Hybrid net: the regulatory framework of ICANN and the DNS

Abstract

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is responsible for the management and coordination of the internet domain name and address space, which are critical resources necessary for internet connectivity. Though international in reach since it cooperates with persons, organizations and governments in many countries, ICANN was set up as a private non-profit organization under California law. This article examines the role, legal nature and basis of ICANN and the domain name system (DNS). It first maps and analyses the various regulatory instruments underlying ICANN and the DNS. What emerges is that, very often several and different modes of regulation, both formal and informal, are required to address a particular issue satisfactorily. The article examines whether and to what extent these different types of instruments co-exist and interrelate as one coherent regulatory framework. To do so, this article draws upon Teubner’s notion of hybrid networks and makes an analogy with modern theories on how various sources of law apply within a legal system. In particular, it follows and builds upon Ost and van de Kerchove’s notion of network or ‘mesh’ regulation. To explain the contractual web at the heart