ICANN is in charge of regulating the global policy of all Internet domain names, something essential for the proper functioning of the entire network. Verisign is responsible for operating the .com and .net top-level domains, that is, any .com or .net domain is managed directly by the Verisign company. Both organizations have put the owners of these domains in check, because in a document that is already public, they propose that any government or “authority” can easily confiscate them, without a court order, which is a frontal attack on the Internet. Do you want to know all the details of this proposal?
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the non-profit organization that was founded in 1998, and since then it has been in charge of various tasks related to the registration, management and coordination of all domains worldwide. It is in charge of assigning IP protocol addresses, and also managing and administering the root domain name server system. In addition, ICANN is known for preserving the stability of the entire Internet through consensus. Verisign is an American company that aims to manage the two most used top-level domains, that is, .com and also .net.
What have ICANN and Verisign proposed?
In a document that is public and available at ICANN, both organizations have quietly proposed major changes to the global domain name policy in their “Registry Proposal Renewal” proposal for .net domains, although this will most likely extend to . com since they are also managed directly by Verisign. We do not know if it was done accidentally or on purpose, but what they have proposed will shake the foundations of the Internet, and they are proposing that any government in the world can cancel, redirect or transfer to its control any domain name they consider.
In short, what ICANN and Verisign have proposed is that any “authority” can cancel, redirect or transfer .net domains, in addition, this can be extended to .com domains, which is a serious attack against the Internet foundations. In the previous document you can see what they have deleted in red, and what they have added in blue. Logically, it is contemplated that domains can be closed for distributing malware, operating botnets, phishing, piracy or any other activity contrary to the law and always under court order. What they have added new is the following:
(5) to ensure compliance with applicable law, government rules or regulations, or pursuant to any legal order or subpoena of any government, administrative or governmental authority, or court of competent jurisdiction,
This means that basically any government or administrative authority can deny, cancel, redirect or transfer any .net domain they want, without any limitation. In other words, countries like China, which has fierce censorship, Russia and even Iran, could confiscate any .net domain because they are governments, but this goes further, because even the mayor of a city could order the confiscation of a domain if I would like to, that is, any “authority” could do it, but this goes further, because they also take “administrative authorities” into account.
In short, this means that any .net domain could be in danger, because any “authority” could cancel it, redirect it or transfer it without the need for a court order, simply with an administrative order.
Who could confiscate my domain?
Really many “authorities”, because not only the governments of the world could do it, but also the president of an Autonomous Community (in Spain), and even the mayor of a city, because he is still an “authority”. Here are some examples of who might cancel, redirect, or transfer a .net domain:
- China is asking for the redzone.net domain to be transferred under their control because we talk a lot about VPNs, and this could cause visitors to China to bypass their censorship.
- Russia is asking that any .net domains that support Ukraine be transferred to them.
- The Government of Spain decides to cancel the adslzone.net domain because it has criticized its policy on fiber optics in rural areas.
As you can see, there are thousands of examples where a .net domain could be cancelled, redirected or transferred. However, we believe that this will not go ahead, since it is all in draft form, but it poses a real danger if it goes ahead.
