The 64th ICANN International Conference will be held at the Kobe International Conference Center and Kobe Portopia Hotel for six days from March 9 to 14, 2019, with more than 2,000 Internet professionals participating from about 100 countries. This will be the second time in 19 years that the conference will be held in Japan, the first being the 6th ICANN Yokohama Conference in July 2000. As a preliminary event for the conference, a seminar will be held together with the Kyoto Information Service Industry Association.
The Internet has become a part of our infrastructure just like our utilities as electricity, gas, and water. It is now an integral part of our daily lives. However, the Internet still faces various challenges such as complying to the GDPR issued by the EU and measures against pirate sites in Japan. On top of that, finding solutions to deal with the Big Four tech giants (GAFA) and net neutrality which have connected the world and closed the distance between countries. In many ways, it is a challenge for all. We will discuss the Internet governance system, which people don't usually pay much attention to, and ICANN, which supports it, by using everyday examples such as YouTube and LINE. The issues will be discussed in an easy-to-understand way.
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers): A private, non-profit organization founded in 1998 and headquartered in California, USA, which manages Internet resources such as IP addresses and domain names.
GDPR(General Data Protection Regulation): The European Union (EU) Privacy Act came into effect in May 2018.
GAFA stands for Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon. There are concerns that the giant tech companies known as the Big Four or GAFA will monopolize the market by utilizing the vast amount of data collected through advertising and e-commerce. In light of this, a system in which penalties under the Antimonopoly Law are applied when personal data is improperly handled is being considered.
