Denmark’s Minister of Culture Remarks on the Success of ICANN’s Multistakeholder Model

Denmark’s Minister of Culture Remarks on the
Success of ICANN’s Multistakeholder Model

Copenhagen,
Denmark…

ICANN’s 58th public
meeting, taking place from 11 to 16 March in Copenhagen, Denmark, has
attracted more than 2500 registered participants. The meeting, hosted by the
Danish Business Authority and the Danish Internet Forum, is being held six
months after the IANA Stewardship Transition, a milestone in
the history of ICANN’s multistakeholder community. Stakeholders from around the
world, including people from businesses, governments, academia, and civil
society, have convened in Denmark to discuss various topics such as the next
steps after the IANA Stewardship Transition, enhancements to ICANN’s
accountability and the new generic top level domain (gTLD) program.

At the opening
ceremony, Denmark’s Minister of Culture, Mette Bock, commented on the IANA
Stewardship Transition and ICANN’s multistakeholder model, stating “The IANA
Stewardship Transition only happened because the whole ICANN community, and
that is you, was able to work together and to develop proposals that received a
very broad support. It was, indeed, a masterpiece and showcase for how the
multistakeholder model can function and deliver sustainable results.”

Chairman of DIFO and
DK-Hostmaster, Professor Henrik Udsen, also commented on the importance of this
model. “Like ICANN, DIFO is based on a multistakeholder model, ensuring that
all interest of the Danish Internet society is represented in the continuing
efforts to make the .dk zone attractive and security,” said Udsen. “We believe
that this multistakeholder model both at a national and international level is
a vital component in creating robust solutions to the many challenges we face.”

ICANN’s President and
CEO, Göran Marby, stressed the importance of diversity with respect to the
future Internet users, saying “To be able to support the next generation of
Internet users, we need to be diverse enough to understand the nodes going
forward.”

ICANN Board Chair, Dr.
Stephen Crocker, remarked on the importance of working together globally to
maintain the Internet. “We’re all different parts of one entity united by a
common purpose to help maintain an amazing global network of networks,” said
Crocker. “If we do our mission well, we will facilitate communication and the
flow of information around the globe, but the only way that we can do that is
if we work together and the work that we do together is framed by compassion
and respect.”

At the ceremony,
ICANN’s Chief Technology Officer David Conrad announced the launch of a test
bed for the upcoming Key Signing Key (KSK) Rollover. “On 11 October 2017,
relatively soon, we are going to be changing the root key signing key. Before
that time, DNS operators, who have enabled DNSSEC validation, must update their
configurations. So what we’re announcing today is a test bed for DNS operators
to determine the readiness to support automatic updates.”

ICANN is in the
process of performing a Root Zone DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) Key Signing Key (KSK) rollover. The KSK is
used to cryptographically sign the Zone Signing Key (ZSK), which is used by the
Root Zone Maintainer to DNSSEC-sign the root zone of the Internet’s DNS.
Maintaining an up-to-date KSK is essential to ensuring DNSSEC-signed domain
names continue to validate following the rollover. Internet service providers,
enterprise network operators and others who operate DNSSEC validation must
update their systems with the public part of the new key signing key.