Sometimes it seems that everything is resolved, everything works on the Internet... I just simply give 3 W to any domain, for instance, the page for this TV show... And it all works automatically... But no! In fact, since the domain names system was invented, -which today we are going to ask exactly what this is about.... a very active group of people are discussing all the issues that have to do with this, And for this, we have invited Pablo Hinojosa, Paul, how are you? -I'm very well, thank you very much Javier. Welcome to PLUG. What is the link between the organization named ICANN? -the first question that I'll do is: what is ICANN?- -and all of Latin America; because finally this is a worldwide organization. The first question that I'll ask you, Paul, is: what's your specific job? What is ICANN, so that the people watching can understand? Javier, it's a pleasure being here with you. ICANN is an organization that is constituted internationally, it is in charge of coordinating the Internet Addressing System worldwide, and there are two parts: the numbers and the names. As you'll know, each computer connected to the network has a unique address, which is a number, and there is the entire system that makes the addresses much more user-friendly, which are the names that are within this hierarchy known as the DNS, or the Domain Name System, as the .com, .org, .net, .info, which are the generic, and we also have the country codes, for example, mx for Mexico. But in order to understand a little bit more, in the ICANN, what is discussed? What matters are ventilated in the ICANN? Much of what ICANN does is in the first level of domain names, and for example, we have a very interesting project which is the introduction of new generic ending domains, and then a process is going to open so that those who are interested can request a new generic ending domain, like the .com What you mention is being discussed on Internet forums for a while now. What you mean is that, for example, now there is .com and .net, And suddenly there were proposals to create .sets or .name, or .movie ... Which of them are used? Because I do not see a huge use to those that are not .com... The topic of the new project is to open to a diversity much more broad, with the posibility to also write addresses with different characters of the ASCII code, for example, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and to be able to have addresses ending with those characters, which makes the Internet much more accessible to the rest of the world that do not write with the characters to which we are accustomed to, that includes eñes, accents, etc. I'm talking with Pablo Hinojosa, the person who makes the link between ICANN and all of Latin America ... And in these few days precisely there was an ICANN meeting, and this time it was in Mexico, correct? Yes, that's right. Give me a few minutes because we are going to talk about this, an important event in Mexico, in just a few seconds. Plug, the interview We continue talking with Pablo Hinojosa, he is the liaison of the ICANN with Latin America, Paul, we were talking about the meeting that took place in Mexico a few days ago, tell us a little bit about what this is about. We have participants from more than 100 countries, more than a thousand people registered, fortunately, many of them are Mexicans, ... interested in these processes of the discussion, in order to make decisions regarding the future of Internet addresses, What are the most important issues? Basically there are 3 topics that are the most important. This issue about the internationalized domain names, that will facilitate the posibility to write addresses with different characters than the latin ones, this process of requesting generic address endings that opens space to the root of the address, to be able to create an address ending. Paul, so that people can understand what does ICANN do, I will ask you backwards: What would happen if the ICANN would not exist? Internet requires great efforts of coordination, the address system has an ecosystem of organization which are the records, at a country level, a commercial level, a technical scheme of operators of root servers....etc..., it is a total complex system of organisms and individuals, that requires of a mechanism of coordination. ICANN is designed to coordinate this subject. With an overall purpose very particular: Maintain a unique Internet. For us to be able to get to the address we are trying to get to without a mistake, and also, a system much more user-friendly than learning a series of numbers, and to have our addressbook full of "meta chattels", right? Here it is very simple, you have a name very easy to learn, under an address ending that gives an alusion from the country in which you originate, or the style or category of the company or individual or blog or program that you have, then this makes it easy and immediate. Very good. Paul Hinojosa is the liaison of ICANN for all of Latin America, I imagine that you spend most of your time traveling in a plane.... Yes, that is my life. In seat 2A of the airline if they look for you they will be able to find you.... Thanks Paul. We are still here in PLUG.