The internet is at risk of becoming fragmented if online databases that show who owns websites are shut down after the EU’s new data protection law takes effect next month, the head of internet domain organisation ICANN has warned.
The European Commission has suggested that law enforcement authorities could soon have restricted access to the WHOIS database that identifies website owners because the system is on a collision course with the EU’s strict new data protection law.
Internet platforms have helped the internet to become more multilingual, and especially less widely spoken languages like Luxembourgish, Viviane Reding told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
Researchers and officials working on internet governance have urged EU institutions to help expand the use of internationalised domain names, which contain letters from alphabets including Cyrillic or Greek, or accented letters like in the word “café”.
ICANN, the non-profit organisation that administers internet domain names, is up against a tough deadline to cut ties with the US government by next autumn.
Internationalised domain names (IDNs), which are seen as an essential building block for creating a multilingual internet, are growing in number, according to a new report.
On 25 June, the EU signed up to a charter stimulating international cooperation on developing and deploying carbon capture and storage technologies. This charter, a US initiative, establishes a "Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum", gathering countries from the five continents.
On 3 September the Official Journal published a call for expression of interest by the Commission for the selection of a .EU registry to run the EU top level domain name.
The President of the ICANN stated "the goal of leaving the Internet in private hands has proven unworkable" and therefore proposes "more transparency, openness and participation by government".
