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ICANN to Increase the Number of Internet Addresses

January 12, 2012

The Montreal Gazette reported that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an independent body responsible for organizing the Internet and deciding who gets to manage .com, .net and other domains, plans to move forward with an expansion of website addresses. According to the article, ICANN wants the expansion to allow more innovation in website addresses and to open the space to non-Latin alphabets. It said ICANN plans to begin accepting applications soon.

The decision to increase the number of website addresses has fueled criticism from industry and drawn concern from law enforcement groups. The article noted that corporations often spend resources to search the Internet for trademark violations and to buy domains similar to theirs simply to prevent them from being bought by cybersquatters.

Lawrence Strickling, administrator of the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, urged ICANN in a letter to take steps to minimize the need for these defensive registrations.

"In meetings we have held with industry over the past weeks, we have learned that there is tremendous concern about the specifics of the program that may lead to a number of unintended and unforeseen consequences and could jeopardize its success," Strickling wrote.

Additionally, Stickling urged ICANN to do a better job of identifying who controls particular websites to aid law enforcement for sites that are used for criminal activity.
ICANN responded that it would review Strickling’s recommendations.

"We appreciate Assistant Secretary Strickling's comments and suggestions," said Steve Crocker, chairman of ICANN's board, in an e-mailed statement.

However, ICANN has no plans to delay rollout of the expanded top-level domains.

Canadian Policy Brief