Internet Official and Regulatory Bodies

This section provides an overview of the main organizations responsible for the operation of the Domain Name System. The current situation is marked by the domination of large organizations and multinational companies, mostly originating from the United States of America, and differs significantly from the original conception of the internet as a public good. The threats of fragmentation of the internet are growing, both technically and geographically.

Centralizing Organizations

ICANN is the body that manages the Internet.

The most influential moral and technical authority in the Internet sector, the Internet Society (ISOC) aims to promote and coordinate the development of the network worldwide.

Funded by ISOC, the IETF is a body of volunteer experts and researchers whose mission is to produce and promote Internet standards, in particular via the famous RFCs Institutional bodies contributing to the operation of the Internet.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community that develops open standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web.

A specialised agency of the United Nations, the ITU's mission is to facilitate the international connectivity of communication networks. Also a United Nations agency, WIPO is the world body responsible for intellectual property issues.

Regulatory Organizations

Internet Infrastructure

Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are organizations responsible for managing and distributing Internet number resources, such as IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs), within specific geographic regions. These resources are critical for the functioning of the Internet. There are five RIRs worldwide, each serving a distinct region. They are: ARIN for North America, RIPE NCC for Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia, APNIC for the Asia-Pacific region, LACNIC for Latin America and the Caribbean, and AFRINIC for Africa. The Number Resource Organization (NRO) coordinates the world’s Regional Internet Registries.

Cybersecurity

National cybersecurity agencies are government entities responsible for protecting critical infrastructure, coordinating incident response, and developing national cybersecurity policies. The most prominent include the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), France’s ANSSI, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and Germany’s BSI.

CERT-EU protects the European Institutions.

Law

The EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) manages trademark, design, and model rights within the EU.

Official National Bodies

States aim to control Internet activities within their borders, regulating infrastructure and content independently of ICANN, to which they are not contractually bound. The official bodies responsible for domain names relating to a State or territory are the registries.

In the face of the risks of Internet's control by the USA, as evidenced by the Snowden or Cambridge Analytica scandals, several major powers express secessionist intentions. Thus, China uses a root different from that of ICANN, and Russia is expected to do the same with its RuNet project.