Internet Policy Day 2 - Workshop Session No. 4 Governance and domain names Prepared for CTO by Link Centre, Witwatersrand University, South Africa

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Sessions Summary F Day 1 –Session 1History and technical background –Session 2Market structure F Day 2 –Session 3Interconnection, IXPs and voice-over-IP –Session 4Governance and domain names F Day 3 –Session 5The impact of telecommunications regulation –Session 6Internet specific policy issues F Day 4 –Session 7Content on the Internet –Session 8E-commerce issues F Day 5 –Session 9Internet tools for regulators –Session 10Conclusion, review and evaluation

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Governance processes F The purpose of this session is to examine existing processes of Internet governance and identify the role-players at each level.

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Topics of Discussion F The bottom –End users –Network administrators –ISPs F The top –History: pre-ICANN –ICANN and its structures –Other players F The middle –IP address registries –Protocol organisations –Domains name registries u Global u ccTLDs

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Role of the end-user F What is ‘netiquette’? –Posting and formatting –Forwarding chain letters and virus warnings –Spam: Unsolicited bulk

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Role of the network admin F Technical administration –Configures the local network: servers, routers, etc. –May register domains and obtain IP addresses –May be responsible for keeping a system secure –Manages the mail system for the organisation u Answers abuse mail F Policy administration –What services are available? –What can and can’t users do?

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Role of the ISP F Technical role –Sometimes performs the role of the network administrator F Under pressure to control flow of information –Inconvenient content: Spam/unsolicited mail –Copyright material: MP3 music files, pirate movies –Illegal material: Child porn, hate speech –Monitor users: Security concerns

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 History: pre-ICANN F IANA (1972-) –Jon Postel –Numbers u Regional registries –Protocols u Several organisations –Domains u IANA (1985+) u InterNIC (1992+) u Network Solutions, Inc. [NSI] (1993+) u Assignment of ccTLDs

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 ICANN F ICANN (1998-) –US Department of Commerce role –Board of Directors decided by whom? –“At Large” members F Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Basic structure of ICANN

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 ICANN substructures F Major substructures of ICANN –ASO = Address Support Organisation u Policy recommendations and advice relating to IP addresses –PSO = Protocol Support Organisation u Policy recommendations and advice relating to the assignment of Internet protocol parameters. –DNSO = Domain Names Support Organisation u Policy recommendations and advice relating to domain names and the DNS. –RSSAC = Root Server System Advisory Committee u Advises the board on issues relating to the operation and stability of the root server system –GAC = Government Advisory Committee u Issues of concern to governments –At Large membership u Represent the interests of Internet users world-wide

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Other role-players F Who else gets a say? –The Internet Society (ISOC) u Chapters in many parts of the world –ISPs u National organisations: ISPAs u Regional organisations: EuroISPA, AfrISPA u Global organisation: World ISPA forum –Governments u Legislation u Increasing amounts of co-operation

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Address organisations

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Address organisations F IP address registries –Manage numbers –Historically work on a trust model –Hierarchical assignment structure u LIRs = Local Internet Registries(not country specific) F Who are they and where are they? u ARIN = North America u RIPE NCC = Europe (+ western Asia) u APNIC = Asia/Pacific u AFRINIC = Africa (currently ARIN/RIPE NCC) u LACNIC = Latin America/Carribean (currently ARIN)

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Assigning IP addresses F Goals of public address space distribution –Uniqueness u Each number must be assigned only once –Aggregation u Numbers must be assigned in blocks, to ensure routability –Conservation u Assignments must be based on need -- no stockpiling –Registration u A record must be kept for trouble-shooting purposes

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Protocol organisations

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Domain organisations

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Domain name system F Recap: How does DNS work again? F Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) –.COM,.ORG,.NET, (.EDU) u Originally specific meaning, now a free-for-all u One registry, many registrars –.GOV,.MIL,.INT u Special requirements

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Domain name system F Country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) –ISO 3166-A –Assigned on a first-come basis F New domains –Generic:.info,.biz –Special:.aero,.museum F “New” domains –Actually ccTLSs:.tv,.to,.nu,.ws

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Domain names issues F Domains vs. Trademarks –Multiple trademarks, but only one.com domain –Legal jurisdiction unclear F Cybersquatting –Registering a domain with the intention of reselling it F Domain theft –Stealing a domain through cunning or fraud F Alternative root name servers

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Domain name issues F Arbitration process –Independent arbitrators brought in –ICANN sanctioned process –WIPO = World Intellectual Property Organisation F Problems –Weighted towards big business –Some Really Bad (tm) decisions: Corinthians –Domain hijacking: Aspen Pines

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Country code top-level domains F ccTLDs administration –Who does it? –Subdomains –Policy vs. operation F Role of the government –Hands-off approach –“Emergency case” legislation –Mine! All mine! F Redelegation –In theory –In practice

CTO / DFID Internet Policy workshop, Jamaica, April 2002 Summary F Many structures are already in place for self- governance of the Internet F Some are informal (the rules of netiquette), some formal (ICANN) F Governments have not played a large role so far F Centralised control seems doomed to failure F Domain names have become valuable, this has caused lots of problems