ICANN Consultation: Functional Model for Root Server System Governance

ICANN is seeking public comments on a proposed “Functional Model” for governance of the DNS root server system.

This Functional Model has been developed by the Root Server System (RSS) Governance Working Group (GWG) that was established by the ICANN board in response to advice from the Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC). The proposal describes a governance structure based around a new RSS Council and explains how this would be implemented in phases. The RIPE NCC participated in our capacity as operator of K-root, with Hans Petter Holen serving on the RSS GWG as our representative.

Under the proposed model, each of the 12 Root Server Operators (including the RIPE NCC as operator of K-root) would have one voting seat on the RSS Council, in addition to 12 voting seats from the ccTLD and gTLD communities (six each). A further three non-voting liaison members would come from the IETF, IANA and the Root Zone Maintainer. The Council would establish functions for strategy and architecture, finance and resource management, performance monitoring, security incident reporting, and the designation and removal of Root Server Operators.

The consultation is open until Sunday, 22 September 2025 at 23:59 UTC. ICANN will then publish a summary report on 6 October.

We are reviewing the documents in our role as an RSO and will provide input to ICANN. We strongly encourage members of the RIPE community to read the proposal and submit their own comments via the Public Comment page.