Who is Controlling the Internet ? Keith Mitchell Executive Chairman London Internet Exchange Predicts 98+ Conference Paris, 21st Apr 98

Personal view rather than organisation policy

CORE model:  7 new gTLDs  one shared registry  many registrars  competition between registrars

US Green Paper model:  5 new gTLDs  each a monolithic registrar + registry  competition between gTLDs  NSI keeps com/net/org monopoly initially  eventually split NSI registrar/registry roles

Issues facing CORE approach Will open technology for shared registry database be ready in time ? Proprietary distributed database could lead to supplier rather than registrar monopoly Registrars have accepted pre- registrations for new gTLDs

Issues facing Green Paper approach NSI monopoly must be dealt with by end Sep 98 Wider Internet governance issues raised

IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority Responsible for: root of TLD namespace IP address assignments Protocol standards and identifiers Largely de-facto authority

Regional Number Registries RIPE, APNIC, ARIN Delegated authority & address space from IANA Broad base of Internet Provider members (registrars)

RIPE NCC Operational arm of pan - European ISP body, RIPE Autonomous from 1st Jan 98 Has ~900 member registrars in greater "European" area Spinning off new RIPE CENTR project for national TLDs

Green paper on IANA governance: US legal entity Board appointed from "bottom up" representation 7 out of 15 seats from name & number registries, IAB 7 out of 15 seats from "user organisations"

Issues facing Green Paper IANA Proposals: Who and Where exactly are the "user organisations" ? Incorporation under Californian law Not clear if Internet providers are represented as users or via registries US bias under opposition from EU Timescales