The current system of domain name regulation, dominated by US (influenced) institutions like ICANN, will face two major threats in the near future: Firstly, the Internet will soon face IPv4 address depletion, i.e. the transformation to IPv6 becomes a hot topic for operators, providers and users. Secondly, while some countries tend to hand over the management of domain name regulation to their telco regulators, they often do not have the necessary resources to take on this task yet. As “good” domain names strongly increase in value, appropriate instruments to prevent domain grabbing are necessary. In parallel, alternative IP addressing systems are being developed and seek acceptance. This development questions even more the actual system of domain name regulation.

DNS & IP Addressing
The routing of Internet traffic is based on the Internet Protocol (IP). Every computer or device that is connected to the World Wide Web needs a unique number, the IP address, to enable the identification of sender and recipient. These IP addresses are required for the functioning of IP-based networks, which - interconnected altogether - build the “Internet".

IP addresses are structured according to the Domain Name System (DNS) which works like a hierarchical IP telephone book. The DNS is primarily used to translate between domain names and IP addresses, consisting of 8 digits and more difficult to remember than domain names. The structure of a domain name must be read from the right side. The ending .com or country specific endings like .de constitute the Top Level Domains (TLDs). Next to currently more than 240 country code TLDs, there are the generic TLDs like .com, .net, .org, .edu, .biz and .info. All these TLDs have to be registered centrally within IANA on behalf of ICANN.

Regulatory Institutions & Policies