Iron Mountain Digital’s Escrow Program helps Secure Internet Address System for ICANN-Accredited Domain Name Registrars
Registrant Data for 90 Million Domain Names Protected
BOSTON (Nov. 28, 2007) – Iron Mountain Incorporated
(NYSE:IRM), the global leader in information protection and storage
services, today announced that its technology arm, Iron Mountain
Digital, has been selected by the Internet Corporation of Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN) to provide escrow services which will be
available to the more than 900 ICANN-accredited domain name registrars.
The escrow program will protect registration data for the 90 million
domain names they support. This agreement solidifies the security and
stability of the Internet’s domain name system by safeguarding the data
associated with registered domain names in secure escrow accounts
managed by Iron Mountain Digital.
A domain name registrar accredited by ICANN has the authority to
register Internet domain names – commonly thought of as web site
addresses– on behalf of consumers and businesses. ICANN has authority
over gTLDs, or Generic Top Level Domains, such as .com, .net, .org, and
.mobi. With nearly every major corporation in the world having
registered a .com domain name extension, billions of interactions are
supported every day.
Iron Mountain Digital is a neutral third party that offers escrow
services to safeguard intellectual property assets, until a release
event occurs. Under this escrow program, the pertinent and critical
information for a party registering a domain name is held in escrow
with Iron Mountain. This protects all of the consumers and businesses
that have registered domain names with an ICANN-accredited registrar
because their data will be safeguarded even if the registrar goes out
of business or ceases operations. Holding this data in escrow also
helps with business continuity efforts in the case of a failure with a
registrar’s data storage systems.
“The vast majority of ICANN's accredited registrars offer high
levels of service and integrity; however, as we have seen, there is the
risk that poorly performing registrars can hurt registrants
significantly,” said Dr. Paul Twomey, President and CEO of ICANN.
“ICANN has selected Iron Mountain Digital as its escrow agent to help
implement the Registrar Data Escrow program, a sensible and practical
measure to protect registrants by storing and safeguarding a backup
copy of domain name registration data in escrow.”
The Registrar Data Escrow (RDE) program is designed to ensure that
the information associated with registered domain names is never at
risk. This data can be used by ICANN to allow continuity of registrar
operations in the event a registrar’s accreditation agreement is
terminated or expires without renewal. ICANN-accredited registrars must
deposit registration data with ICANN, through its designated escrow
agent, Iron Mountain Digital, or with another approved third party
provider of escrow services, as a condition of their accreditation
agreement.
“As the founder of the technology escrow industry, Iron Mountain is
proud to have been selected for such an important escrow program,” said
John Boruvka, vice president of Intellectual Property Management for
Iron Mountain Digital. “ICANN joins thousands of customers worldwide
who rely on Iron Mountain’s technology escrow services to protect their
intellectual property.”
With the Registrar Data Escrow program in place, ICANN can provide
assurance to the Internet community that a copy of the domain name
registration information held by that registrar is safe. With this data
in an Iron Mountain escrow account, the domain name information is
secure, and the confidence of consumers and businesses registering
domain names is strengthened.
For more information on Iron Mountain Digital’s Intellectual Property Management services, visit www.ironmountain.com/ipm.
About ICANN
ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's
system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and
country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet
protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet.
Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's
operation, so ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop
policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security and stability.
ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit
company. For more information please visit: www.icann.org.
About Iron Mountain Digital
Iron Mountain Digital is the world's leading provider of software- and
storage-as-a service solutions for backup and archiving. The technology
arm of Iron Mountain Incorporated offers a comprehensive suite of data
protection, archiving and intellectual property management solutions to
thousands of companies around the world, directly and through a
world-wide network of channel partners. Iron Mountain Digital is based
in Southborough, Mass. with European headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
About Iron Mountain
Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM) helps organizations around the
world reduce the costs and risks associated with information protection
and storage. The company offers comprehensive records management and
data protection solutions, along with the expertise and experience to
address complex information challenges such as rising storage costs,
litigation, regulatory compliance and disaster recovery. Founded in
1951, Iron Mountain is a trusted partner to more than 100,000 corporate
clients throughout North America, Europe, Latin American and Asia
Pacific. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ironmountain.com.