Igf 2009 - Managing Critical Internet Resources

MANAGING CRITICAL INTERNET RESOURCES The term ‘critical Internet resources’ is described by the report of the United Nations Working Group on Internet Governance as including the administration of the domain name system (DNS) and Internet protocol (IP) addresses, administration of the root server system, technical standards, peering and interconnection, and telecommunications infrastructure, including innovative and convergent technologies. IP addresses are the numbers that uniquely identify and enable the connection of devices on the Internet. With the rapid growth of the Internet and the number of devices connected on it, experts estimate that the central pool of the currently most used version of IP addresses, IPv4, may be depleted sometime around 2011. IP version 6 (IPv6) has coexisted along IPv4 since 1999, and appears to provide an alternative to depletion of the IPv4 address pool. The eventual exhaustion of unassigned IPv4 addresses has been a recurrent issue raised at IGF meetings. In previous meetings, the Forum has heightened awareness about IPv4 to IPv6 transition issues, including suggestions on creating an environment where public demand will be enough to prompt vendor support, and enable network operators to step up transition from IPv4 to IPv6. The Forum will continue to explore these IP transition-related issues. It will also carry on with discussion on the arrangements that are needed for better Internet governance, including policy issues and management of the technical components at the local, regional and global level. After the expiration of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) at the end of September, ICANN and the US Department of Commerce signed an Affirmation of Commitments (AoC). The AoC contains a commitment to further improve the transparency and accountability of ICANN with the full involvement of all stakeholders. It will set in motion a review process that will give a greater say to all interested governments, not just the United States, thus contributing to the further internationalization of critical Internet resources management. In the wake of these arrangements between ICANN and the US Department of Commerce regarding the attribution of the domain name system, the Forum is expected to revisit its discussions on the role of governments in Internet governance in general. ‘Enhanced cooperation’ –- called for by the World Summit on the Information Society in 2005 -- is one other item to be discussed under the theme Managing Critical Internet Resources. Although often mentioned during the first two IGF meetings, the subject was not on the Forum agenda until the last meeting in Hyderabad. There is no consensus on its real meaning, yet there is a general sense that discussions are having a positive impact on global Internet governance. Many believe that the existence of the IGF and its ability to engage Governments, business and civil society in a productive dialogue could be considered as an example of ‘enhanced cooperation’. The Forum will pursue its discussion on the meaning of ‘enhanced cooperation’. It will also consider the challenges as well as opportunities.

Other topics to be discussed under the theme Managing Critical Internet Resources include the importance of new top-level domains (TLDs) and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). Issued by the United Nations Department of Public Information