The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announced today that on 31 March 2021, the ICANN org submitted feedback on the proposed Digital Services Act (DSA) regulation. The DSA is a legislative initiative launched in response to growing concern over the roles and responsibilities of online platforms. Once adopted, it will introduce obligations concerning illegal content that will apply to digital services providers that offer services in Europe, regardless of whether they are established in Europe. The proposal also attempts to clarify the rules for the conditional exemption from liability. Domain Name System (DNS) service providers are in scope.
ICANN org responded to the online consultation, which remained open until 31 March 2021. The comment submitted highlights that the proposed DSA, in its current form, is not sufficiently specific with regard to the scope of applicability to DNS services. It is unclear which DNS services are targeted and whether they would fall under the general scope of application of the DSA, because DNS services are not clearly within one of the three intermediary services categories of the DSA (namely, "mere conduit," "caching," and "hosting" services). In turn, concerns arise as to the liability exemption for third-party content foreseen in the DSA when it comes to DNS services.
All contributions to the public comment forum are available on the consultation's website.