ICANN

ICANN / Recently Commented

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

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

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

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

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

RDAP Replaces WHOIS: A New Era in Domain Name Data Management

Today marks a significant shift in how internet registries manage domain name data as the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) officially replaces the legacy WHOIS system. Designed to address privacy and data access challenges, RDAP modernizes how information about domain registrations is queried and provided. more

ICANN CSG and NCSG Make Progress at ICANN81

The Commercial Stakeholder Group and Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (together, the Non-Contracted Party House, or NCPH) met for a daylong Day 0 session on 8 November 2024, immediately prior to the opening of the ICANN81 meeting in Istanbul. This meeting follows one of a similar nature conducted prior to ICANN78 in Hamburg, which was the first joint NCPH meeting following the pandemic. more

Verisign and ICANN Renew Root Zone Maintainer Service Agreement

On October 20th, ICANN and Verisign renewed the agreement under which Verisign will continue to act as Root Zone Maintainer for the Domain Name System (DNS) for another 8-year term. The Root Zone sits atop the hierarchical architecture of the DNS and is essential to virtually all internet navigation, acting as the dynamic, cryptographically secure, global directory of all top-level domains that exist in the DNS. more

Future of .io Domain Uncertain as UK Relinquishes Chagos Islands

The United Kingdom's recent decision to relinquish control over the Chagos Islands as part of a treaty with Mauritius has raised significant questions about the future of the popular .io domain. more

How the EU’s NIS 2.0 Can Help Solve the Challenge of Domain Name Registration Data Accuracy and Access

Over the past twenty years of my engagement in the ICANN multistakeholder process, one topic that has always been near and dear to me has been improving the accuracy and access to domain name registration data in a way that respects the legal rights of both registrants and requestors of registration data. Sadly, the glacial pace at which ICANN develops and implements policy has prevented a holistic solution to the problem. more

Unstoppable Domains Receives ICANN Accreditation, Plans to Integrate Blockchain with Traditional Domain Services

This accreditation positions UD as the largest ICANN-accredited registrar in the Web3 space, allowing it to expand its offerings to include a broader range of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and country code domains (ccTLDs). more

ICANN Reserves “.INTERNAL” Domain for Private Use

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has officially reserved the top-level domain ".INTERNAL" for private-use applications. This decision follows years of technical evaluations, public consultations, and inter-organizational discussions. more