Forwarded message:
Why ICANN Won’t Revoke Russian Internet Domains
The organization says cutting the country off would have
“devastating” effects on the global internet system.
JON BRODKIN, ARS TECHNICA
MAR 5, 2022 1:15 PM
https://www.wired.com/story/why-icann-wont-revoke-russian-internet-domains/
UKRAINE'S REQUEST TO cut Russia off from core parts of the internet
has been rejected by the nonprofit group that oversees the Internet's
Domain Name System (DNS). CEO Göran Marby of the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said the group must "maintain
neutrality and act in support of the global internet."
"Our mission does not extend to taking punitive actions, issuing
sanctions, or restricting access against segments of the
internet—regardless of the provocations," Marby wrote in
his response to Ukraine Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. "ICANN
applies its policies consistently and in alignment with documented
processes. To make unilateral changes would erode trust in the
multi-stakeholder model and the policies designed to sustain global
internet interoperability."
Ukraine on Monday asked ICANN to revoke Russian top-level domains
such as .ru, .рф, and .su; to "contribute to the revoking for SSL
certificates" of those domains; and to shut down DNS root servers in
Russia. Fedorov argued that the requested "measures will help users
seek for reliable information in alternative domain zones, preventing
propaganda and disinformation."
ICANN Was “Built to Ensure the Internet Works”
Experts warned that granting Ukraine's request would harm Russian
civilians, have little impact on Russia's government and military, and
fail to achieve the goal of countering propaganda. Marby agreed with
that assessment, telling Fedorov in his response:
As you have said in your letter, your desire is to help users seek
reliable information in alternative domain zones and prevent
propaganda and disinformation. It is only through broad and unimpeded
access to the internet that citizens can receive reliable information
and a diversity of viewpoints. Regardless of the source, ICANN does
not control internet access or content.
While "ICANN and its global community are aware of and concerned about
the terrible toll being exacted against your country," ICANN itself
has "no sanction-levying authority," Marby wrote. "Essentially, ICANN
has been built to ensure that the internet works, not for its
coordination role to be used to stop it from working."
“Devastating” Effect on Global System
Regarding the request to revoke top-level domains, Marby wrote that
"globally agreed policies do not provide for ICANN to take unilateral
action to disconnect these domains as you request. You can understand
why such a system cannot operate based on requests from one territory
or country concerning internal operations within another territory or
country. Such a change in the process would have devastating and
permanent effects on the trust and utility of this global system."
Marby's response to the request to shut down DNS root servers in
Russia was brief, saying that the "root server system is composed of
many geographically distributed nodes maintained by independent
operators." Concerning Ukraine's other request, Marby wrote that ICANN
does "not have the ability to revoke the specific SSL certificates for
the domains you mentioned. These certificates are produced by
third-party operators, and ICANN is not involved in their issuance."
Marby's denial of Ukraine's request cited the decentralized nature of
the internet. "No one actor has the ability to control it or shut it
down. ICANN's primary role, through the functions of the Internet
Assigned Numbers Authority, is to ensure the consistent and unique
assignment of internet identifiers in line with global policies,"
Marby wrote.
"These policies were developed by a multi-stakeholder community that
includes technical experts, businesses, academics, civil society,
governments, and other stakeholders who worked collaboratively to
solve policy and technical challenges through consensus," Marby
continued. "It is a model that has allowed the internet to flourish
over decades, and this broad and inclusive approach to decision-making
fosters the global public interest and makes the Internet resilient
against unilateral decision-making."
Though ICANN won't sever DNS links, that doesn't mean Russians have
unfettered access to the internet. Russia is reportedly blocking
Twitter, Facebook, various news sites, and major app stores, as
we wrote on Friday. Separately, US-based internet backbone operator
Cogent Communications is reportedly cutting off service in Russia in
a move that could cause some outages and poor network performance.
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