India has challenged Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) proposed rules on how regional bodies should manage and distribute internet addresses. India, a major internet market, opposes the ICANN’s policies in allocating critical internet resources like IP addresses.
ICANN plays a crucial role in the internet’s functioning, overseeing global coordination of unique identifiers like domain names and IP addresses. In October 2024, the Address Supporting Organization (ASO0, one of ICANN’s three organizations), invited stakeholder comments on its Internet Coordination Policy 2 (ICP-2). This policy outlines the criteria for recognizing new Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) and managing existing ones.
RIRs are organizations that manage the allocation and registration of IP addresses and other internet resources within specific regions.
ICANN has put forward a controversial idea that gives the Number Resource Organization-Executive Council (NRO EC) a lot of power. The council, which includes the five RIRs that already exist, can decide whether to recognize or get rid of RIRs, but ICANN has to give them the green light.
MeitY is against this plan. They say, “Giving the decision-making power to the existing RIRs and the NRO EC might not be fair. The existing RIRs might have an interest in keeping new companies out.