began in October 2020. The project on the introduction of additional organizational and maintenance measures aimed at continuity of the address system’s functioning as well as ensuring additional protection of the registrants’ and domain users’ rights by introducing mechanisms with additional guarantees of safe storage of domain information and continuous function of the address system in general at a Russian platform, was initiated in line with the instruction of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media back in 2019.
