Internet
Global internet administrator warns of lockdown
A technical representative of the international Internet administration ICANN warns of a potential fragmentation of the Internet. photo
© Nicolas Armer/dpa
The Internet is supposed to enable a global exchange of data. But some countries like Russia and Iran are aiming for isolation. The international Internet administration is alarmed.
A senior official at the international Internet administration ICANN has warned of a fragmentation of the global Internet. “The potential fragmentation of the Internet is a worrying topic,” said ICANN’s Technology Officer for Europe and North America, David Huberman, of the German Press Agency on Wednesday evening in Rust, southern Baden, on the sidelines of the Cloudfest industry meeting.
Industry experts are primarily focusing on Russia, Iran and China when it comes to Internet isolation. Huberman did not comment explicitly on individual countries. “These are authoritarian governments that want to control their people,” he said simply.
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), based in the USA, has been administering the system of international top-level domains with endings such as “.com” since it was founded in 1998 and assigning them IP addresses. The central task is to ensure the secure and stable operation of the Domain Name System (DNS) for the Internet. The organization’s 78th Annual General Meeting will be held in Hamburg in October with more than 2000 participants.
ICANN is still against blocking Russia from the Internet, said Huberman against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We say no. We have to remain neutral.” At the start of the war last year, Ukraine demanded that Russia be banned from the Internet. ICANN had already rejected that.
Kristian Ørmen of Sweden’s Internetstiftelsen Foundation said technical monitoring of the Domain Name System (DNS) – this is the technical heart of the internet – is in place. “You can trust him, it’s transparent,” he said. Ørmen belongs to a very small circle of computer specialists worldwide who monitor the security of the system and have special authorizations for it.