Rod Beckstrom, CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), visited a domain forum in Bulgaria on Monday.

A lot of things have changed over the last decade when it comes to the Internet, Beckstrom pointed out while speaking in the Balkan country. He reminded that an average Internet user used to go online just several times a week back in 1999, which would be considered laughable nowadays.

"The Internet is like fire – once people discovered it, they understood it was essential," Beckstrom said. He also described the Internet as a "decentralized phenomenon", one that cannot be controlled in a centralized way.

On Monday, the ICANN CEO met with Bulgaria's outgoing president Georgi Parvanov. They discussed the development of the Internet in Bulgaria and around the world, as well as the global financial crisis and its consequences.

During Rod Beckstrom's visit to Bulgaria, it was made clear that the Balkan country will once again try to register the ".бг" Cyrillic domain extension.

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