Fragmented Domain Names Could Destabilize Internet - ICC Warns
13 May 2006The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) warned that designs by China and other countries to create their own domain name systems...
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) warned that designs by China and other countries to create their own domain name systems for locating data on the Internet exposes the Internet to new risks that could destabilize it if technical and logistical issues are not urgently addressed.
In cooperation with its member companies around the world, the ICC published a seven-page report on May 11, 2006 explaining the issues and stressing the consequences if the Internet is not made more accessible in other languages in a manner that ensures its flexibility, stability and global interoperability, a press release by the Chamber stated.
The ICC said that a central global registry is crucial to ensure seamless universal access and to expand Internet use, especially in the developing world.
China, Russia and Brazil are considering assigning their own domain names to the numbered Internet Protocol addresses as a political counterweight to the US Memorandum of Understanding with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Since the inception of the Internet, ICANN has been the central authority fulfilling this role.
The ICC does not recommend the management of Internet addresses by a variety of entities since it would result in an uncoordinated, conflicting and fractured Internet. Instead, ICC supports ICANN and the continued use of UNICODE, a globally uniform encoding system used to assign domain names to the numbered Internet Protocol addresses. UNICODE is continuously expanding to include the characters of more languages.
For example, new internationalized domain names (IDNs) now appear using UNICODE scripts to translate a domain name written in Latin or Roman language characters to its equivalent in a language using a different alphabet. Thus, "urdu.com" also exists in the Arabic script version. The ICC acknowledges the expansion of UNICODE to include more languages and stresses that such expansion must take place using a globally uniform methodology. A single interpretation of syntax and semantics applied to IDNs is necessary, because language usage varies widely across the globe.
One global system is critical for other reasons as well. For example, further upgrade, maintenance and resolution of disputes regarding IDNs must proceed in a globally consistent way.
"Unless this process is carefully and centrally implemented, domain names may lead to fragmentation and threaten the stability, integrity and security of the Internet," said Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chair of ICC's Commission on E-business, IT and Telecoms (EBITT), which published its paper on internationalized domain names on May 11, 2006.
Addressing the concerns of businesses worldwide, the Chair of ICC's Internet and IT Services Task Force, Allen Miller said: "The introduction of IDNs is an important step towards true global diffusion of the Internet. Multiple authorities would pose serious problems for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights, would marginalize Internet users in the developing world and create islands of users blocked from full global access."
To safeguard the continued flexibility and global interoperability of the Internet, ICC urgently recommends the following reforms:
• To accelerate the establishment of comprehensive, global standards for IDNs which include all languages, not principally those based on the Latin alphabet. The current lack frustrates countries which fall outside existing standards. This will help satisfy growing demand for IDNs by users from all parts of the globe.
• To establish a classification system for domain names. Without one, businesses face risks and exorbitant costs when protecting their intellectual property rights, i.e., trademark, trade name or brand. Conflicts over trademark rights currently arise, because several languages contain strings of characters that have equivalent or near-equivalent meanings. Use of such character strings in IDNs might lead to domain names that are similar phonetically, visually or across various character tables.
• To expand ICANN rules to create a uniform, globally enforceable dispute resolution policy embracing the full gamut of competition claims.\
• To develop more technical and policy solutions to address the growing threat to business - IDNs from cyber crimes such as spoofing, phishing and cyber-squatting.
• To educate the relevant authorities about the complexity of this task.
Source: ag-ip-news.com
Source: By Stanley Spencer, from domains.articles-reports.com
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