ICANN

ICANN / Most Commented

Three Views of Multistakeholder Leadership in the Age of Sovereignty

As multistakeholder governance nears a critical juncture, leaders must navigate diverging views, geopolitical pressures and technological upheaval. With sovereignty concerns mounting, the Internet's institutions face a complex future that demands deft stewardship. more

Governance or Capture? Africa’s Internet Rules Face a Double Standard, Expert Warns

Alice Munyua criticises ICANN's support for a proposed African internet governance overhaul, arguing it undermines multistakeholder principles and sets a dangerous precedent of political interference in global internet infrastructure. more

AFRINIC Finally Elects a New Board: What Next?

AFRINIC-The Regional Internet Registry for Africa has finally successfully conducted its 2025 Board of Directors Elections! The elections were held from September 10 to 12, 2025. This fresh leadership marks the beginning of a new era after years of turbulence and uncertainty for the organization. more

Failure in ICANN’s Governance Framework

The legitimacy of the ICANN multistakeholder model and its governance framework are facing an existential threat requiring immediate attention. The recently announced results of the ICANN Nominating Committee highlight how the ICANN Board is captured by "affiliated" directors, which threatens its independence and ability to act for the public interest. more

New gTLD Program’s Credibility Questioned Amid Weak Global Uptake

The credibility of ICANN's much-vaunted programme to expand internet domains is under strain. Governments and user representatives have warned that the Applicant Support Program (ASP) - a scheme offering fee discounts to poorer or non-profit applicants for new top-level domains (gTLDs) - is failing to reach its intended beneficiaries. more

Mauritius Steps In: Unraveling the AFRINIC Crisis and Its Impact on African Internet Governance

A Supreme Court judge in Mauritius has been appointed to investigate AFRINIC, Africa's IP address registry, following allegations of misconduct, legal irregularities, and criminal falsification. The inquiry marks a pivotal moment in African internet governance, with implications for regional digital infrastructure and the continent's credibility in managing critical online resources. more

ICANN Warns of Governance Crisis at AFRINIC Amid Allegations and Legal Challenges

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has issued a stern open letter to the Government of Mauritius and the court-appointed receiver of AFRINIC, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa and the Indian Ocean. The letter, dated July 16th, expresses grave concern over AFRINIC’s governance failures, opaque election practices, and recent attempts by a controversial resource member to dissolve the organization. more

AFRINIC’s Election Crisis Exposes Why RIR Oversight Must Evolve

What might look like a routine procedural dispute over votes is, in fact, a glaring reminder that Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are now geopolitical pressure points - and that ICANN's oversight of RIR governance must evolve to meet these risks. On 23 June 2025, AFRINIC, the RIR that serves Africa, attempted to hold long-delayed elections to restore stability after years of legal battles and board paralysis. Yet instead of restoring trust, the process imploded almost immediately. more

IS3C Report: Socio-Political and Technical Impacts of Post Quantum Cryptography Policies

At the 20th Internet Governance Forum in Lillestrøm, Norway, the UN Internet Governance Forum's dynamic coalition Internet Standards, Security and Safety (IS3C) released its new report on post-quantum policies. This report presents the findings of a collaborative study undertaken by IS3C and the French domain name registry Afnic and examines the critical need for Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) to achieve greater security in the ever-expanding global IoT landscape. more

.PARIS : Can the Backend Registry Help Sales?

As published on June 24, 2025, it is with no surprise that the AFNIC was renewed as the backend registry provider of the .PARIS new generic Top-Level Domain. What caught my attention in the announcement was this paragraph: “Afnic’s remit will also be expanded to include communication and promotion of the .paris TLD, as well as the development of initiatives designed to increase its adoption by businesses and private individuals.” more

ICANN Warns of Possible Sanctions Over AFRINIC Election Irregularities

Mounting governance woes at the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) have drawn a sharp rebuke from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which has issued a stern warning of a potential compliance review. more

ICANN Demands Fairness in AFRINIC Board Elections Amid Governance Concerns

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has issued a formal call for greater transparency and procedural integrity in the ongoing board elections of the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC). more

DOTZON Study: Digital City Brands 2025

We have just released the 2025 edition of the DOTZON study "Digital City Brands." Since first presenting the study in early 2017, DOTZON has now analyzed for the ninth consecutive year how cities successfully use their Digital City Brands. The Digital City Brand represents the digital aspect of a city's brand and reflects how digitally advanced a city is. The emergence of the Internet was the reason Digital City Brands were created in the first place.  more

A Targeted Blueprint for Tackling DNS Abuse

The NetBeacon Institute is pleased to publish its White Paper: Proposal for PDPs on DNS Abuse. We created this paper to support and advance ICANN Community discussions on potential policy development related to DNS Abuse. From our unique perspective, we believe there are a number of issues that are constrained enough to be a successful ICANN PDP and can make a meaningful difference in our collective work against DNS Abuse. more

The 2024-2026 Root Zone KSK Rollover: Initial Observations and Early Trends

On Jan. 11, 2025, Verisign supported the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in taking a major step to ensure the continued security, stability, and resiliency of the Domain Name System (DNS). While imperceptible to most users, this action - specifically, the introduction of a new Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) Key Signing Key (KSK) in the root zone - is the next step of a multi-year-long process to change, or "roll," the cryptographic key that secures the root of the DNS. more