background
It ensures that the Internet functions smoothly – and yet hardly anyone knows about it: The Internet organization ICANN is meeting in Hamburg this week. Who is behind it – and what is it about?
This year the world population passed the eight billion mark. Of these, around 5.4 billion have used the Internet. But even though the Internet has become an integral part of everyday life, very few people know about the organization that is actually responsible for its smooth use: ICANN.
This week the 78th general meeting of the Internet administration ICANN will take place in Hamburg – it is the first time in 20 years that the conference is back in Germany. Around 2,500 participants from research, the tech community, politics, business and civil society are expected.
For stable Internet operation responsible
But what is ICANN actually – and what exactly does it do? The abbreviation ICANN stands for the “Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers”. The non-profit organization was founded in 1998 with the aim of ensuring the secure, smooth and stable operation of the Internet and ensuring a unified global network. ICANN is therefore also seen as the administrator of the Internet.
But what does that mean specifically? In order for the Internet to function – for e-mails to find their correct recipient or for the appropriate website to be found when a specific URL is entered – uniquely assignable domains and IP addresses are required worldwide. And ICANN helps coordinate and assign the unique identifiers.
Addresses for data traffic
The domain address is the Internet address with which you can access certain websites in the browser, such as www.tagesschau.de visited. This in turn consists of three parts: “www” would be the subdomain, “tagesschau” would be the domain name and “.de” would be the so-called top-level domain. The best-known top-level domains include “.com” and “.org”. These top-level domains are assigned by so-called registration authorities. And ICANN determines which of the entities control the top-level domains. The US company Verisign, for example, operates the large top-level domains “com” and “.net”. In Germany, the DENIC cooperative manages the top-level domain “.de”.
Devices that are connected to the Internet, on the other hand, receive a unique number: the so-called IP address. This is necessary for communication between different devices. Similar to a real house address, internet-enabled devices need IP addresses so that messages or data packets arrive where they are supposed to. For 25 years, ICANN has been managing and assigning unique identifiers with the help of so-called “Numbering Authorities” in North America and Europe, for example.
How is ICANN organized?
Although ICANN was founded in 1998 at the suggestion of former US President Bill Clinton, the US gave up its supervisory role in 2016. The organization represents the “multi-stakeholder approach”. This means that it is not states that should make decisions about the Internet, but rather all stakeholders together. Both the private sector, civil society and governments are involved in the decision-making processes. The basic belief is that all users of the Internet deserve a say in its operation, writes ICANN about its organizational structure.
ICANN is divided into three parts. The ICANN community consists of various interest groups: global organizations, associations, business representatives, individual Internet users or governments. They discuss, advise and work together on guidelines. The Board of Directors is elected by the community and is responsible for the strategic direction of the organization. The ICANN organization supports the board and community with staff and resources. According to ICANN, it works from the “bottom up”. It is not the board that decides which topics ICANN deals with, but rather the members of the subgroups.
Despite the open organizational structure, there are also differences of opinion among so many interest groups – especially when it comes to the question of how open and free the Internet should be. At the beginning of the war last year, Ukraine called for Russia to be banned from the Internet. ICANN rejected this on the grounds that it had to remain “neutral”.
Rules should Application process clear up
The conference in Hamburg will, among other things, focus on the application process for new so-called generic top-level domains (gTLDs), which are scheduled to be released in 2026. While “.de” is a Germany-specific top-level domain, gTLDs are transnational and often represent specific fields thematically.
For example, “.org” is often based on non-profit organizations. The rules for the application process are to be adopted in Hamburg. The further development of the open, free and secure Internet should also be discussed.