The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, IANA, has officially announced that it is temporarily taking over the functions of the registry for the Lebanese ccTLD .LB. Previously, the management of the domain zone was carried out by the American University in Beirut and the Lebanese Domain Registry (LBDR). But, according to the Domain Incite, their cooperation was interrupted in 2020.
Since then, the management of the domain zone has been carried out in fact by the efforts of one person - Nabil Bukhalid. It was he who led the team of specialists who at one time opened Internet access to Lebanon. Also, Nabil Bukhalid was the founder of the LBDR registry and the head of the Lebanese Internet Center. For merits in the development of the global network in his country, Bukhalid was included in the Hall of Fame of the Internet Society (Internet Society - ISOC).
However, Lebanon has been in a deep economic and political crisis for several years, which was only exacerbated by the catastrophic explosion in the port of Beirut in 2020, the subsequent anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the country's government has neither the time nor the resources to support the national domain. Two years ago, Nabil Bukhalid had to transfer the LBDR registry to the US state of Delaware, since its operation in Lebanon itself was not possible.
Unfortunately, in January of this year, Bukhalid died after a heart attack. From that moment on, the business of the .LB, in fact, was nat carried out by anyone. The IANA announcement said that the organization will continue to engage with Nabil Bukhalid's known colleagues and will serve as the registry until sufficiently qualified people and organizations are found to take on this role. The .LB currently has, presumably, just under 5,000 registered names. IANA Chief Kim Davis has approached the ICANN Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) to consider developing policies to deal with these situations. The fact is that the national domains of many states are still managed by a few enthusiasts, and the repetition of such sad scenarios cannot be ruled out.
