India has become the newest, 152nd member of ICANN’s country-code Supporting Organization, the ccNSO. This event is notable not only because the ccNSO has been joined by one of the most populous and rapidly developing countries, but also because until very recently, the Indian National Internet Exchange (NIXI) has sharply criticized the Organization’s policy.
Just a month ago, NIXI’s CEO Dr. Govind criticized the group for not representing the interests of India and other non-members. He said that the ccNSO did not provide non-member national registries with necessary information about the progress of transferring control over the domain system from the US government to the Internet community. It is difficult to say to what extent these accusations are valid, but India would prefer to be aware of all processes and be able to influence them, which it can achieve through ccNSO membership.
“The ccNSO, like any other professional community, aims to defend its members’ interests in cases when individual registries are unable to ensure this. As the ccNSO provides its members with information about the progress of transferring control over the Internet, its lines are more advantageous, and the Indian registry has decided to take advantage of this,” said Marina Nikerova, Deputy Director General of the Technical Center of Internet.
